Many Believed. Many Did Not

August 30, 2016

Many Believed. Many Did Not

Although he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

John  12: 37-38

When churches offer Christmas cantatas, there are always some in the congregation with bored expressions on their faces, or perhaps even taking a nap. The pageantry, the music that thrills the hearts of many of the faithful, seems lost on others. We wonder how people can be so unmoved by the experience. Similar happenings occur at Easter Sunday worship services. The congregation sings ‘Christ the Lord has risen today’, and the faithful feel tears rolling down their cheeks. Others mumble the words. While many open their hearts to drink in the majesty and mystery of the celebration, still others respond with ‘ho hum.’

Such is human nature. In today’s passage, John is remembering the signs pointing to Jesus as the Messiah: water to wine; the official’s child; the man by the pool; food in the desert; walking on water; the man born blind; and Lazarus raised from the dead. Many believed. Many did not. Some believed, but wanted to keep it a secret. How do you explain the differences? John seems to suggest that some people had help to not believe. Could it be that God closed their hearts and minds so they could not believe? That would be like the reverse of prevenient grace, with God closing hearts instead of opening them. I don’t think that’s what John is saying. His reference to God closing hearts and minds is figurative, not literal. He used this expression to emphasize how remarkable Jesus’ miracles were, and how much more remarkable it was that some still did not believe. Even so, God cared enough to send Jesus to all the people, and God loves the whole world so much that each person is free to decide for themselves whether to accept God’s love.

As for me, I like to sing along with the popular praise chorus,

I have decided to follow Jesus;

No turning back, no turning back.

The world behind me, the cross before me;

No turning back, no turning back.

Though none go with me, still I will follow;

No turning back, no turning back.

Will you decide now to follow Jesus?

No turning back, no turning back.

I Have Decided to Follow Jesus

attr. to S. Sundar Singh

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.