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Of Faith in Christ and God. Joh_12:42-50
v. 42. 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;
v. 43. for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
v. 4. Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on Me believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me.
v. 45. And he that seeth Me seeth Him that sent Me.
v. 46. I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness.
v. 47. 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.
v. 48. 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.
v. 49. 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.
v. 50. And I know that His commandment is life everlasting; whatsoever I speak, therefore, even as the Father said unto Me, so I speak.
In the form of a parenthesis the evangelist records a fact concerning some of the rulers of the Jews, members of the great council, the Sanhedrin. A few of these had gained the conviction that Jesus was the Messiah, for they could not deny the evidence of His words and works. But they had not yet reached that firmness of faith which manifests itself in open confession. They feared the Pharisees and their threats of excommunication; they loved the honor and glory from men more than that from God. And so the young plant of faith was almost immediately suffocated. Faith cannot grow or even be maintained in such a confined atmosphere. Note: This fate overtakes many a person in our days that fears the ridicule, the contempt, the persecution of the world. Faithfulness to Christ must not shrink from trials and persecutions, but stand firm and loyal on His side to the end.
The evangelist now records, in conclusion, the words which Jesus spoke to the people in leaving, a summary of all His discourses during the last days of His life, as they were addressed to the people in the Temple. He called out loudly, in order to call attention to His words and to strengthen the impression which He intended to make. Faith in Christ and faith in God is the same, for the two are one, and Jesus is His Father's ambassador. He that sees Christ with the eyes of faith thereby has a knowledge and understanding of the Father. Only through Christ and in the light of His work of redemption can the Father be known. Without Christ, the picture of God can at best be a caricature, resembling the ideas of the Gentiles concerning their highest God. Jesus has come into the world as the true Light, and not in the last instance to throw light upon the Father and upon His relation to mankind. While He enlightens the darkened minds of men, He show them God as their Father, and enables them to believe in this Father with all their hearts. As a light Jesus came, and He that believes on Him leaves the darkness of unbelief and is filled with divine light. It is a matter of foolishness for anyone to be a mere hearer of the Word and not to preserve and keep His sayings in a true heart. Such a person Christ will not judge; he has his judgment in himself. So far as Christ is concerned, His object in coming into the world was not to judge and condemn the world, but to save the world; He has no interest in the condemnation of men, but only in their everlasting salvation. But he that spurns Christ and repudiates His sayings, His Gospel, thereby condemns himself. And on the last day that same Word will prove his undoing. He will be told that he rejected the message which offered salvation to him freely, out of pure grace and mercy. So again it is not zeal for Himself and His honor which makes Jesus so insistent, but the eagerness to fulfill the commandment of His Father. Both His public and His private utterances were governed by this consideration. There is perfect agreement, absolute unity, between Father and Son. His commandment and God's commandment are identical; the one thing that God wants more than anything else for all men, and that He therefore wants all men to strive for, is eternal life. He has only one will, and that is His good and gracious will that all men should be saved. In this the will of the Son coincides exactly with the will of the Father. For that reason Jesus has been speaking and preaching and repeating His glorious message, because He wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth.
Summary.Christ enters Jerusalem amid the acclaim of the people, after having been anointed at Bethany by Mary, He preaches of His glorification through His suffering and death, and urges men to have faith in Him and His Father.