Belief or Unbelief

MEMORY VERSE: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” —John 3:36

JOHN 12:37-50

ONE of the designed purposes of Jesus’ miracles was to assist the Israelites of his day to believe that he was the Messiah whom God had foretold by his prophets. But there were many of that day who were not convinced, even as there have been many since who have not believed on him. This unbelief of the majority had been fore told by the Prophet Isaiah, and our lesson quotes the prophecy.

This prophecy reads, “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” (Isa. 53:1) The “arm of the Lord” here referred to is Jesus, the One whom Jehovah sent to redeem mankind from death and, in due time, to rule over the people to extend the blessings of life made available through his work of redemption. Verse 10 of the previous chapter refers to this same “arm of the Lord.” We quote, “The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”

Here is an enthusiastic description of Jesus when his kingdom is established. Then, as the “arm” of the Lord, he will be made “bare,” or revealed, “in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” There is no misunderstanding this assurance of complete victory for God’s grand design to bless all nations through Jesus.

But as Isaiah watches this prophetic vision unfold, something intervenes. He no longer sees the arm of the Lord made bare in the eyes of all the nations. So he raises the question, “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” While previously he had seen this Arm revealed to all nations, now the scene has changed, and he sees the Arm “despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him.”—Isa. 53:1,3

The solution to what might seem a lack of harmony in the prophetic vision is simply that the Lord, through Isaiah, is reminding us that before the glory of the messianic kingdom and the blessings which will reach the people through that kingdom can be seen and enjoyed, there had to be the rejection of Jesus, and his subsequent persecution and death. It is this that is described throughout the remainder of Isaiah, chapter 53.

Isaiah had also foretold that the ministry of Jesus would tend to blind his hearers. This was because of the many parables he used. Verse 41 reads, “These things said Esaias, when he saw his [Jesus’] glory, and spake of him.” Isaiah was one of the holy prophets who foretold the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.—I Pet. 1:11

There were some of the chief rulers of Israel who believed in Jesus, “but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” (vss. 42,43) This situation has been true throughout the age. The praise of men is a tremendous influence in the hearts of many humans, and often deters such from worshiping and serving the Lord.

Verses 47 and 48 are revealing: “If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day”

Jesus’ words, in their totality, set forth the plan and will of God, and here he informs us that those who now do not believe on him will be given an opportunity “in the last day” to hear and obey his message. This is symbolically set forth in Revelation 20:12 by the opening of “books”—not the record of the people’s sins, but the opening up of an understanding of the will of God, and the people are judged upon the basis of how they react to that knowledge.

Those who believe and obey will have their names enrolled in “the book of life,” but the opportunity to believe is not limited to this life, as this lesson indicates, for the unbelievers are not now judged.

QUESTIONS

Who is “the arm of the Lord”?

When will it be revealed to the people of all nations?

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