“Though he had done so many signs before them, yet they did not believe in him; it was that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe. For Isaiah again said, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and turn for me to heal them.” Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” John 12:37-43
In this passage, John explains that the reason the Jews did not accept Jesus as their Messiah was to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy that they would reject Him.
“Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” Is. 6:10
This Isaiah passage was not one of the passages high on the rabbis’ radar. They conveniently skipped right over it and, as a consequence, missed their Messiah. Jesus did not do, or look like, the picture painted by the rabbis of His day. So rather than listen to Jesus, they rejected Him as the Messiah. Even those who were certain of Him would often keep quiet rather than confront unbelievers.
42 Nevertheless many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: 43 for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. John 12:42-43
Look at Nicodemus. He was a member of the Sanhedrin and would come to Jesus only by night so as not to be seen. [John 3:1-21]
Paul in Romans 11 further explains that because the Jews were blind and did not believe, they would be cut off just as the olive tree is pruned of the dead or unfruitful branches to make room for new branches — in this case, the Gentiles. Thus we have the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy that “they did not believe in him.”
The next big question becomes: will we, the Church, do any better? Is the Church looking for the second coming of the Biblical Messiah, or one of their own design and interpretation?
“study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”2 Tim 2:15
Stop being lemmings following to your death a teacher who claims to have the education, knowledge, or special interpretation that you will never have. We need to read the Bible for ourselves. Read large passages to get the full meaning of the text. Remember our rules of hermeneutics. Let Scripture interpret Scripture, and when confronted by a difficult passage, search for old theology books that were written either before 1830 or carefully chosen from non-dispensationalist writers.
Just as the Jews ignored Isaiah’s warnings, the Church today skips the rather ominous warning in Rom. 11:21
“For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.” Rom. 11:2,
The Church skips over many verses that do not fit their preconceived, dispensationalist notions [e.g., Matt. 24:34; 1 Pet. 1:20; Rev. 1:3]. They reject the God of wrath and justice in favor of a god of love and acceptance — a god very similar to mythological gods such as Aphrodite or Cupid. They have forgotten that although He is the God that loved Jacob, He also hated Esau [Mal. 1:2-3; Rom. 9:13].
Study Scripture so that you will not be content to have your ears tickled, but test all that you hear against God’s Word to prove yourself approved before God. Maybe then there will be more than five of us who welcome the Lord back when He comes.