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Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he went away and hid himself from them. Though he had done so many signs in front of them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. John 12: 35-43 |
So it’s all over. We now know who has been chosen by us, the people, to govern us, to make laws prohibiting us from doing certain things, to tax us, to un-tax others and to spend those taxation revenues on our behalf. Their lives will become what they wanted for themselves.
With this in mind, take a look at the incident in AD 30 recorded in bold above. In a few days (maybe a few hours) Jesus will be nailed to that Roman cross and will give himself, his life, for others. That was what he wanted for himself.
In the Jerusalem Temple his final words to the Jewish leaders were: “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” |
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‘Water cannot rise higher than its source, neither can human reason.’ (Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poet and philosopher, 1772-1834)
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There was blinding light in Jesus’ actions. The light is the fact that he, the very, very, best human being who ever lived on earth, would not be allowed, by other human beings, to live. Those others would kill him. That was the light which illuminated the dark world. Those who could not see their own motives for getting rid of this good man were indeed walking in darkness.
When Jesus had said these things, he went away and hid himself from them. Is he still doing that?
John, the writer of this eye-witness biography of Jesus draws attention to a Jewish Scripture written several centuries earlier by Isaiah whom the Jews acknowledged to be one who spoke on behalf of the LORD God. The fact that the Jewish leaders did not believe in Jesus had been foreseen. “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Isaiah knew that the Messiah would not be believed, despite all the good and all the signs he would do to reveal his “arm”.
But Isaiah’s foretelling wasn’t merely that the Jewish leaders wouldn’t believe in Jesus. “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” Who, exactly is the “He” at the beginning of this sentence and who is the “I” towards the end? If you look at Isaiah chapter 9 in the Bible you’ll see than in both cases it is the LORD God. The LORD God blinded the Jewish leaders, hardened their hearts – so they couldn’t believe.
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‘A great part of our worthiness lies in an acknowledgment of our own unworthiness.’ (Matthew Henry, writer, 1662-1714)
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Had they believed they would not have brought about the death by crucifixion of Jesus. If Jesus would never have been crucified, none of the Jewish leaders, nor the Jews, nor us in the twenty-first century could have been forgiven, cleansed and given the spirit of the living God within. John writes: Isaiah said these things because he saw his [Jesus the Messiah’s] glory and spoke of him. The glory of Jesus was in giving himself.
That was the AD 30 scene. Is it the same today? How applicable are the closing words in bold above? Many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
If I had eyes which saw everything clearly, where would I see that true glory resides? In whom would I place my trust for all my future? Would I say so? |
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