"Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs IN THEIR PRESENCE, they STILL WOULD NOT BELIEVE in him. 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?'
For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
'He has blinded their eyes
and deadened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts,
nor turn- and I would heal them."
Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him. Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; FOR THEY LOVED PRAISE FROM MEN MORE THAN PRAISE FROM GOD.
Then Jesus cried out,
"When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that NO ONE who believes in me SHOULD stay in the darkness. As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to SAVE it. There is a judge for the one who REJECTS ME AND DOES NOT ACCEPT MY WORDS; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak on my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me WHAT TO SAY AND HOW TO SAY IT. I KNOW that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say." John 12:37-50
A few things to ponder:
1. Many people say "if I could just see a miracle, then I would believe." According to this piece of Scripture- that's not always true. These people saw LOTS of miracles done in their presence- yet- they still didn't believe.
Miracles do not equal belief.
2. Finish your own statment, "Because of ____________________, she wouldn't confess her faith for fear of _________________________________." Is there anything/anyone that is keeping you from confessing your faith? What are you afraid of?
3. Check yourself- do you love praise from men more than praise from God? Here are a few other verses given to teach us that we should live to please God:
*John 5:44
* "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10
4. According to Scripture-at the end of our life here on earth, we will all stand before God and have to answer to how we have responded to Jesus and his words- whether we accepted him/them or rejected him/them. Are there any words of Jesus that you have rejected?
5. The same God who sent Jesus into the world and commanded him "WHAT to say and HOW to say it" is the same one who sends us as his servants into the world to continue his work. John 17:18 says, "As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world." May we walk so closely with him that we hear him commanding us "what to say and how to say it" to all he sends us to.
"Sanctify me by your truth; your word is TRUTH." John 17:17
Blessings from Bombadil. Kristy Link
"I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me." Phillipians 1:25 & 26
