SERMON: John 12:35-50

Reading:
Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.   While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.   But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:   That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?   Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,   He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.   These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.   Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; 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.   Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.   And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.   I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.   And 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.   For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.   And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

"I Came Not to Judge the World, But to Save the World"

Beloved of the Lord......There are two great words in our lesson today, namely darkness and light.  Throughout the Bible we find the Lord speaking of sin in the terms of darkness, while Christ alone is the Light.  In John 3 Jesus says, "This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."  Since all men are evil by nature, ourselves included, we all have a way of keeping our evil from the light.  For example, the murderer of the children this week in Connecticut did not broadcast or bring to light the terrible evil he was about to do.  Instead of repenting of the evil in his heart and seeing Christ to be his Light, he plotted and planned a great evil, and sadly fulfilled it.  Truly these sins are pure darkness, horrible and unspeakable, and where is the Light?  The Light of this tragedy is one which few people see.  Before these poor children were bleeding and dying, Jesus was first bleeding and dying upon the cross to save them.  Yet Jesus was not bleeding and dying to save the children alone, but also the murderer, even all souls, the whole and entire world.  With His divine and holy blood Jesus purchased forgiveness of sins for all so all can go to heaven.  That is why Jesus said, "While ye have light, believe in the Light, that ye may be the children of Light."  That is why faith alone in this Light saves, and unbelief alone damns.  Unbelief is spiritual suicide, but faith in Christ brings life instead of death.  Since Jesus came to give life to all, Jesus loudly cried out in our lesson today, "I am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness."  "While ye have Light, believe in the Light, that ye may be the children of Light."

I.  Those most hardened must be forsaken.  The response to Christ's preaching of the Gospel was believed by some but rejected by others.  In verses 37 through 43, the apostle John is giving side commentary or words of explanation.  Though Jesus "had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him", and John ties their rejection of Christ to the prophecy of Isaiah chapter six.  "Lord, who hath believed our report?"  God "hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them."

         What does this mean?  First let us remember man's unbelief is never God's fault.  When we come across more difficult passages like this we cannot allow the less clear verses to overthrow those more readily understood.  For example, two simply and clear passages are "God would have all men to be saved" AND "The Lord is not willing that any perish".  We cannot then take Isaiah 6:9 and then begin to teach God predestinates some to damnation.  That cannot be true because "God would have all men to be saved."  This is also proven by those passages which surround verse 40 of our text where God blinds the eyes and hardens the heart.  For example, in verse 36 BEFORE 40 Jesus says, "While ye have light, believe in the light."  Then AFTER verse 40 there is verse 46 where Jesus says, "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness."  Jesus certainly says this because He sincerely wants all to believe.  On top of all this there is the wonderful verse 47 where Jesus says, "I came not to judge the world, but to SAVE THE WORLD" and if Jesus came to save the world, God cannot randomly or for fun harden certain hearts for sport.  God is not cruel, but gracious as the Bible says, "longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."  As John said His commandment is life everlasting.

        But what then is verse 40 speaking about?  The answer is this:  God's blinding of their eyes and hardening of their heart is God's own response to those men who willfully harden themselves against God's Word.  These are they who see so many miracles, and with their ears they hear so many promises of God's grace, yet they stubbornly and willfully will not believe.  They maliciously sin against the Holy Ghost by not letting Him gain entrance into their heart.  God's response then to their own first hardening, is God second hardening so "they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart and be converted and I should heal them."  This is indeed God's punishment upon those who deliberately and maliciously reject God's offer of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.  The more the Gospel is preached to such, the more they rage and foam against the truth like wild animals.  They are like the Jews who stopped their ears to God's Word when Stephen was stoned.  Or they are like Judas who betrayed Christ, though he had seen all the miracles.  Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Christ said "I am he", remember Judas and the soldiers fell backward to the ground.  Yet they stood up again and it doesn't enter their mind who they are fighting against.  It is one thing then to fight against God in unbelief by sheer stupidity, ignorance, or little exposure to the Gospel.  It is quite another to maliciously, willfully, and stubbornly reject Christ when He only comes with mercy "to seek and to save that which is lost."

        There are then people in our world who so resist the Gospel, that the more we preach to such the more it insults and enflames them to greater hardness.  There is little point witnessing to such, and there is a time to dust off our feet and forsake them.  We leave them in God's hands, and we pray.  As God then eventually forsakes those who harden themselves against Christ, so we too must forsake those most hardened, holding to the higher ground.  "He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock."  And that Rock is Christ!

III.  Christ came not to judge but to save.  It is then without a doubt, God does not want us to be hardened against Christ, the Light of this world.  And why should we deny Him?  We desperately need Him.  Who doesn't need Christ to be their Savior?  Because God wants all to be saved, we find Jesus crying out, namely loudly preaching in verse 44, "He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent me.  And he that seeth me seeth Him that sent me."  This shows the blessed unity of the Father and Son, both in purpose and will.  While we always emphasize, and rightly so, Christ as the Savior of the world, the Light of the world, the Door to heaven, we can rejoice also the love of the Father for us is just the same.  The Father's love for us is not behind Christ, but their love and mercy toward sinners is one and the same.  When the Bible thus says "God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son", this is God the Father who so wanted to save us, by giving us God the Son.  Likewise it is God the Father, who "sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."  In Titus three God the Father is even called God our Savior.  It says, "But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared".  In the following verse it was the Father who baptized us "by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;  Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour."  Isn't that wonderful?  That is why Jesus said to see the Son is to see the Father, and to hear the Son is to hear the Father.  To believe then that Christ is God our Savior, is to at the same time believe in God the Father and Spirit.        

Believing in this Light we become children of the Light.  "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." 2 Cor. 4

        Christ now says "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."  Notice here Christ is yet working and striving to give faith to those unbelievers who should be believers.  Even if they hear the Gospel yet do not believe, Christ is saying He didn't come to judge them but to save them.  None of us then, no matter how great and large and numerous our sins, no matter how terrible or vexing our doubts, no matter the hardness of our heart or even our unbelief, Jesus didn't come to judge us, but save us.  He didn't come to condemn us, but justify us with His own blood.   "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved." 

        There is then really only one way, and ONE WAY ALONE any man can be condemned to hell, and that is if they condemn themselves by not believing.  That is why Jesus says, "He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him; the Word that I have spoken."  What profound words these are, yet really very simple.  Since Christ is not the judge of all, but the Savior of all, man alone can condemn himself by unbelief concerning the Gospel words Christ has spoken.  When a person thus goes to their grave not wanting nor believing Jesus to be their Savior, it is their own unbelief which rejects God's forgiveness.  They die without forgiveness not because God didn't give it, butt because they refused it when it was given, all the way to their grave.  In John 3:18 we then find Jesus saying the exact same thing.  Jesus said, "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

        What really shines in our lesson today, is the pure and holy desire of Christ, that all people believe Him to be their Savior, the Light of the world, who came not to judge the world but SAVE THE WORLD.  There are no exceptions in that Gospel message, because Jesus "is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world".  If then you want to be saved dear sinner, no matter what you have done, no matter how dark and black your record, even if you have previously despised Christ and continually hardened your heart against Him, His blood shed on the cross still covers all your sins, your debts have ALL been paid in full, and "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." 

        Finally consider the last words Jesus says, "I know that His commandment is life everlasting."  God's commandment then for Christ is "life everlasting", namely God through Christ gives "life everlasting" to you and that is why you need only believe.  This commandment of "life everlasting" cannot be overthrown, for this commandment has been secured by the holy and precious blood of God's dear Son, Jesus Christ.  Whether you believe in Him or not, He is your Savior and your Redeemer come to rescue you from all sin.  Your sins are all forgiven!  It is not only Jesus then who forgives you all sins but your Father in heaven too, as well as His Spirit.  Do not resist the Holy Spirit, for He comes only to bring grace and forgiveness to your heart.  Receive this forgiveness as God's sincere gift to you knowing, Jesus did not come to judge you, but save you.  Amen.