May 22

John 12:20-50

Remember when Simeon came to bless Jesus when he was born and he said: "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed." ?(Luke 2:34-35) Well, in today's reading, we see the sad prophesy come to pass. If we look at the Gospel though, we see that the sad things aren't said with the intent to make us sad, they are there so we see the joyful truth. The dark things in the Bible are spoken for the sake of light, the ugly things are spoken for the sake of beauty.  The painful things are spoke for the sake of comfort and the sorrowful things are spoken for the sake of joy. The saddest part of this text is in verses 37–43. It's about the unbelief of Israel and God's blinding sentence on them.  What Jesus was saying is that if you don't have Him as your Savior, then you don't have God as your Father either.  Loving the "glory of men" over the "glory of God" is the barrier that stands between God and people who don't believe and Jesus. While this doesn't make sense to many, we know that the only way that anything Jesus says makes sense is by the power of His spirit who lives in us. The people of Israel, as prophesied by Isaiah, had their hearts hardened by God so that they would realize the only way to recognize the Messiah would be by the power of God. When the power of God moves on hardened hearts, God is glorified and there is a testimony. In the last three verses, the emphasis falls on the words and the commandment of Jesus. It also speaks of the outcome of salvation and eternal life for those who hear and embrace those words as the window onto the light of Jesus. With this, Jesus's public ministry ends. Now, here we are, 2,000 years later with exactly what we need. The words of Jesus. The word of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit. This is how we know him. This is how we receive him. This is how we fellowship with him. It is now up to us to spread the word and bring Him glory.

Randi