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John

John 
Day 
Day 169

An important personal commentary

Text: John 12 : 37-50

AN IMPORTANT PERSONAL COMMENTARY

Jesus had a very full but trying public ministry in both Galilee and Judea. The multitudes did not find His messages easy to comprehend. Even when Jesus performed signs and wonders to help them understand who He was, they did not find it easy to believe in Him.

The Jews, particularly the Pharisees resisted Him every step of the way. They found fault with Him in His doctrines and in His practice of ministry. When they lost debate after public debate, the Jews resorted to plotting His death.

Jesus had explained it all before. He would try once again to explain to the Jews what believing in Him really meant. John recorded an important personal commentary Jesus made as He “concluded” His public ministry. (The Gospel of John devotes several chapters to Jesus ministering to His Disciples in the last week of His life on earth).

Ever the compassionate Messiah, He sought to help the crowds understand the significance of having faith in Him.

“Then Jesus cried out and said,
‘He who believes in Me, believes not in Me
but in Him who sent Me.’ “
John 12:44

The first issue that Jesus highlighted to the multitudes was the question of “belief” or “faith”. Let us take time to ponder over what He meant in this text.

BELIEVING IN JESUS

Time and again Jesus brought up the question of faith. Did the Jews even have faith at all? How about the multitudes? The Disciples (with the exception of Judas) were of course people who believed in Jesus! Three long but exciting years had passed. Jesus had performed many mighty miracles! Surely the miracles of Jesus compelled belief, even if His teachings were not easy to comprehend! Again and again, Jesus encouraged the people to have faith in Him.

Why did Jesus ask people to believe in Him so urgently? His asking for people to have faith in Him was certainly no “ego trip” on His part. In God’s foreordained plan, He purposed within Himself that all who desired salvation must first believe in His Beloved Son! Jesus was doing no more than declared His Father’s will. Many of the 5000 men who partook of the Fish and Bread crowded around Jesus and raised an important question.

“What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
John 6:28

Jesus’ famous reply was this.

“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him
whom He sent.”
John 6:29

BELIEVING IN GOD THE FATHER

There was much more to believing in Jesus than the multitudes had comprehended. Jesus sought to explain to them, that when they expressed faith in Him, they were in fact stating that they had faith in God the Father! It was He who sent Jesus as the Messiah. He was the One who empowered Jesus. He was the One who planned salvation! He was the One who would allow His beloved Son to be the sacrificial Passover Lamb!

Could the multitudes understand that when they embraced Jesus in faith, they were in fact declaring that they truly believed in God Himself! Failure to understand who Jesus was and rejection was tantamount to having no faith in God at all! What a deep and profound teaching this was.

FAITH SEES THE DEEP AND IMPORTANT LINK BETWEEN JESUS AND HIS FATHER

How does one have faith in anyone, in this particular case – Jesus? Let us take time to ponder this text.

“And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.”
John 12:45

Faith involves the element of insight. If a person truly has faith in Jesus, he would be able to know that when he sees Jesus, he is also seeing God who sent Him! Failure to see God in the life and ministry of Jesus means that the individual does not have faith at all!

Why hadn’t the multitudes and the Jews been able to see beyond the Physical Being of Jesus? Why did they see Him only as an ordinary man? Why couldn’t they see that beyond Jesus there was the Lord God Himself!

If they found fault with Jesus, it was the same as finding fault with God Himself! If they could not see Jesus for whom He really was, it meant that they could not see God’s hand at all!

A LIGHT TO THE WORLD

Once again, Jesus spoke about being the One who brought light. Let us ponder over this text.

“I have come as a light into the world,
that whoever believes in Me
should not abide in darkness.”
John 12:46

Jesus had brought light and illumination even as He opened up the Scriptures in His teaching ministry. His miracles must have caused light to shine upon those who were living in the darkness of ignorance, spiritual oppression and sin!

When a person truly had faith in Jesus, he would not need to abide in darkness any more! How important it is to be able to be sure that we have genuine faith in Jesus ! Let us not take our faith in Jesus for granted!