Lesson for September 21, 2025
The Book of John
Lesson 33
Chapter 12:37-50
Verses 37-40
“But though He had performed so many signs in their sight, they still were not believing in Him. 38 This happened so that the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke would be fulfilled, ‘Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’ 39 For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, 40 ‘He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they will not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and be converted, and so I will not heal them.’ “
The miracles were accomplished in the past but had results in the evangelization of the Jews. A miracle was followed by a focus on the message of Jesus as the Messiah-Savior. If His objective was simply to alleviate suffering, then He would have performed millions of miracles and healed everyone, but He didn’t!!!
Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’ (Isaiah 53:1) Regardless of the number of miracles performed by Jesus, the religious Jews hardened their hearts against the message of the Gospel. They had heard the Gospel consistently over a period of three years and rejected it. Revelation of truth is based on positive volition and the religious Jews had negative volition.
Because of negative volition at the point of Gospel-hearing, a vacuum in the souls of these religious Jews was created. Into the vacuum came satanic, false doctrine, which attacked their souls. Remember, thousands of Jews responded in faith to the message of the Gospel. Only those Jews caught up in the false teachings of the Pharisees rejected Christ and His teachings.
He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they will not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and be converted, and so I will not heal them.’ When a person says no often enough and long enough it builds up a maximum amount of scar tissue on their soul, so that a hardness builds up to block truth. Ephesians 4:17-19 describes this process of building scar tissue, which leads to complete blackout in the soul.
In blackout of the soul, a person is unable to perceive the truth of accurate Bible doctrine. They had heard the Gospel time after time, they had seen miracles which confirmed the message, and they had continued to say “no.” Notice that it says the heart is hardened. The heart is used in the Bible for the place of thinking, the location of your vocabulary and categories of thought. Therefore, the heart is the thinking function of the soul. God’s evaluation of you is what you think. In other words, their rejection of truth had blinded them to the truth of the Gospel.
Blackout of the soul is strong delusion and keeps people from believing the Gospel. To be converted means to change. It is used here for unbelieving Jews, so it means to change the attitude toward Christ, believing in Him, and therefore receiving salvation. The healing was not physical healing; it was spiritual healing. The healing referred to their erroneous thinking and their hardness of heart, which could be healed only by believing in Christ.
Verses 41-43
“These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke about Him. 42 Nevertheless many, even of the rulers, believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, so that they would not be excommunicated from the synagogue; 43 for they loved the approval of people rather than the approval of God.”
There are two interpretations of this passage. One interpretation is that it is referring to everyone, including the religious leaders (rulers), who believed, as it states in the translation of the New American Standard Bible, above. The second interpretation is that it refers to the religious leaders (rulers) only, as stated in the translation of the Amplified Bible, “Nevertheless, even many of the leading men believed in Him [as Savior and Messiah], but because of the Pharisees they would not confess it, for fear that [if they acknowledged Him openly] they would be put out of the synagogue (excommunicated).”
Either way, those Jews who believed were afraid of repercussions from the Pharisees, (who were hyper-legalistic), when it came to proclaiming their faith in Christ. They feared the leaders of the Sanhedrin would excommunicate them, and they were most likely correct, seeing how much they hated Jesus.
Verses 44-50
“Now Jesus cried out and said, ‘The one who believes in Me, does not believe only in Me, but also in Him who sent Me. 45 And the one who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. 46 I have come as Light into the world, so that no one who believes in Me will remain in darkness.”
Christ is the revealer of God the Father; He is the revealer of the Godhead, according to John 1:18; 6:46, I Timothy 6:16, I John 4:12, and Hebrews 1:3. So, Jesus is not only the only Savior, but He is also the revealer of the Father. In rejecting Christ, they had rejected the Father.
I have come as Light into the world, so that no one who believes in Me will remain in darkness. Jesus declared that He was the “Light of the World” and the “Light of Life” many times. The word light in Greek is “phos,” and metaphorically means to make evident or to make to appear. Jesus Christ is the Light of the World Who reveals God.
The Greek word for darkness is “skotia,” and metaphorically means a condition of spiritual blindness. Therefore, those who choose to remain in spiritual darkness, so their evil deeds will not be exposed by the light, hate the Light and are blinded to spiritual truth (like many of the Pharisees).
Verses 47-50
“If anyone hears My teachings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects Me and does not accept My teachings has one who judges him: the word which I spoke. That will judge him on the last day. 49 For I did not speak on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore, the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.’”
Christ’s purpose for coming the first time was to provide salvation for mankind. When He comes the second time at the end of the Tribulation, He will come to judge. Those who rejected Him during the Tribulation will be destroyed at the Battle of Armageddon. All judgment will be turned over to Christ by the Father, but in His humanity, Jesus was not the judge of the world, the Father was the judge. (Matthew 25:31-33; Acts 17:31)
Those who rejected Jesus Christ as Savior were rejecting God the Father’s gift by failing to give Jesus His proper place as the Messiah. These Pharisees and all who rejected Him as Messiah will face Jesus at the Great White Throne Judgment and at that time, they will have a clear understanding as to why they are there – they rejected their Messiah (Savior).
The one who rejects Me and does not accept My teachings has one who judges him: the word which I spoke. That will judge him on the last day. The very words that Jesus spoke to these Pharisees will be the words that judge them. Time and time again, Jesus told them to believe in Him for eternal life, but they would not. Jesus warned them over and over again that if they failed to believe in Him, they would perish and they ignored His warnings.
For I did not speak on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. And I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore, the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.
It is God’s will for every person to enter into His plan by faith in Jesus Christ as personal Savior. The issue is not your sinfulness or your past failures, because Jesus Christ paid the penalty for all sin on the Cross. Therefore, the issue is whether or not you will accept the free gift of eternal life by faith. Faith, belief, and trust are synonymous terms, which mean that you are relying on Christ for your salvation and not on yourself or your good deeds. According to the Bible, faith is the only requirement for eternal life. (II Peter 3:9; John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9)
Contrary to popular belief, your personal sins do not condemn you. When we are born, we are born with Adam’s original sin and a sin nature, which condemn us to spiritual death (separation from God). All categories of sin were dealt with at the Cross, when Jesus was judged by God the Father for the sins of the entire human race (past, present and future). (Romans 5:12, 6:6, 7:5, 18)
Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ. Faith is the only system of perception which is totally devoid of any human merit. Only the object has merit, and in salvation the object of faith is Jesus Christ. How much faith does it take to be saved? Just a little bit more than no faith at all. (Luke 17:6) The salvation work of Christ on the Cross excludes anything being added to faith.
Grace is all that God is free to do for mankind on the basis of the work of Christ on the Cross. Grace is extended to mankind as unbelievers, living under spiritual death. Therefore, as a matter of grace, salvation is entirely the work of God. It is the work of the Father in judging our sins, the work of the Son in being judged for our sins, and the work of the Holy Spirit in making the Gospel clear. This is why the way of salvation is by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, with no good deeds added to it.