This is the third post in a four-week series on the end of Jesus' public ministry in John. Catch up starting with the first post, and subscribe to get the next installment in your inbox!
Over the past two weeks, we've seen how Isaiah's prophecy frames the ministry of Jesus in John 12:
When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. 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. (John 12:36b–43, ESV)
We ended last week by considering how Jesus' own ministry reflects the ministry of Isaiah. Just as Isaiah was sent to "blind the eyes" of the people (Isaiah 6:10), Jesus likewise preached so that "those who see may become blind" (John 9:39).
Jack VanDrunen
If, like me, you belong to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition, it's tempting to read Isaiah 6 as a prooftext for a doctrine of election and reprobation: that God sovereignly chooses those who will be saved (elect) and leaves the rest to the hardness of their hearts (reprobate). Does John have all the reprobate in view when he quotes Isaiah 6?
It might be surprising to hear that even John Calvin, in his commentary on this passage in John 12, says this isn't a prooftext for Calvinism! Rather, John's quotation of Isaiah 6:10 is about "the hardness with which God punished the malice of an ungrateful people." Calvin goes on to say that those who want to turn this into a prooftext for reprobation "confound Scriptural passages of varying meaning." That is, they aren't paying careful attention to the meaning of each particular passage of Scripture.
This is a good reminder to do the exegetical work before drawing deep theological conclusions. But it's more than that, too. If we spend too much time reading our theology into the text, we'll end up missing the good news that it contains!
John writes about a specific episode of unbelief – the primarily Jewish crowd that heard Jesus preach. This is a focused and temporary blinding, during Jesus' earthly ministry. But as we'll see, now that Jesus has died and risen, John expects a reversal. In contrast to Jesus' former audience, John expects his own readers to believe.
The first post in this series ended with the hopeful note from Isaiah's other prophecy. "Just as" Jesus' glory will be hidden, "so shall many nations be astonished ... those not informed about him shall see and those who did not hear shall understand" (Isaiah 52:15, NETS). It is this hope that John is driving toward in this final evaluation of Jesus' ministry. John looks toward the future inclusion of all nations (not only Jews but Gentiles as well) into God's covenant.
Jack VanDrunen
Perhaps we don't immediately think of the gospel of John as the gospel of Gentile inclusion. But this theme has been building under the surface throughout previous chapters.
Jesus then said, "I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come." The Jews then said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?" (John 7:33–35)
"And I have other sheep who are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd." (John 10:16)
And the very speech in chapter 12 that Jesus has just concluded was on the occasion of "some Greeks" wanting to see Jesus (12:20). In response to this, Jesus tells the crowd:
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (12:24)
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. (12:32)
Right before he hides himself from the crowd, Jesus speaks of the fruitfulness that will come from his ministry after he dies!
In the rest of John's gospel, we see the great reversal that comes after Jesus is crucified and rises from the dead. As we saw last week, during Jesus' earthly ministry his signs drew people in, but then his preaching drove them away. But after his resurrection, Jesus breathes his Holy Spirit on the disciples, empowering them to be accurate witnesses (20:22). Then, in 20:29, he says: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Here is the reversal! Now it is those who hear the preaching – but don't see the miracles – who will believe.
John concludes with this purpose statement for his entire gospel:
These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (20:31)
All faith today is worked by our reading and hearing about Jesus – from the Bible, from pastors and teachers, and from lay Christians who continue to testify to who he is.
Let me conclude with a final example of this reversal. In John 20:11, Mary Magdalene hasn't yet realized that Jesus has risen. She stands outside of the empty tomb weeping. When Jesus first appears, her blurry eyes mistake him for the gardener. But then, when Jesus calls her by name, what does she do? Where the crowd in our passage failed to "turn" and receive healing, John says that Mary then "turned" (a rare verb in John!) at the sound of her name. She recognizes Jesus at once, calling him "Teacher."
This is what it looks like when Jesus calls you by name and reveals himself to you. And even today, he continues to call to us through the pages of John's gospel.
This is the third post in a four-week series on the end of Jesus' public ministry in John. Subscribe with your email, or follow on Bluesky to get the next post in a convenient place!