Eternal Christ
After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them. Although he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
“Lord, who has believed our message,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said,
“He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
so that they might not look with their eyes
and understand with their heart and turn—
and I would heal them.”
Isaiah said this because[g] he saw his glory and spoke about him. Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue, for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.
John 12:36-43 (NRSUV)
Who is Jesus? Who is Jesus to you?
John begins his presentation of the Gospel describing Jesus as God, the eternal Word who existed in the beginning, who possesses the mind of God, who is the holy Creator of everything, whose essence is life, and whose life is the light of all people (see John 1:1-5). With the incredibly poetic introduction in mind, John spreads little nuggets of truth proclaiming the deity of Jesus throughout the gospel bearing his name. Let there be no mistake. Jesus is God.
I recently saw John 12:41 as an amazing little nugget of truth declaring Jesus’ eternal existence. John explains that Isaiah saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about Him. You might ask, so what? The prophet Isaiah lived over 600 years before Jesus came to earth as a man, and while Isaiah lived, he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about Jesus.
Wow. How awesome is that? I mean, God afforded the prophet this amazing view of heaven just so Isaiah would record it, and now, thousands of years later, we have the privilege of reading the words he wrote. What did he say? What was and is so important that God orchestrated the amazing events?
Let’s consider how John connects the dots between Jesus and Isaiah. Please turn to chapter 12 of the Gospel According to John. After Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem with adoring crowds welcoming Him as royalty, Jesus told the crowd that He would be crucified, that He would die, and after that, He would draw all people to Himself. Jesus said,
“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” John 12:32
John annotates the quote saying,
He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. John 12:33
So the crowd knew what Jesus was saying. The crowd knew “lifted up” meant death by crucifixion, and they suddenly shifted from heralding Jesus as the coming king to a fraud. They had heard the Messiah’s reign would last forever, and they had just heard Jesus say He would die, and their view of Him shifted. Jesus then, for the last time, urged them to believe saying,
“While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.” John 12:36
After saying this, Jesus hid, and the crowds refused to believe. They had seen the signs and wonders, they had seen Jesus do what only God could do, yet they refused to believe. In John’s presentation of the Gospel, this marks the transition between Jesus’ presentation of His glory through amazing signs and wonders and Godly teaching to crowds, and crowds being amazed by Him, and Mary’s extravagant and intimate worship of Him, and the crowds welcoming Him as king, to the crowds turning on Him and refusing to believe, and His closest followers abandoning Him. As John transitions, he reminds us that it all is happening exactly the way God said it would. God’s plan, His holy will was coming together. This was not a surprise, it was not Plan B. It was happening the way God revealed to Isaiah it would happen over six hundred years earlier.
John quotes Isaiah 53:1, the introduction of Isaiah’s remarkable Messianic prophecy, writing
“Lord, who has believed our message,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” John 12:38
Isaiah 53 continues describing Jesus in remarkable detail. “He was despised and rejected by others… Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases, yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities… like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth… Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with affliction… (Isaiah 53:3-5, 7, 10). Isaiah describes events that will occur over 600 years after he wrote the words, yet he wrote in past tense. Isaiah peered into heaven and saw Christ Jesus, and through Christ Jesus, Isaiah saw the future that had already happened.
In Isaiah chapter 6, the prophet records an incredible heavenly vision. He sees the Lord sitting on a throne with heavenly creatures flying around Him saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3). In the presence of the holy One, Isaiah is suddenly convicted of his sinfulness, and he cries out “Woe is me!” (Isaiah 6:5). One of the heavenly creatures cleanses Isaiah’s lips with a burning coal, and the Lord tells Isaiah to “Go and say to this people:
‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend;
keep looking, but do not understand.’
Make the mind of this people dull,
and stop their ears,
and shut their eyes,
so that they may not look with their eyes
and listen with their ears
and comprehend with their minds
and turn and be healed.”
Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said,
“Until cities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
and the land is utterly desolate;
until the Lord sends everyone far away,
and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land.
Even if a tenth part remain in it,
it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak
whose stump remains standing
when it is felled.”
(The holy seed is its stump.). Isaiah 6:9-13
Reading Isaiah on its own, it is unclear who the Lord is. He peers into heaven, sees and amazing scene, and records the One sitting on the throne as the Lord. We are left to wonder whether he sees God the Father or Christ Jesus. With this backdrop, let’s return to John chapter 12.
Beginning at John 12:39, John writes, “And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said,
“He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
so that they might not look with their eyes
and understand with their heart and turn—
and I would heal them.” John 12:39-40
Then at verse 41 John writes, “Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke about him.” In the paragraph John discusses Jesus, not God the Father. When John writes that Isaiah saw “his glory and spoke about him,” John refers to Christ Jesus.
If we go back and read Isaiah through this lens of understanding we see that Isaiah saw Christ Jesus, we see that Christ Jesus is the One heavenly creatures surround continuously proclaiming His holiness and glory, we see He truly is the eternal One, God.
John concludes the paragraph writing,
Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke about him. Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue, for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God. John 12:41-43
Jesus is God. Isaiah saw Him in His heavenly glory and Isaiah described what would soon happen to Jesus, and he described it in the past tense, clearly indicating that which God ordains will happen. Yet, many people, even those who live their lives in religious settings gaining intellectual knowledge of God love “human glory more than the glory that comes from God” (John 12:43).
Who is Jesus? Who is Jesus to you? May you know who He is. May you receive His gift of life. May you confess Him as Lord of your life. May your life indicate evidence of your transformed spirit. Amen.