John 12:37 But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him.
And isn’t that the living truth my Friends? Jesus did numerous miracles amongst the people, yet, in comparison to the number who witnessed them, only a small percentage actually believed that He was the Messiah. How sad. But there were very good reasons for it. Before we get into them though, let me do some stage setting. Today’s Bit comes right after yesterday’s, where Jesus spoke about walking in darkness and light, believing in the light while they had it, and being children of light. After that He went into seclusion. Now yesterday, when I first read the verses which follow that scene, I found them rather interesting and intriguing and couldn’t help but write on them today. The Bit states; ‘But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him.’ And since I said there were good reasons for that seemingly unnatural state of affairs, let’s look at them. Verse 38 gives us some indication of why disbelief was so rampant. ‘That the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?’ (John 12:38) This all goes back to Isaiah’s magnificent and dynamic prophecy of Jesus’ coming, in particular from Isaiah 53:1, where the prophet states that the Messiah’s message will be rejected. And if we read the rest of the chapter we’ll see many things he mentioned that came through. For example; He has no stately form or splendour, ‘there is no beauty (in His appearance) that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of (struck down by) God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised (crushed) for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes (blows that cut in) we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.’ (Isa.53:2-6) That’s only a sampling Friends. You can read the other six verses and see for yourself. But we can see that this resistance to Jesus was also prophesied long before the event occurred. Why? Obviously it was all a part of the Lord’s grand scheme. ‘Therefore they could not believe, because that Isaiah said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; That they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Isaiah when he saw his glory, and spake of him.’ (John 12:39-41) Ike said that stuff right at the start of his commission, when God asked whom He should send with His missive to the people, and Ike volunteered. ‘Then said I, Here I am; send me.’ (Isa.6:8) And the words that John later quoted are found right after that in verses 9-10. As a writer, what intrigues me most about the scriptures is the way that they are so tied together and interwoven. You can find stuff in Genesis relating to Revelation and vice versa. Valuable insights are also provided between many other books. I’m amazed at how it just reads like one story, though it was written over many centuries by many different people. But Friends, it’s the story of our God; His interaction with us, as told by His prophets and spokespeople. And the stories are so vivid and cohesive, though put forth by various persons over a long period of time because they all came from the very same source; the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We can certainly see that Jesus’ coming was no fluke, neither was the rejection and all the other negative stuff. Look at it from this perspective: If the people had believed and been converted, what would have happened? There would have been no crucifixion, resurrection and ascension and consequently no blanket payment for sins and eternal life. We’d probably not have the opportunity for a right relationship with the Father that we now have. We’d also most likely still be held accountable for all our sins, with no advocate to plead for us. The whole scene might just have remained like it was in the Old Testament with the severe Judaic Laws, scapegoats, animal sacrifices and burnt offerings etc. But luckily for us my people, and most thankfully too, the Good Lord in His immense wisdom and uncanny foresight saw the greater picture. He did not lose sight of the forest for the trees, but took one giant step so all mankind could be free. Ah my Friends, time and type have run out on me, but there’s still a lot more to say on this topic. I haven’t gotten to the real meat on the bone as yet, (smile) so I guess we’ll just have to continue this discourse tomorrow. Till then, if our All-knowing, All-seeing Father in heaven decides that we should meet again: Much LOVE!…and in the category for the best planned and thought out book…the most original story…the most controversial events…the best do it yourself tome…the one that offers the greatest life changing and life saving advice…the winner is…THE GOOD BOOK…
And isn’t that the living truth my Friends? Jesus did numerous miracles amongst the people, yet, in comparison to the number who witnessed them, only a small percentage actually believed that He was the Messiah. How sad. But there were very good reasons for it. Before we get into them though, let me do some stage setting. Today’s Bit comes right after yesterday’s, where Jesus spoke about walking in darkness and light, believing in the light while they had it, and being children of light. After that He went into seclusion. Now yesterday, when I first read the verses which follow that scene, I found them rather interesting and intriguing and couldn’t help but write on them today. The Bit states; ‘But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him.’ And since I said there were good reasons for that seemingly unnatural state of affairs, let’s look at them. Verse 38 gives us some indication of why disbelief was so rampant. ‘That the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?’ (John 12:38) This all goes back to Isaiah’s magnificent and dynamic prophecy of Jesus’ coming, in particular from Isaiah 53:1, where the prophet states that the Messiah’s message will be rejected. And if we read the rest of the chapter we’ll see many things he mentioned that came through. For example; He has no stately form or splendour, ‘there is no beauty (in His appearance) that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of (struck down by) God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised (crushed) for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes (blows that cut in) we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.’ (Isa.53:2-6) That’s only a sampling Friends. You can read the other six verses and see for yourself. But we can see that this resistance to Jesus was also prophesied long before the event occurred. Why? Obviously it was all a part of the Lord’s grand scheme. ‘Therefore they could not believe, because that Isaiah said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; That they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Isaiah when he saw his glory, and spake of him.’ (John 12:39-41) Ike said that stuff right at the start of his commission, when God asked whom He should send with His missive to the people, and Ike volunteered. ‘Then said I, Here I am; send me.’ (Isa.6:8) And the words that John later quoted are found right after that in verses 9-10. As a writer, what intrigues me most about the scriptures is the way that they are so tied together and interwoven. You can find stuff in Genesis relating to Revelation and vice versa. Valuable insights are also provided between many other books. I’m amazed at how it just reads like one story, though it was written over many centuries by many different people. But Friends, it’s the story of our God; His interaction with us, as told by His prophets and spokespeople. And the stories are so vivid and cohesive, though put forth by various persons over a long period of time because they all came from the very same source; the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We can certainly see that Jesus’ coming was no fluke, neither was the rejection and all the other negative stuff. Look at it from this perspective: If the people had believed and been converted, what would have happened? There would have been no crucifixion, resurrection and ascension and consequently no blanket payment for sins and eternal life. We’d probably not have the opportunity for a right relationship with the Father that we now have. We’d also most likely still be held accountable for all our sins, with no advocate to plead for us. The whole scene might just have remained like it was in the Old Testament with the severe Judaic Laws, scapegoats, animal sacrifices and burnt offerings etc. But luckily for us my people, and most thankfully too, the Good Lord in His immense wisdom and uncanny foresight saw the greater picture. He did not lose sight of the forest for the trees, but took one giant step so all mankind could be free. Ah my Friends, time and type have run out on me, but there’s still a lot more to say on this topic. I haven’t gotten to the real meat on the bone as yet, (smile) so I guess we’ll just have to continue this discourse tomorrow. Till then, if our All-knowing, All-seeing Father in heaven decides that we should meet again: Much LOVE!…and in the category for the best planned and thought out book…the most original story…the most controversial events…the best do it yourself tome…the one that offers the greatest life changing and life saving advice…the winner is…THE GOOD BOOK…
SCRIP-BITS 