John’s Summary of Christ’s Ministry

Transcript

GR 383
12/14/1980
John’s Summary of Christ’s Ministry
John 12:37-43
Gil Rugh

John chapter 12 in your Bibles. John’s gospel and the 12th chapter. We’ve looked down through the first 36 verses of this chapter which draw to a conclusion the public ministry of Jesus Christ. And in that section beginning with verse 27, we saw the Father give His confirmation and approval to the ministry of Jesus Christ and even His impending suffering and death. Where Christ had prayed ’Father, glorify your name.' And an audible voice from heaven so that all the multitudes could hear responded by saying, 'I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again,’ indicating that He had glorified His name through the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ and He would again exalt Himself through the death and subsequent resurrection of the Messiah.

The multitude was divided over the meaning, but for those who were truly believers they perceived and understood and Jesus said that voice from heaven came for their benefit. He then went on to say there would be three things that would be accomplished by His death, in verses 31 and 32. First, judgment would be meted out upon this world, this world system. Secondly, the ruler of this world would be judged, referring to Satan who functions as the god of this world. He would be brought to judgment through the cross of Jesus Christ. He is a defeated enemy, conquered. Referred to in Ephesians chapter 4 where Christ led captivity captive. Then again in Colossians where we’re told that He made an open display over the forces that had opposed Him. The third thing that is accomplished is the judgment of all mankind individually. First we saw the judgment of this world system, then the ruler of this world, then in verse 32, "I will draw all men to myself.” And as we noted, it seems that the context here indicates that He is talking about judgment. That all humanity individually and personally as a result of the cross and subsequent resurrection will stand face to face with Jesus Christ in judgment. John chapter 5 develops this more in detail. Every single person who is ever born in this world is destined to stand in the presence of Jesus Christ to be judged.

The multitude cannot understand the reference Jesus made to His death. In verse 32, He said "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to Myself." That expression "be lifted up" was almost a technical term for crucifixion. The multitude raised the question, how can the Messiah the Son of Man die if the Old Testament Scriptures say He is to have an eternal reign? He is to rule and reign eternally. How can you talk about Him being executed on a cross? Interestingly, Jesus never responds to the question. In effect, He tells them, your problem is not a theological question over the duration of the Messiah’s ministry; your problem is that you have not yet believed in the Messiah. And that is the only issue that needs to be dealt with at this point. Your problem is not that you don't understand how the Messiah can die and also rule forever. Your problem is that you don't even believe in the Messiah. And so He concludes His public ministry as John records it in verse 35. "Jesus therefore said to them, 'For a little while longer the light is among you. Walk while you have the light, that darkness may not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. While you have the light, believe in the light, in order that you may become sons of light.'" So Christ concludes His public ministry with a warning, an exhortation, about the light and the darkness and the need to believe in the light so they might experience the benefit that that relationship will bring. That is going to become very important for the conclusion that John is going to draw for us in a few moments.

The end of verse 36 tells us that "These things Jesus spoke, and He departed and hid Himself from them." His public ministry is over. The next time we see Christ in the presence of the multitudes in Israel it will be with them crying out to crucify Him. So He withdraws now into seclusion because even though the time has arrived, the crucifixion will occur on exactly the day, at exactly the time that God the Father has designated. So He withdraws into seclusion to await that time and to prepare Himself and His disciples for that occasion.

Now in verses 37-43, John gives his conclusion and summary of the earthly ministry of Christ. That public ministry. Then in verses 44-50, he will give a summary of the earthly ministry of Christ in the words of Christ Himself. He draws together the statements of Christ which present a summary and a conclusion to that ministry.

In verse 37 John states, "But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him." Humanly speaking, it seems that the earthly ministry of Christ concludes as a failure, not having accomplished what it should have accomplished. In spite of the fact that He had done many tremendous miracles, the nation is left in unbelief as He closes His ministry. This word 'signs' has been used repeatedly by John as his word for the miracles, because the miracles of Christ were signs that pointed to the fact that He is indeed the Messiah, the Son of God. It is the last time in John that the word 'signs' appears until you get over into chapter 20, verse 30, when John offers that summary statement of his entire gospel. In spite of the fact that all these miracles had been done, the nation, the Jews, were still not believing in Him. And you might have a scent of failure that He had tried, He had done His best but He had not accomplished His purposes. But John is quick to add in verse 38, that even the lack of faith on the part of the Jewish nation was in accord with the purpose and plan of God, and had been prophesied by God 800 years earlier by His spokesman, Isaiah.

In verse 38 we read, they're saying they were not believing in Him, "this was in order that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, 'Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?'" Going back to Isaiah chapter 53. Turn back there if you would. Isaiah and the 53rd chapter. What John wants to demonstrate is the very response of Israel is just as Isaiah prophesied. Just as God said it would be. So rather than the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ being a failure, it followed exactly the pattern that God said it would. Isaiah chapter 53 is the greatest chapter in all the Old Testament on the suffering and death of the Messiah for the sins of the world. It really begins in chapter 52 and verse 13, and there we're told that in the agony surrounding the crucifixion and the suffering that Jesus Christ would go through, His appearance was marred more than any man. Then chapter 53 begins, "Who has believed our message? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" That's what John quotes in chapter 12. Then going on to talk about the Messiah, His growth. Then verse 3, "...despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face. He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried..." Down to verse 6, "All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him." The continued discussion of the events surrounding His suffering and death. But that verse that starts this chapter is what John refers to. "Who has believed our message? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" And then further discussion about the suffering and death of the Messiah. Now keep in mind the context here. This was spoken to a people who had been repeatedly confronted with the revelation of God. God repeatedly sent His spokesmen, the prophets, to tell His people, to exhort His people to believe. He displayed the greatness of His power, and yet they continued in unbelief. That statement, "To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"—arm of the Lord being a metaphor for His power, His sovereignty, His might. Isaiah here is prophesying that the might and power and sovereignty of God is displayed, and yet we still must ask the question, who has believed? Even with the display of His power and might, the bulk of the people are left in unbelief.

Now when we come back to John chapter 12, that is what John has just recorded. In verse 37 he said that even though Jesus had performed so many signs, miracles, before them—in other words, the arm of the Lord had been revealed; His power and might in the miracles that were accomplished—and yet they were not believing in Him. Just as Isaiah had said 800 years earlier, they were unbelieving. Now John does not go on to develop Isaiah 53 and enter in to a discourse on the suffering of the Messiah as presented in Isaiah 53 because His purpose on this occasion is to explain the unbelief of Israel, to give explanation as to why the nation did not believe. Now he is going to tie Isaiah 53:1, the fact that the nation did not believe in spite of the great demonstration of power of God through the miracles of Christ to a statement in Isaiah chapter 6. And he goes on in verse 39 of John 12. "For this cause they could not believe." Now here we come to a section that sometimes causes us great difficulty. John says that the people of Israel "could not believe, for Isaiah said again, He has blinded their eyes, and He hardened their heart; lest they see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, and be converted, and I hear them." Now that statement seems totally out of character with what has gone on. Jesus concluded His public ministry by the exhortation in verse 36, "while you have the light, walk in the light." Now John says the people of Israel could not believe—the reason being, God had blinded them spiritually and hardened their hearts so they would be unable to perceive, so they would be unable to believe, so they would be unable to be converted and be healed or saved.

Now he quotes here from Isaiah chapter 6, and just before we go there, note verse 41 so you appreciate who is being talked about in Isaiah 6. "These things Isaiah said, because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him." In effect, John said when Isaiah spoke these words in Isaiah 6, it was because he had seen the glory of Jesus Christ and wrote about Him. Go back to Isaiah chapter 6.

What you have in the first part of Isaiah 6 is Isaiah is given a glimpse of the pre-incarnate glory of Jesus Christ. The glory that He had in the presence of His Father before He was born at Bethlehem. Jesus referred to this during His earthly ministry when He talked about the glory which He had with the Father before the earth was created.

Note Isaiah's description in chapter 6. "In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet and with two he flew. One called out to another and said, 'Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.' And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of Him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, 'Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.’" Something of the glory that was Christ's before He left that to become a man and die on a cross. John will write about the glory that is now Christ's when he writes the Book of Revelation, beginning in chapter 1. The glory that He now has with the Father, even as He had it before He became a man.

Pick up with verse 8 of Isaiah 6, the commissioning of Isaiah and the ministry given to him. "Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Then I said, 'Here am I. Send me!' And He said, 'Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on listening, but do not perceive; keep on looking, but do not understand.' Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and repent and be healed.' Then I said, 'Lord, how long?' And He answered, 'Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, houses are without people, and the land is utterly desolate...'" etc. down to the destruction of all but a tenth of the people. Isaiah’s message, ’Go and tell the people' but they won't understand, they won't perceive, they won't listen, they won't turn and be changed. The result—judgment. Now keep in mind this is spoken concerning a people who have been confronted repeatedly with the message of God through His servants and they have repeatedly refused to believe. So now it comes to the point where God is ready to judge them for their unbelief, and in preparation for that judgment He removes the possibility from them for changing their minds. God has determined irrevocably to enter in to judgment with them. The situation that is going to be presented, and we'll look at some other passages, is that those who would not believe or are brought to a position where they could not believe, the possibility of changing their minds is now removed because God has determined to enter in to judgment with them.

Look at a couple of passages with me. Zechariah chapter 7. Zechariah again speaks to the fact that the Word of the Lord had come to the nation Israel, but they had refused to believe. Note their response to God's messages. Verse 11 of Zechariah 7. "But they refused to pay attention, and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing." Note here, they were unbelieving. They put their fingers in their ears because they didn't want to hear what God had to say. "They made their hearts like Flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts." They were unwilling to hear. They were unwilling to hear the message. Therefore, great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. "And it came about that just as He called they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,' says the Lord of hosts." An awesome event, a tragic event. God in love and mercy and grace repeatedly called to the nation Israel to turn from their sin, to believe in Him, and they repeatedly refused and God said it came to the point that when they called to me, I would not listen to them. He had determined to judge the for unbelief and when judgment sets in, it is too late for one to change his mind. God had determined irrevocably to judge Israel, so it did no good for Israel to call out to God for mercy and forgiveness, because He says ’I would not listen.'

Look over in Matthew chapter 13. In Matthew 13, Jesus quotes from Isaiah 6. The same passage that John quotes from in John chapter 12. And here Jesus gives the explanation as to why He spoke in parables during His earthly ministry. He spoke in parables not to clarify things, not to make them more understandable, but to hide the meaning, to keep people from understanding. Note verse 10 of Matthew 13. "The disciples came and said to Him, 'Why do you speak to them in parables?' And He answered and said to them, 'To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. Therefore I speak to them in parables because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear nor do they understand. And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, 'You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; and you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive'"' etc., quoting from Isaiah 6:9,10. Judgment and the people of Israel who had repeatedly refused to believe were now in a position where they could not believe because God was veiling the message from them so they would not understand it because He had determined to enter in to judgment with them for their unbelief.

Look over in Acts chapter 28. It is important for us to see that this is a concept not limited to one period of time but it is the way God operates all the time. Not just Old Testament, but New Testament alike. Acts chapter 28, note verse 23. Paul is speaking as a prisoner in Rome in ministering the Word. Acts 28:23, "And when they had set a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God, and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the
Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening. And some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe. And when they did not agree with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting word, ’The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers.”' Note it was the Holy Spirit speaking when Isaiah wrote. Then he goes on to quote Isaiah 6:9,10. "Go to this people and say, ’You will keep on hearing, but will not understand”’ etc. Judgment being meted out upon the nation Israel for their failure to believe.

Look over in chapter 1 of Romans. This same principle is laid out where three times it is expressed that because of unbelief, God turned the people over to their sins as judgment. Now if unbelief in response to the message that God has made known, not only through the spoken Word and the written Word but also through His creation and nature. People continue to refuse to believe, so verse 24 says, "Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity." Rather than saving them, He gave them over to the destruction and their own sinful desires. Verse 26, "For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions." Verse 28, "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind..." Principle set down in the Scripture that when the revelation that God gives is rejected, there is the danger of God removing the opportunity for believing. That's the way He judges it. Those who are exposed to His truth, confronted with His revelation, whether in creation and nature or through His Scriptures, who refuse to believe are brought into judgment by God, brought to a place where He removes any possibility of their believing. Those who would not believe are now rendered unable to believe by God.

This principle is touched on by Paul in 2 Corinthians 2:16 when he says that every time Jesus Christ is proclaimed, that message is either a savior of life producing life or death causing death. In other words, every time Jesus Christ is presented as the One who died to pay the penalty for sin, that either results in people believing and experiencing salvation or people being further hardened and settled in their unbelief. Now I cannot draw a line and say, if you have heard this message ten times and not believed, you will never have the chance again. God deals with us in mercy and grace and we praise Him for it. You may get to hear it a hundred times, I don't know. But I do know the warning of Scripture is that every time you hear it and don't believe, you are in danger of having your opportunity removed. God does not promise you further opportunity, but He does promise that there will come a time when He will remove the opportunity and even the possibility so you will not be able to believe. Because you would not respond when He called, He will not respond when you call.

So in John chapter 12, that's the warning that's been given. Jesus spoke at the close of His public ministry, in verse 36, "While you have the light, believe in the light." While you have the opportunity, believe because there will come a time when you will not have the opportunity and that's what John refers to. Judgment has come. The bulk of the nation did not believe. Do you know why? Because they had rejected so long, God had determined to deal with them in judgment and dealt with them in such a way that they could not believe because He had determined to judge them for their unbelief.

In verse 42 of John chapter 12, John continues and ties together his summary by letting us know that not every single person in the nation Israel rejected Jesus Christ. There were many who believed. He says, "Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him." So while he could say in verse 37 they were not believing, that's a broad statement concerning the condition of the nation. Just like we could say about our own nation, it is an unbelieving nation; the majority of people are not believing in Jesus Christ as the One who died for them. But there are many within the nation who do believe. That was the condition in Israel. Many even of the rulers believed in Him. That strikes you as strange. I didn’t expect that. Many even of the Sanhedrin, the governing body of Israel, had come to believe in Jesus Christ. We’ll meet a couple of these men at the end of the gospel with the burial of Christ. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, the man who came to Jesus by night in John chapter 3. Who else, we don't know but we're told there were many even of the rulers who believed in Him. But note, "But because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue." They were afraid that if they openly identified themselves as believers in Jesus Christ, they would be excommunicated from Israel. Remember in John chapter 9, verse 22 the parents of the man who had been blind but had been given his sight by Jesus were afraid to say that Jesus had done it for fear of being excommunicated from the synagogue. Now here we see many in Israel, even of the rulers, were intimidated from openly acknowledging Him.

Verse 43 John gives the reason for their fear, very simply, "for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God." They loved the approval. That's our word agapa-o. That's something you do because of the value placed on a person or an object, and they had placed great value or worth on the approval of men. They loved the approval of men. They placed great worth or value on what men thought, on what men said, so they were afraid to speak up. Note the contrast. They loved the approval of men rather than or more than the approval of God. That word approval is interesting. It appears twice in verse 47, translated both times approval; but it appears up in verse 41—"These things Isaiah said, because he saw His glory..." That's the same word translated 'approval' up in verse 43, in the same form—doxon, glory.
And in verse 41, they saw the glory of Jesus Christ as recorded in Isaiah 6. Isaiah saw that glory. Now we're told in verse 43 that these who believed in Him loved the glory of men more than the glory of God. They liked the glory that men could give them and were more concerned about that than the glory that
God would give them. You go back and read Isaiah 6 and see the heavens themselves thundering and shaking the presence of the glory of the Son of God, and then you see men choosing the glory that men can give them over the glory that God can give them and it is almost impossible to accept it as true.

But you know, it's not so different. We even today are very easily intimidated. You know the reason? We love the glory that men can give us. And we are afraid to openly stand for Jesus Christ for fear that it will cost us the glory or approval from men. John Calvin wrote on this section centuries ago very much to the point. Let me read just a portion of what he said: "Earthly honors may be called golden shackles, binding a man so that he cannot freely do his duty."

Earthly honors may be called golden shackles because they keep a man from freely doing his duty. I think it's interesting. He calls them golden shackles. Golden because it is so appealing, but shackles nonetheless because they keep me from doing what God would want me to do. They bind me just as much as if they were cast iron. They are simply prettier to look at, but they still keep me from doing what God would have me do. Why? I am afraid of what men will say. How often we are intimated from speaking up for Jesus Christ because it goes through our minds, I would be embarrassed. What will they think? I wonder how well we are known through our neighborhoods, among our neighbors, for our testimony for Jesus Christ. Do they know we are a people who believe in Him? Who believe that men and women are lost if they don’t come to believe that Christ died for them? In our jobs and business, oh I don’t get paid to witness. I get paid to do my job and my life is a testimony. How many opportunities do you have? You work shoulder to shoulder with people who are destined to eternity in hell and because we love their approval, the glory they give us, we would not want to embarrass them or offend them by telling them that Jesus Christ died for them and that unless they believe in Him as their Savior, they are destined to eternity in hell. I have all kinds of reasons. John under the inspiration of the Spirit narrows it down—you love the glory that men give rather than the glory God gives. It happens in other areas. Our families. Many of you are converted out of families which are not believers. You know the pressure. I stand up and proclaim what I believe concerning Jesus Christ, and if I do what will my family think? What about the church I was raised in if I make an issue out of the fact that I believe salvation is by faith in Christ alone, so maybe I’d better not say anything. We have all kind of reasons why it’s more wise not to speak. And let me tell you, humanly speaking it is more wise not to speak. Because if you do it will cost you the glory that men will give you, but you've got to weigh that with only the glory that only God can give. What is more valuable? Paul talked about this in his earthly ministry, a man who would sacrifice the glory that men could give for his testimony for Jesus Christ. And in 2 Cor. chapter 4 he closes that chapter by saying that these earthly afflictions, these bodily sufferings that we are undergoing are simply transitory, temporal things and they are not worthy to be compared with the weight of glory that God has prepared for those that love Him. I simply need to bring my perspective back into line. Am I often like these Pharisees, these leaders who loved the approval of men more than the approval of God. What a tragedy, that I should be intimidated by what people think. That I should be afraid and ashamed to speak for Jesus Christ because of what people would think? When God says He will shower me with glory and I should care that men should withhold their glory? Hard to understand it with these Jews, but you know it is more understandable for them than it is for us. It would be far more costly for them to them to be openly identified with Jesus Christ than it is even for us today. And it's inexcusable on their part. How much more so for you and I today.

I wonder, are you known as a follower of Jesus Christ wherever you are? I don't mean being obnoxious in the wrong way, but I mean being an open, aggressive, proclaimer of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Sometimes people will say that's obnoxious but that's because they don't love the Savior that you serve. Paul was an obnoxious person, not because of what he did but because of whom he represented. But I must be willing to bear the stigma that goes with identification with Jesus Christ. What a privilege. What a tragedy here that some of these who were intimidated by men end up being part of the very counsel that is responsible for sentencing Jesus Christ to death on a cross because they were afraid of the cost of speaking up and being identified with Him. Not that their speaking up would change the course of history that God had set down, but it would have given them the honor of being identified with the Son of God at that time.

Perhaps you're here this morning and you don't fit that group. You're not a believer who is intimidated, you're one who has not believed at all. I'm very concerned for you because you've come and you've heard the message of God's grace and mercy proclaimed, that the Son of God has come to earth and died on a cross to pay the penalty for sins. He was raised three days later as proof that salvation was accomplished. And if you do not believe that, you will be further hardened and settled in your unbelief. And God in grace may give you a chance tomorrow or the next time. I don't know. But I know the exhortation of the Scripture is "Today is the day of salvation. This is the accepted time." The exhortation of God to you is, believe this message now while you have opportunity. God does not promise you opportunity tomorrow to believe in His Son, but He has graciously given you that choice this morning to believe that Christ died for you. Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you for the greatness of your love. Lord, your overwhelming mercy and grace manifested to us in the provision of salvation through the death of your Son. I pray, Father, for those who are here this morning who have yet to believe in Jesus Christ. Thank you for your grace in bringing them here. Pray for that work of the Spirit to open the eyes of their understanding that they might see and believe that Jesus Christ died for them. To see the futility of resisting God and to only have judgment to anticipate.

Father, for those of us who have believed. We thank you that you have given us a Spirit, not of cowardice but of courage. We pray that we might be men and women who are willing to openly identify with Jesus Christ. Father, give us such a love for a dying world that we will be willing to undergo the inconvenience of being