Why Did Some People Accept Jesus, and Others Reject Him?

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I anticipate many of us are troubled by John 12:37-42.

37 Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:

“Lord, who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

40 “He has blinded their eyes
    and hardened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
    nor understand with their hearts,
    nor turn—and I would heal them.”

41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

Why didn’t more of the Jews believe in Jesus?

When Isaiah the prophet was called by God (around 700 B.C.), God tells him to expect constant rejection from his people. So, when John reflects on the ministry of Jesus, he remembers that Isaiah was also rejected. In fact, the rejection was so complete that it was as if God had hardened the hearts of the Israelites to make it impossible for them to respond. Now, why would God set Isaiah up to fail? That’s the wrong way to think about it; it’s not that God set Isaiah up to fail, but that God knew that Isaiah’s ministry would be very difficult, and that though Israel would not listen, Isaiah is to preach to them anyway.

In the same way, Jesus came performing many signs and many people still refused to accept him. It’s as if God has hardened their hearts—why else would they refuse to believe?

But, John also tells us that the rejection was not total; actually, there were many people who believed, and some believed secretly.

So, John wants us to understand that the mighty works of Jesus were not enough to convince everyone of his identity. Some people were so stubborn that nothing would make them believe: it was as if God made their hearts hard and eyes blind.

I think this means 2 things for us:

  1. We should not be surprised when people in our day reject Jesus.

  2. But, we should also expect people to accept him in our day.

How can you tell which group is which?

You can’t—you have to sow the seed as widely as possible with the expectation that though it might not take root everywhere, it will take root somewhere.

 

Today’s Scripture

John 12:20-50

Worship Must Always Be First

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When Mary of Bethany—sister of Lazarus—uses priceless perfume to anoint Jesus, Judas complains that the money should have been spent on the poor instead of “wasted” in worship. In reply, Jesus rebukes him and tells him that what Mary did was right.

The temptation for us to ignore worship and move to “practical” and “important” matters is always with us, and always wrong.

Worship must always be first, because God is always first. To care more for the created things than we do for praising the Creator is to get things exactly backwards. In fact, the surest way to honor and care for the things of this world is to make worship our first priority. When God is first, then everything has a place, and everything will be “very good.” But, when we decide what we think is most important and should be first, then the world becomes disordered and broken. The reason the world is the way it is is precisely because we decide that we know better than God that which should be first.

Put God first, and the rest falls into place.

How do you need to re-order your world today?

 

Today’s Scripture

John 12:1-19