Scripture Verses
John 12:37-50 (NIV)
37Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:
"Lord, who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"[a]
39For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
40"He has blinded their eyes
and deadened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts,
nor turn—and I would heal them."[b] 41Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.
42Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
44Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. 46I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
47"As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. 48There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. 49For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."
Devotion
Have you ever denied your faith in Jesus? Why? Was it because you really didn’t believe, or was it because of what you thought other people would think of you?
John 12:37 tells us that even though Jesus had done many miraculous things right before their eyes, there were those who did not believe in him.
There were also many who did believe and followed him faithfully. The sad part is there were leading men (the authorities and nobles) who believed he was who he said he was and could have had an influence on those who looked up to them, but they would not confess it because of the Pharisees. They were afraid they would be dispelled from the synagogue. They desired the approval of men more than the approval of God. They wanted what they could get from this fleeting life rather than eternal life with Christ. Their silence was in itself a kind of betrayal.
How can we believe whole-heartedly in Jesus and still worry about the opinion his enemies may have of us?
Charles Spurgeon said, quoting in part the late Dr. Heugh, of Glasgow, “Oh, to think what Christ is, what he did, and who he did it for, and then not to believe him, not to trust him! There is no wickedness like the wickedness of unbelief.”
Prayer
Father, grant us the strength and courage to always speak up for you, regardless of what others say and think of us.
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