“Though He had done so many signs before them, yet they did not believe in Him. This fulfilled the word spoken by Isaiah the prophet: ‘Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’ Therefore, they could not believe. For Isaiah said again: ‘He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes and perceive with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ Isaiah said this when he saw His glory and spoke of Him. Yet many of the rulers also believed in Him. But because of the Pharisees, they did not confess Him, lest they be put out of the synagogue. For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” John 12:37-43

As Isaiah prophesied when he wrote: “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” (Isa. 53:1), most of Jesus’ Jewish hearers did not believe He was and is the Son of God in human flesh and their Messiah and Savior from sin. Even though Jesus had done so many mighty miracles and signs in front of them, they did not believe His words and look to Him in faith for salvation.

In fact, because of their rejection of the truth, God blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts as prophesied when Isaiah saw the glory of the LORD and was told, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn and be healed’” (Isa. 6:9-10).

Though there were a good number of Jewish rulers who came to believe Jesus’ words, they would not openly confess Him because the Pharisees had threatened to excommunicate anyone who confessed faith in Jesus as the Son of God and Israel’s Messiah and Savior. They were more concerned with being accepted by men than being accepted by God.

And what about us today? We have Bibles to read in our languages, with many modern and easy-to-read translations available. There are churches around us, with many still proclaiming the truths of Holy Scripture and pointing people to Jesus as the eternal Son of God and the Savior of fallen mankind. We can read and hear of Jesus’ mighty miracles and often witness them in our lives or the lives of others. We have access to Jesus’ words in print and digital formats — we can download the Bible on our phones and take it with us everywhere.

But do we believe Jesus’ words? Do we accept His witness? Do we believe what He and the Scriptures say: He is the Son of God in human flesh, born a true man of the Virgin Mary, to fulfill all righteousness for us and bear the just punishment for our sins and the sins of all mankind? Do we believe He paid the price for our sins when He died on the cross and that He rose again in victory so that we might look to Him in faith and be pardoned, justified, and made acceptable in God’s sight?

If we reject the truth proclaimed in the Bible, if we reject the words and witness of Jesus concerning our sinfulness and the salvation He provided for us sinners by His innocent sufferings and death on the cross in our stead, if we turn away from Jesus and His Word or neglect to hear Him, God will give us over to our unbelief. He will harden us in our unbelief and sin so that we cannot hear and see the truth, leaving us to die in our sins and face an eternity under God’s wrath and judgment.

And how many of us are like those Jewish rulers who did come to believe but would not openly confess Jesus for fear of being rejected by men and their religious institutions? Do we love the praise of men more than the praise of God?

Jesus said, “Whoever therefore is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). Do these words of Jesus apply to us?

What’s the point of these words of Scripture? Indeed, they warn us against rejecting the witness of the Bible and hardening our hearts against the truth. If we reject the gracious working of God’s Spirit through the Scriptures and refuse to place our faith in Jesus and confess Him as our Savior and Lord, there is no hope for us. We will become hardened in sin and unbelief.

But if, by the grace of God, He opens our eyes to the truth of His Word and we come to know and believe in Jesus as God’s Son and our Savior from sin and eternal death, we have God’s grace and mercy in Christ. We are richly blessed with forgiveness for our sins and a place in God’s eternal kingdom.

O Holy Spirit, let me see Jesus for who He is and what He has done for me and my salvation. Grant that I not turn away from Him or harden my heart in unbelief but repent of my sinful ways and look to Him and His cross for pardon, forgiveness, and the eternal joys of heaven. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version, Copyright © 2024, 2017, 2014 by United Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House. All rights reserved.]