John tells us in 12:37 that the people did not believe in Jesus despite the miracles he performed. Then he tells us in verse 39 that the reason they were not able (the Greek is unambiguous here) to believe was because God had blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts. Jesus says, and this is recorded in Matthew 13:12 where the same issue is being addressed, “Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him”. In other words, to those who were willing to receive Jesus, God granted greater capacity to receive. He softened their hearts further and opened them more and more to his message. But those who were unwilling to receive Jesus, God hardened even more. Jesus often worked and spoke in ways that would bring people’s bad attitudes to the surface. To the religious people here in John 12 he is saying, “If you want to be offended let me help you. If you want to be hard hearted let me help you so that the issue may be polarised and clear for everyone.” God does this so that our choices will become manifest to us; so that we know where we stand, and all ambiguity is dispelled. He doesn’t want us to be ‘not sure’ where we stand. He wants us to know in ourselves what our choice is. Jesus came to polarise the hearts of people, to separate mud from water where waters were muddied. He did this then and he still does this today by his Spirit.
Ask Jesus to make manifest the choices of your heart so that you can choose him wholeheartedly.
Read John 12:37-43
