Jesus Supplied Signs (But They Could Not Be Seen); We Give Witness (But It May Not Be Heard)

What Did Jesus Do?

Though he had done many signs before them,
they still did not believe in him.
John 12.37

If “seeing is believing” (which is not, by the way, to be found in the Bible, which states that “faith comes by hearing” [Romans 10.17]), then it is not at all surprising that many in Jerusalem did not believe in Jesus, for, even if they possessed 20-20 vision, they were quite blind to the truth. As John noted (John 12.38, 40), the prophet Isaiah had long before described a people whose hardness of heart would have devastating effect on their ability to see (see Isaiah 6.10). So it was that Jesus parted from the company of the unbelieving, and secreted himself from them (John 12.36b).

Regardless of the veracity of evidence produced (or the credibility of signs supplied), hard hearts and closed minds can render one blind and deaf to the most obvious and incontrovertible facts staring one in the face. Being head over heals in love can also “disable” our senses. Have you ever asked a friend “What do you see in him/her,” when in fact it is what the one smitten does not see that really concerns us. Sadly, I believe that even more often than love, it is hate that blinds. Certainly, it was the hatred of those who were plotting to kill Jesus that prevented them from hearing or seeing the truth of who he was.

Sadly, such hatred was sufficient to discourage many who did believe to keep quiet about it, for fear of being removed from the worshiping community (John 12.42). The enmity of the Pharisees not only “disabled” them when it came to perceiving the truth about Jesus, it was also powerful enough to cause believers to deny their faith. John tells us that it was because many had a greater concern for the esteem of men rather than of God (John 12.43). In the end, how much separation is there much between being blind to the truth and denying the truth we believe?

And so we come to the question of the day. Knowing that there are many who will never see or hear the truth about Jesus, and who are opposed, sometimes violently opposed, to our faith, what do we do? Do we stop witnessing, suspend offering our testimony, and no longer submit evidence? Or do we go even further, and intentionally seek to keep our faith a secret, as many believers did in Jerusalem?

Some may point to John 12.36, and say that Jesus himself hid. But by the end of the 12th Chapter of John the Lord was done supplying signs to an unbelieving world, with one awesome exception—the sign of the cross. Chapters 13-17 of John's Gospel make it clear that Jesus withdrew more for the sake of his disciples, than for his own. The Lord hid himself in order that he and his closest friends might have a time of memorable and moving intimacy, away from the ones who would not, who could not see that this indeed was the Christ. And this, I believe, is instructive. For, after we boldly and faithfully witness to a world that will largely ignore, and even violently oppose, our testimony, it is important for us too to withdraw into intimate fellowship with the Lord and with fellow believers, only to come back with ever more powerful evidence of our faith. That's what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4