Calloused Hearts of Unbelief
Fortifying the Foundations # 29
John 12:37-50[1]
2-29-04
This morning in our study of the gospel of John we stand at the end of Jesus’ public ministry. In chapters 13-17 Jesus is alone with his disciples before his arrest. He has much to say to them. There is much ahead for us in this book. But his public offer to Israel concludes here in Chapter 12:36. In our text John now reflects on Jesus’ message and Israel’s response to their Messiah.[2]
He begins with an expression of amazement. John 12:37 “Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous sings in their presence, they still would not believe in him.”
Have you ever been amazed at people’s capacity to explain away the works of God? To begin with, all of creation bears record of God’s existence and goodness. Every flower that blooms, every star that glitters, every bird that sings is a declaration that God is. A person has to work very hard to deny that witness. Men devise elaborate theories of evolution to try to explain it all away. A germ becomes an amoeba, an amoeba becomes a fish, a fish becomes a lizard, a lizard becomes a monkey, and a monkey becomes a man. Of course, even if a person could believe such unfounded theory, no reasonable explanation of first cause is ever given. Experience tells us that something has to come from something—but why all the effort to deny that it all came from God? (Oh, the amazing concoctions of unbelief)
Jesus came in demonstration and power. There were miracles over the laws of nature. Water was turned to wine. Storms were calmed as his command. The disciples watched him walk on water. There were healings—mighty healings. He spoke the word and the nobleman’s son was healed. He touched the eyes of the blind and they saw. The lame walked and the deaf heard. He even raised the dead. The resurrection of Lazarus was an undeniable miracle before many credible witnesses.
But the response is amazing. Instead of bowing to Christ and turning their lives over to him by far the vast majority chose not to believe in him. It is easy for us to think that if people could just see a big enough miracle—if church were just interesting enough and exciting enough—the world would turn their lives over to God. But one lesson Jesus’ ministry teaches us is this: miracles alone do not guarantee faith. Miracles are an opportunity for faith. A miracle from God is a message from God calling people to a decision—a decision to either acknowledge the hand of God and submit to Him/ or a decision to explain it away and to live independent of God.
This response of unbelief was exactly what the prophets said would happen. In Isaiah 53:1 the prophet cried out, “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” The arm of the Lord refers to the power of God.[3] The sad answer to that question is that very few believed. There were the twelve. But one of them was a devil. There were some who did respond in faith. But even with all this demonstration of the power of God, very few believed. Why? The answer is that their hearts had become hardened. They had lost their tenderness toward God. They had become insensitive to what He was doing.
How does a heart become so hardened that it cannot believe? I want to suggest to you this morning that it happens because of resistance—resistance to the workings of the Holy Spirit.
There is something that happens to a man’s hands when he works at manual labor over a period of time. As his fingers rub against the handle of a hammer or the handle of a shovel they become calloused. His hands lose their sensitivity because the friction between his hands and other things create a callous. Our word callous comes from a Latin word meaning “hard skin”.[4]
These people in Jesus’ day had become hard hearted—a callous[5] had formed over their hearts. They were not sensitive or responsive to what Jesus was doing. The natural consequence of resisting God is spiritual numbness and insensitivity.
Life brings to each and every one of us events that can potentially harden us. There is a natural tenderness and innocence in our infancy. A baby is born soft and tender. But as a person goes through life he or she is exposed to the elements. Disappointments come. Injustices happen. And if we’re not careful the way we respond to all that is to simply harden our emotions and lose sensitivity.
Can we get through this life without becoming emotionally hardened? In the evenings my wife often rubs lotion on her hands. Her hands are softer than mine because she regularly moisturizes them with lotions. In the same way, the soul that regularly comes before God for the anointing of the Holy Spirit also remains soft and sensitive. It is the oil of the Holy Spirit applied to our hearts that keeps us from becoming hardened through life’s experiences.
We can also help one another in this process. Heb 3:13 says, “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” That verse clearly tells us that sin has a hardening effect on one’s soul.
Do you remember the story of the Exodus? There is a remarkable interaction between Pharaoh hardening his heart against the will of God and God hardening Pharaoh’s heart as a consequence of those kinds of choices. The story begins with this man sitting on the throne of Egypt claiming to be a god. He has set himself against God and His people. He has been putting them through horrible rigors of slavery. When Moses gives him the word of the Lord what is his response? He resists God’s demands upon his life. He hardens himself against God and refuses to let God’s people go. The Bible tells us that God confirmed that moral choice by hardening his heart. Even in the face of undeniable miracles, Pharaoh hardened himself and chose to resist the will of God. He chose hardness of heart so that’s what he got.[6]
John also talks about these people being blinded to the truth.
Why can two people sit side by side in a service like this? One is bored to tears. Another is feeding on manna from heaven. One sees God everywhere. The other sees God nowhere. Is God there? Absolutely! But not everyone sees Him. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” I don’t think that promise is just saying that one day in another life they will see God. The wicked will one day stand before God at the great white throne and see Him. No, the pure in heart see him now.[7]
“He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts...” The light came and they chose to close their eyes. They said they were looking for the Messiah. But this Messiah would not cater to their lust and greed and selfishness. As they looked at the sinless Son of God, it was like looking into a mirror. They looked and saw their true condition and did not like what they saw.[8] So they closed their eyes to the truth. And refused to see. Jesus came to open the eyes of the blind. But these people chose blindness over sight. So their choice was confirmed with blindness.[9]
Here is the awesome law of free will. What you and I choose, we get![10] If I choose to harden myself against God—I get spiritually calloused. If I choose blindness over sight, I am spiritually blinded and cannot see the truth. It did not have to be that way for these people. It was not a momentary choice but one confirmed over and over again in their hearts.
Here is this same principle applied to the last days, 2 Thess 2:10-12
“They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” NIV
Notice what comes first. First they refuse to love the truth. They would rather have a lie that justified their wickedness than to receive the truth that would demand a change in life-style. Then what follow? God sends them what they love. He sends it in huge portions—powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.
Right now in our nation there are people openly, unashamedly contending for homosexuality.[11] It amazes me that these people are not embarrassed about their unnatural behavior. But some kind of delusion—some kind of misguided thinking has led them to firmly believe that it is all right to be involved in homosexuality. The Bible clearly condemns it. But there are even Christian denominations that can no longer tell the difference between right and wrong on the issue. A judicial blindness has occurred.
Rom 1:21-27
“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen.
26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.” NIV
Notice the progression of events in that passage. First, although they knew God (previous verses tell us everyone has that revelation through the testimony of creation alone) they made a choice. They chose not to glorify Him as God.
Then what happened? Judicial blindness! Their thinking became futile. Their foolish hearts became darkened. They chose their own sinful lusts and sinful ways. And what did God do? He simple “gave them over to shameful lusts.” They became captive to their own wickedness. In all that, God simply respected the free will of man.
Let this amazing truth about life dawn on each and everyone of us here this morning. What you choose—what you pursue—is not only what you get but is also what you become. And in this life we are becoming something that we will be forever and ever. Rev 22:11 “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still." NKJV
This life is not dress rehearsal. This life is the real thing and I am making real decisions that will last me for an eternity. It is sobering to know that with every choice I make I am slowly but surely shaping what I will be for all eternity.
Some people are disturbed by these kinds of passages in the Bible. They think God is just arbitrarily nice to some people and mean to others. But nothing could be further from the truth. When God made man He made him in his own image with a free will and the capacity to make moral choices. As much as it breaks God’s heart when people choose to rebel against Him, he stays true to that original design.
Why would a person choose unbelief over belief? Faith in God places a certain demand upon him. If God is—and if God is holy and calls us to be holy—then there are things that one must do in obedience to the moral nature of God. By and large unbelief is simply the insistence on having our own way rather than bowing to the rulership of the Almighty.
That’s why an intellectual accent alone is not a saving faith. I may doctrinally and religiously acknowledge the claims of Christ. But does my faith in Christ bear the fruit of obedience? We are not saved by works. But James tells us that genuine faith will produce obedience to the Lord.[12]
In verse 42 of our text John mentions the large number of leaders who believed in Jesus. They accepted the evidence that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. They knew that His message was true. But they would not publicly confess Christ. They looked at the cost of making a public declaration of Christ and decided the price was too high to pay. They would have been thrown out of the synagogue if they spoke up. They would have lost their cushy positions.
They too were making a choice. Almost persuaded but not quite enough to pay the price. We know that later Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea did make a public stand. But most never did. Listen to what John says about these people. Verse 43, “For they loved praise from men more than praise from God.” I think God was expecting more from these people that just mental agreement. I think He wanted their hearts[13]. And their choosing the favor from men rather than the favor from God was a bad choice.
Romans 10:9-11 “That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” NIV In our study of John I have come to realize that some of our evangelical concepts of saving faith may be a little shaky. Do I want to stand before God some day and explain to Him why I was more concerned about my position, my self interest, the opinions of others rather than His honor and glory?
So there were those whose unbelief led them to explain away the evidence. And there were others who acknowledged the evidence but still would not commit themselves openly to Christ (which in reality was another kind of unbelief).
Jesus calls people to Himself today just as he did 2000 years ago. The evidence of His life, death and resurrection continues to confront people’s hearts. Some will choose unbelief. Some will choose to ignore the evidence or try to explain it away. Others will acknowledge the truth at a certain level. But they will not give their hearts to the Lord. They will continue to go their own way and will not openly confess His lordship. What a sad choice unbelief is.
But for every person in this room there is another choice available to us. We can choose to not only acknowledge the truth but to put our trust in Jesus and in what He has done on our behalf at the cross. Everywhere the message of Christ is preached some will not believe. But some will believe. And it is to you who choose to believe that I want to direct my final comments. Do you recognize that Jesus is Who He claimed to be? Have you personally realized that He is Lord and He is the Savior of sinners like you and me? If you do, you can come to Him just as you are and throw yourself on His mercy. And He will receive you. (Invitation)
TEXT: John 12:37-50
37Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38This 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?" 39For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
40"He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn-and I would heal them."
41Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.
42Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
44Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. 46I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
47"As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. 48There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. 49For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."
NIV
Richard Tow
Grace Chapel Foursquare Church
Springfield, MO
www.gracechapelchurch.org
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[1] The text was given before the sermon using DVD produced by the American Bible Society (based upon the Good News Bible). See www.GospelofJohntheFilm.com for more information. This passage is provided at the end of this message in New International Version for your convenience.
[2] Arthur Pink, Exposition of the Gospel of John, Volume II (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981) p. 278
[3] Pink, p. 281
[4] http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/Callous.html accessed 2-28-04.
[5] Cleon Rogers, The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998) p. 213. Rogers quotes Westcott as saying the word epooroosen (aor. ind. act. of poorooo) describes the formation of a callus in a part of the body.
[6] G. Campbell Morgan, The Gospel According to John (Los Angeles: Fleming Revell Co.) p. 223. Exodus 9:34 gives clear evidence of Pharaoh’s choice.
[7] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Vol. I (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985) p. 114 (Matthew 5:8)
[8] John 3:19-20
[9] Leon Morris, Reflections on the Gospel of John (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson) p. 462 makes the following statement: “But to shut one’s eyes to the light is a sure and certain way of remaining in the darkness.”
[10] Ray Stedman says in his sermon entitled “Faithful Belief and Fatal Unbelief” refers to “the law of the spirit that declares what you persist in doing is what you will become.” (Accessed 2-28-04 at www.sermoncentral.com )
[11] This is a reference to the very public challenges currently being made to the constitutionality of laws prohibiting same sex marriages.
[12] James 2:18-20
[13] Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Volume II (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984) p. 394
