John 12(34–50)

Introduction

Last week we spent our time on verses 12 to 33 of John 12, which I divided into three parts.

The first part was about the king who has come. As the Lord Jesus came into Jerusalem, the people welcomed him as their king. But they were probably expecting him to be a warrior-king like David in the Old Testament who led his army into battle against their enemies. However, the Lord Jesus did not come to kill, but to be killed. He did not come as a warrior-king, but as the servant-king who would give up his life for the sake of his people. And to make that clear, he came humbly and gently, riding on a donkey.

The second part last week was about the hour that has come. When the Lord heard that some Greeks wanted to meet him, he said that the hour has come from the Son of Man to be glorified. He’s the Son of Man and he meant that he will be glorified by giving up his life on the cross for the salvation of his people throughout the world. By giving up his life on the cross for the salvation of his people throughout the world, he will display the glory of his overflowing and abounding love for his people. And after his death, he was raised and exalted to heaven to be glorified among the saints and angels there.

And in the third part of last week’s passage, the Lord Jesus prayed to his Father in heaven to glorify the Father’s name. And so, this part was about how the time had come for the Father to be glorified in the death of the Son. So, in the cross we see the glory of Christ’s abounding love for us. But in the cross, we also see the glory of the Father’s abounding love for us, because the Father so loved the world that he sent his Son into the world to suffer and die as one of us and for us. He sent his Son to pay for our sins and shortcomings with his life so that all who believe receive forgiveness and peace with God and the free gift of everlasting life. Because of the Father’s overflowing grace and mercy and kindness and goodness, he did not spare his Son, but gave him up to the cross for us and for our everlasting salvation.

And so, that’s what we were thinking about last week. I want to divide today’s passage into three parts as well. Firstly, we’ll focus on verses 34 to 36. Then we’ll focus on verses 37 to 43. And then there’s verses 44 to 50. The first part is about light and darkness. The second part is about belief and unbelief. And the third part is about believing in the light for eternal life.

Verses 34 to 36

Let’s turn to verses 34 to 36. And these verses continue on from where we left off last week. The Lord’s heart was troubled as he thought about what has going to happen to him in a week’s time, when he would be arrested and beaten and nailed to the cross, where he would suffer God’s wrath for our sins. His heart was troubled. So, what should he do? Should he ask his Father to save him from all this sorrow and suffering? No, he will not ask his Father in heaven for that, because this is why he was sent into the world and this is why he came. He came to suffer and die for the sins of his people in obedience to his Father’s will.

And so, he prayed instead for his Father to glorify his Father’s name. And his Father answered him with a voice that seemed like thunder. And his Father said that he has already glorified his name and he will glorify it again. He will glorify his name through his Son, who will be lifted up on the cross to die for the sins of his people.

And the people who were there spoke up and asked the Lord Jesus in verse 34: ‘We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain for ever. So how can you say, “The Son of Man must be lifted up”? Who is this “Son of Man”?’

When they refer here to the Law, they really mean the Old Testament. And when they refer to ‘the Son of Man’, they’re thinking about the Christ: God’s Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King. The Jews were expecting God to send the Christ to save them from their enemies. And they’re saying that they have heard from the Old Testament Scriptures that the Christ will remain or live for ever. And they’re right! The Old Testament Scriptures do say that. For instance, in Isaiah 9:7 it says that the coming king’s government will never end. And in Ezekiel 37:25 it says that the coming king will be their prince for ever. And in Psalm 72:17 the psalmist prays for the coming king’s name to endure for ever. And so, there are places in the Old Testament where it says that the coming king will remain: he will live and reign for ever.

In that case, how can the Lord Jesus say that he will be lifted up? That is, how can you say he will be lifted up on a cross to die? We’re expecting a mighty warrior-king to come, who will drive the Romans from the Promised Land and who will set up his throne in Jerusalem as David once did. And he will reign for ever. That’s what we’re expecting. But you’re saying that the king, when he comes, will die. How can that be?

And the answer, of course, is that he will remain for ever, because though the Lord Jesus died and was buried, he was raised from the dead on the third day to live and reign for ever. That’s the answer to their question.

However, the Lord did not answer their question. As he often does, he disregarded their question and he said something else which they needed to know. And what they needed to know is there in verses 35 and 36. They needed to know that they will have the light among them just a little while longer. And they must walk while they have the light, lest the darkness overtakes them. The man who walks in the darkness doesn’t know where he’s going. So, put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you can become sons of the light.

So, that’s what he said to them. What did he mean? Well, right at the beginning of John’s gospel, John wrote about the Word of God, which, you’ll remember is John’s title for Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And John said that in the divine Word was life and that life was the light of men. So, the divine Word gives us life. He gives us our life in the world. And he also gives light to every living person. In other words, he gives to every living person the knowledge of God. Every living person knows God, because the divine Word is continually revealing God to us through the things he has made and through the things he does in the world. The Light is shining continually.

But because we’re sinners by nature, then we suppress the light. We repress it. We push it to the back of our minds. And so, as John said in chapter 1, the light shines in the darkness.

But the darkness has not overcome the light or obliterated it, because despite our natural sinfulness, the divine Word continues to reveal God to us. He reveals God to us continually by what he has made and by what he does in the world. And what’s more, he sent prophets into the world to reveal to the people of Israel God’s will to save his people from their sin and misery. He also sent them John the Baptist as the last of his prophets. And then, when the time was right, he revealed God to us more clearly than ever before when the Light came into the world in a new way. The Light came into the world as one of us and lived among us. Jesus Christ is the divine Word and he is the Light of God and he came into the world as one of us to reveal God’s glory to us.

And in verse 35 of today’s passage, the Lord is saying to the people that they’re going to have the Light among them just a little while longer. That is to say, they are going to have him among them just a little while longer. In a little while, he will be taken from them and crucified. Then he will be raised from the dead and he will return to his Father’s side in glory. So, he’s been in the world for thirty-three years and very soon he’ll be taken from them. They’re not going to have him with them for much longer.

And since that’s the case, what must they do? They must walk while they have the Light. And when the Lord says they must walk while they have the Light, he means they must believe in him. We know he means that, because he goes on to tell them in verse 36 to put their trust in the Light while they have it. So, while he’s still among them, trust in him. Believe in him. Trust in him for forgiveness and eternal life.

And the image of walking suggests to us that our faith should be ongoing. When we go out for a walk, we’re moving continually. If we stop, we’re no longer walking; we’re only standing. Walking means moving continually. And so, we’re to believe in the Lord Jesus and we’re to keep believing in him. We’re to trust in him and we’re to keep trusting in him. We’re not to stop. We’re to trust in him continually.

So, the Lord is saying to the people around him: Walk while you have the Light. In other words, trust in me and keep trusting in me. Otherwise the darkness will overtake you. It will overcome you. It will master you. So, if you don’t trust in the Lord Jesus, darkness will overcome you. You’ll remain in the dark about the greatness of God’s overflowing love and his abounding grace and mercy and goodness and his willingness to forgive us and to give us eternal life in his presence.

The person who is walking in the darkness doesn’t know where he’s going. And do you know where that person is going? He’s heading for destruction. He’s heading for eternal punishment, away from the presence of God. That person is in the dark. He can’t see what’s ahead. He can’t see where he’s heading. But that is where he’s heading. He’s on the path to destruction. And so, we all need to put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is able to lead us away from the path to destruction and onto the road that leads to eternal life in the presence of God.

Now, these things have been written down for our benefit. The Lord was telling the Jews around him that they need to believe in him. But he’s also telling us that we too need to believe in him. The Light comes to us in the preaching of God’s word. The Lord Jesus Christ, the divine Word, is speaking to us today. He’s shining his light on us here in this place. And he’s saying to you today that you need to walk while you have the Light. You need to trust in him and keep trusting in him today and tomorrow and for the rest of your life. Don’t let the darkness overcome you. Don’t let unbelief and ignorance overpower you. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Light. And if you do, and if you keep trusting in him, then he’ll lead you away from the path to destruction and he’ll lead you along the path that leads to everlasting life.

Verses 37 to 43

And the next part of our passage says more about belief and unbelief.

Now, I’ve said before that the first half of John’s gospel — which is known as ‘the book of signs’ — ended in chapter 11; and from chapter 12 we have the second half of John’s gospel which is all about his death and resurrection. But it’s perhaps more accurate to say that chapter 12 spans both halves of the gospel. It anticipates what is to come, but it also looks back to what was before. And so, in verse 37 John says that after the Lord Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. John is referring to the Lord’s miraculous signs which John recorded for us in ‘the book of signs’: the Lord turned water into wine; he healed the official’s son; he healed the lame man at the pool of Bethesda; he fed the 5,000; he walked on water; he healed the man who was blind from birth; and he brought Lazarus back from the dead. Seven signs to convince us that the Lord Jesus really is the Christ and the Son of God. And these seven signs are only a sample of the many signs the Lord performed. But despite performing all these signs among the people, they still would not believe in him.

Why did they not believe? Well, John explains it for us. He’s telling us in these verses that their unbelief is in fact the fulfilment of the Scriptures. God foretold in the Old Testament that they would not believe. And it’s even more than that, because in the Old Testament, God announced that he would actually harden their hearts to prevent them from believing.

John quotes first from Isaiah 53. The prophet asked the Lord: ‘Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed.’ Isaiah is saying that the Lord revealed his arm, or his mighty power, to his people at that time, but they did not believe what they heard from the Lord. And it’s significant that John quotes from Isaiah 53, because Isaiah 52 and 53 are about the Lord’s servant who was wounded for our transgressions before being raised and lifted up and highly exalted. In other words, Isaiah 52 and 53 are about the Lord Jesus Christ, who bore our sins on the cross before rising from the dead. Who has believed our message? Answer: Not many of the Jews in the Lord’s day.

And John goes on to say that they could not believe. It’s not that they didn’t believe, but that they couldn’t believe. They weren’t able to believe. And they weren’t able to believe because, according to the Lord in Isaiah 6, he has blinded their eyes and he has deadened their hearts so that they weren’t able to see with their eyes or understand with their hearts. If they could see and understand, they would have turned to the Lord for healing or salvation. But they were unable to see and understand, because the Lord kept them from seeing and understanding.

And what the Lord said about his people in the days of Isaiah applies to the people in the days of the Lord Jesus. God kept them from believing in the Lord Jesus.

Now this seems very strange to us, doesn’t it? But we have to understand that God was working out his plan for our salvation. And God’s plan for our salvation involved the hardening of the Jews, so that instead of believing in the Lord Jesus, they crucified him. When God hardened their hearts to keep them from believing, he was making sure that they would arrest the Lord Jesus and beat him and crucify him, because that’s the way God was going to save us from the path of destruction and to bring us into his presence. His Son must die for our sins. And for his Son to die for our sins, the Jews had to crucify him.

Furthermore, the unbelief of the Jews leads to salvation for the Gentiles. We see this in the book of Acts. Paul would go from place to place and preach to the Jews. Some believed, but many did not. In fact, often they opposed Paul and his message. And as a result, Paul preached the good news to the Gentiles and many of them believed. And so, the unbelief of the Jews meant salvation for Gentiles. Now, that doesn’t mean that the Jews as a whole are condemned. God is still working among them even today, enabling some to believe in the Saviour for salvation. But their unbelief means salvation for Gentiles. As Paul says in Romans 11, Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.

And the fact that God hasn’t hardened all of them becomes clear in what we read in verse 42, where John tells us that at the same time many even among the leaders of the Jews believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. So, most of them could not believe, because God hardened their hearts. However, he enabled some of them to believe.

However, John goes on to tell us that, because of the Pharisees, these new believers would not confess their faith for fear that they would be excommunicated from the synagogue. So, because of fear, they would not confess their faith openly. They were secret believers. And John also tells us that they kept their faith a secret, because not only were they afraid, but they loved praise from men more than they loved praise from God.

Now, if their faith was genuine, then no doubt God would continue to work in their hearts to renew them in his image so that they would love him more and more and grow in courage. But this was at the beginning of their Christian life and at the beginning of our Christian life, we are very far from being perfect. And God works in us slowly over time to remove our faults and to correct our errors and to build us up in holiness. And so, I don’t think we should criticise these secret believers too much, but they’re only new believers. And I think John has included this little note about these secret believers to encourage his readers, who may be afraid to align themselves publicly with Christ. He’s encouraging secret believers in every generation to confess their faith openly. He saying to us: Do not be like these people who believed, but you were afraid to come out into the open about it. Confess your faith openly. Don’t be afraid of what people may do to you or think of you. If you’re a believer, do not be ashamed of Christ your Saviour, but confess him openly.

And before we move on to the final part of today’s passage, let me draw your attention to verse 41 where John says that Isaiah saw the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and spoke of him. Do you know what he’s saying? He’s saying that in Isaiah 6 where we read about that vision which Isaiah received — when he saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple and the angels covered their faces because they could not look at the Lord — when Isaiah received that vision, he was seeing the glory of the Lord Jesus. He was seeing the glory of the Lord Jesus, because the Lord Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. He is God from God and Light from Light and true God from true God. He is the Lord God Almighty. The Father is also the Lord God Almighty and so is the Holy Spirit. All three of them are one Lord God Almighty. And so, when Isaiah saw the Lord, he was seeing the Son, who came down from heaven and became one of us in order to raise us up to heaven.

Verses 44 to 50

And that takes us to the final part of today’s passage, which is about believing in the Light for eternal life. And the Light we’re to believe in has come from God the Father.

In verse 44 the Lord cried out. Isn’t that interesting? What he was about to say was so important that he raised his voice, so that all who were there could hear him.

And what he had to say was this: ‘When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.’ Because the Son has come from the Father and because they possess one and the same divine being, then to believe in one is to believe in the other. To believe in the Son is to believe in the Father, because the Son is a repetition of the Father and has come from the Father.

And so, when any of the people there looked at the Lord Jesus, they were seeing the one who sent him, because the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the exact image of his Father. And that means that what is true of the Son is true of the Father; and what is true of the Father is true of the Son. They are the same as one another, except that one is the Father and the other is the Son. Apart from that one difference, they are the same. And in the Son, the people saw what the Father is like. In the Son, they saw the Father’s overflowing love and grace and mercy and goodness and his willingness to save all who trust in the Son for eternal life.

And this means that the Son is also the Light, because he gives us the knowledge of God so that we’re no longer in the dark about what God is like. The Son, who is also the Light, shows us what God the Father is like.

In verse 47 the Lord says that ‘as for the person who hears his words, but does not keep them, I do not judge him.’ And what he means is that he did not come into the world to judge the world. When he came into the world as one of us, he did not come to condemn us. In fact, he came to save us. He came to offer up his life on the cross as the ransom to pay for our sins, so that all who believe can have peace with God and the hope of everlasting life. He did not come to judge and to condemn, but to save.

But the ones who hear his word and refuse to keep it will eventually be judged on the last day when Christ comes again. And on that day, they will be judged and condemned for not believing his word. And they should have believed his word, because the word he proclaimed was not just his own word, but it was the word of God the Father. God the Father told him what to say. And so, those who did not believe his word did not believe the word of his Father who sent him.

And we all ought to believe the Lord’s word, because not only is it the word of God the Father, but it leads to eternal life. Do you see that in verse 50? The Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to proclaim a message from God the Father about salvation and eternal life. And he still comes to us today. He comes to us in the preaching of the gospel and he declares to us a word from God the Father about salvation and eternal life.

Whoever hears and does not believe will be condemned on the day of judgment to come. But whoever hears and believes will never be condemned. In fact, the person who believes in the Son passes from death to life right now. Those who believe are transferred right now from the path that leads to destruction to the path that leads to life. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Light of the world. And he will lead us all the way to eternal life in the presence of God in the new and better world to come. He comes to us in the preaching of his word and he tells us to believe in his name. Believe in his name and keep believing. Do not give up. Do not wander away. Do not grow weary. Do not grow cold. Keep believing in him, because he’s the only one who can lead us back to God, where there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.