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Jesus’ Cry
(John 12:37-50)
Mari Ikeda
Today we continue in the Gospel of John, reading the end of chapter 12. This passage actually marks a break in the Gospel of John. Today’s passage concludes the record of Jesus’ public activities, and the next passage begins the record of his message to his disciples. After that, we will read about Jesus’ arrest, execution, and resurrection. As such, today’s passage is both a summary of Jesus’ teaching to date and his final call to a wider audience outside of his disciples. In fact, Jesus “cried out.” Jesus continued to cry out to those who hated and rejected Him.
In today’s passage, John explains why people could not believe in Jesus in the first half, and in the second half, we hear what it means to believe in Jesus in Jesus’ own words.
Let us read the first half first. According to John, there are two reasons why people reject Jesus even though they know His words and deeds. Let’s read the first one first, verses 37-41.
A. The reason for which people cannot believe Jesus
1. God’s plan (37-41)
37 Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This 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?” 39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.
There are many of our loved ones who do not believe in Jesus. The reason why those people do not believe in Jesus is, first of all, because it is not yet God’s plan, as is said here. We may want to ask, “Oh, so the reason that person doesn’t believe in God is because God is trying to keep them from believing? Then what’s the point of me doing anything?” But that is not the case.
Why do some people come to believe in God first while others refuse to believe in Him for decades?” This is a question that people have been asking since the time of the Old Testament. And the answer is what we just read in Isaiah. In the New Testament, too, Paul says this. “God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” (Romans 9:18) Faith is God’s work. None of us can have faith on our own without God’s help. God decides when and how He will work, not us. God is the one who works in the heart of each individual through various people and events. It was the same when we were given faith, wasn’t it?
So all we can do is to love and trust God ourselves. That requires much more down-to-earth sincerity than explaining God to people in words. God has a good plan for each of us. Whether we have faith or not does not change that. Above all, and this is today’s theme, Jesus himself did not give up on anyone.
In the next verses, 42-43, we are told another reason why people do not have faith.
2. Social pressure (42-43)
42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human praise more than praise from God.
While faith is a function of God’s work and plan, there is also an aspect of faith that is our own decision. And there are many factors that influence our decisions. Not only our own thoughts and wishes, but also how our friends think, how its public image is, how it will affect our career, and many other factors.
Jews who believed in Jesus had to be prepared to be expelled from the synagogue if they publicly expressed their faith. To be expelled from the synagogue meant to be considered a Gentile and to be excluded from the Jewish community. It meant abandoning the social status and trust that they had worked so hard to obtain. It must have been a big and courageous decision. But on the contrary, it meant that for them, preserving their social status was more important than believing in Jesus.
When we decide to believe in Jesus, we are also affected by a certain amount of social pressure, though not as much as the Jews in New Testament times. We all care a little about what our family, relatives, and friends think of our decision. But believing in Jesus means deciding what you value most in life. If your feelings are swayed by what others think of you, it is because Jesus is not that important to you yet. It also means that the time in God’s plan has not yet come.
Paul, who laid the foundation of Christianity, was originally a very devoted Jew, but when he came to know Jesus, he left behind the social status he had acquired and believed in Him. He said this in Philippians 3:4-8.
4 …If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage,…
He says that everything else is meaningless compared to the greatness of knowing Jesus, so he was willing to lose everything by believing in Him. What is so wonderful about believing in Jesus? Let’s finally hear it in Jesus’ own words. This is the last cry of Jesus’ public activity. First, verses 44-45.
B. What it means to believe in Jesus
1. To know what God is like (44-45)
44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.
To believe in Jesus means to believe that he is the Son of God sent by God to this world. It can be paraphrased as believing that God, the Creator of this world, came to this world as a human being. If it is true that a real person in history was in fact God, the Creator of this world (as we believe), then that is a very big thing. It means we can know who God is through Jesus. So who is Jesus and what did he come into the world for? Let’s read what Jesus says that follows, verses 46-47.
2. To live as a forgiven sinner (46-47)
46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. 47 “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
We often have a hard time accepting that God knew and loved each of us before we were each born. It’s because we let each other forget and deny that fact. For example, through the experience of being hurt or betrayed by others, failing or losing something, we come to feel that “neither God nor anyone else loves or needs me.” We ourselves also hurt others deeply and grieve God deeply. We are sinners who cause anger and grief for each other and for God. As it is, we are wandering in the dark, not knowing what is right.
That is why Jesus came into this world and died on the cross. It was in order to prove that God wants to forgive and save us rather than judge us, and that it is true that God has loved us since before we were born. God’s unchanging love is the light that guides us. To be guided by that light and to walk trusting in God’s love in every situation is how we can stop the cycle of harming each other and start changing the world from around us. To do this, we need to recognize that Jesus was crucified to atone for our sins and that His death was for us.
Thus, to believe in Jesus means to live as a sinner forgiven by Jesus, and to live with trust and gratitude to God as the first priority.
This is not the end of what Jesus did. Read the last verses, 48-50.
3. To live with God eternally (48-50)
48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. 49 For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
Jesus’ ultimate purpose in coming to this world is to give us eternal life. God wanted to live with us forever, and He came to this world as Jesus to make that happen, dying on the cross and resurrecting three days later. Jesus’ death and resurrection opened the way for us to live trusting God, no longer under the power of sin or death. That new way of life is the beginning of a new life to live forever with God. It is a relationship of trust with God that begins while we are living in this world with our physical bodies and continues beyond physical death.
God is the one who has been guiding us since before we believed in Him. Because we cannot see, we sometimes think that God has forgotten us or is indifferent to us, but the cross of Jesus clearly proves that this is not the case. God is walking with us and wants us to live without losing hope and joy in every moment.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
These words are true. Is the cry of Jesus reaching you?
(Prayer) Lord Jesus, please fill our hearts with your deep love. We need you. You have protected and guided us even before we believed in You. Please help us to always walk in trust in You. Let us remember at all times that You have a good plan for each of us. We remember that You gave Your life to teach us that. Please let us hear Your cry in our hearts by Your Spirit. We give you our heartfelt thanks, Lord Jesus, and pray in your name.
Summary
Not everyone who comes to know the words and deeds of Jesus will have a personal trust relationship with Him. It requires the help of God Himself. No one can have faith on their own. We are also afraid to express our faith publicly if there is a possibility of being socially excluded for believing in Jesus. But Jesus continued to cry out to those who rejected Him. And he continued to call on them to receive God’s deep love through him.
For Discussion
1) What do you think about the fact that some people have faith and others don’t, depending on God’s plan?
2) Why did Jesus cry out here?