Why Light Doesn’t Always Lead To Sight Series

One of the biggest challenges for the early Christian leaders was how many Jews were rejecting Jesus. The first two things Jesus’ disciples say about him in the Gospel of John are “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41). And, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45). Despite the Disciples’ opinions, very few other Jews believed Jesus was the Savior. This is seemingly catastrophic for the Christian movement. If Jesus is the Messiah as the Bible predicted, then why didn’t more of His people embrace Him as the Savior?

Public vs Private

We arrive at a special place in the Gospel of John. The public ministry of Jesus is largely over when you arrive at John 12:50. Now, John will focus his camera lens on the private ministry of Jesus going forward. Again, the private ministry of Jesus Christ is about to begin. If you want to look ahead at chapters 13 - 17, you’ll notice that the crowd is shut out. So, it becomes personal, and it is intimate. As soon as this more private section between Jesus and the Disciples is over, you encounter the cross and the resurrection.

Today’s Scripture

“Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,

and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

“He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart,

lest they see with their eyes,

and understand with their heart, and turn,

and I would heal them.”

Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me” (John 12:37-50).

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Jesus says…

1. You Need My Power to Believe

2. You Need My Light to See1

3. I Am Your Hope to Proceed

1. You Need My Power to Believe

“Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him” (John 12:37).

Jesus says, “You need my power to believe.”

1.1 It Wasn’t for a Lack of Evidence

John wraps up an incredible sermon that Jesus likely delivers on Palm Sunday. Then John faces a problem head-on, and it states it so succinctly in verse 37: He then asks the question, “For all the signs Jesus did, why don’t more Jews believe He is the long-awaited Messiah?” After all, He healed the sick, made the blind see, raised the dead, taught the multitudes, and had compassion on the masses. But Jesus isn’t having an impact on so many of His own people. After rehearsing all that Jesus did and said for more than eleven chapters, John tells us all, “It’s not for a lack of evidence.”

1.2 Thirty-Four Miracles

If you were to count up Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John, you would discover 34 such miraculous signs occur in the gospels where Jesus demonstrated His power over nature, he demonstrated his power over disease, over demons, and over death itself. Now, just so you know, when we say miracle, we mean a REAL miracle. I don’t mean the kind of miracles that people say, “Oh, the sun rose this morning. Wasn’t that beautiful? That’s a miracle.”2 No, these are miracles that break the laws of nature. Jesus turned water into wine. He walked on the water. He even took a few loaves and fish, blessed them, broke them, and fed thousands of people with them. Can you imagine hearing Jesus’ matchless words, seeing Jesus’ beautiful life, watching Jesus perform astonishing miracles, and still NOT believing?