John began his closing argument about unbelief with a summation of the attitude of those to whom Jesus had preached. Although his arguments are composed around seven miracles,[1] he tells us of others, saying “Though he had done so many miracles in their presence…” thus, implying there was a collection of miraculous signs, he could have mentioned but didn’t, that was known by many. Yet, although Jesus had done what only one sent by God could do, they didn’t believe (John 12:37). So, John ended his record of the people as he had begun: he came to his own, but his own believed him not (John 1:12).
What I find interesting, and in the past found troubling, is John’s explanation as to why folks didn’t believe. Notice:
so that the word of Isaiah the prophet that he spoke might be fulfilled: Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of Lord been revealed? Because of this they could not believe. Because Isaiah said again, He has blinded their eyes, and has hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and be turned, and I would heal them (John 12:38-40; emphasis mine).
At first glance, this scripture seems to say unbelief on the part of these people, including those among the Jewish authorities who believed, was the design of God. In other words, John says it was God’s will that these folks didn’t believe or recanted their belief in Christ. However, this isn’t so, and we know this, because Jesus, himself, was astonished over the unbelief of the people in Nazareth (Mark 6:6). It would be disingenuous of Jesus to be amazed at the unbelief of folks, if it was God who brought that about. Why would Jesus be amazed or astonished over something the Father did, especially since the Father tells Jesus everything he is doing (John 5:19-20)? Moreover, why would Jesus’ work against what the Father does, if, indeed, the Father sent Jesus into the world to do the Father’s will (John 6:38-40)?
So, how can the blindness of these folks be explained, if it wasn’t the will of God for them to be blind? This is a bit complicated and involves the subject currently being discussed in John, namely Jesus as the Light of his disciples.
Notice in John 12:34 (paraphrasing) the people claimed to have heard out of the Law that the Messiah abides or lives forever. Then, they expressed their doubt: How can you say the Messiah must die? What kind of Messiah is this? So, instead of simply believing Jesus, because he was sent by God with a message, they thought they could see better than him! They knew of the doctrine that the Messiah would reign forever, and assumed their interpretation, namely the Messiah would never die, was correct. It was their choice to doubt, believing they knew better than Jesus, not realizing that doubt (unbelief) shuns the Light and embraces darkness (blindness). Moreover, take note that immediately afterward, Jesus hid himself (John 12:36). That is to say, the Light departed from them, leaving them to the darkness they embraced (cp. John 3:19).
To put this in the context of God causing the blindness, consider Romans 1. There, Paul speaks of the wrath of God (Romans 1:18), but notice how God’s wrath falls upon men. To begin with, all man had been given some light to know that God exists and to understand his attributes (vis-à-vis his power and care for mankind; see Romans 1:19-20). Therefore, at one time men had a pretty fair knowledge of what God was like, but they didn’t appreciate him, and they imagined all sorts of things about him, morphing him into images of men and animals (Romans 1:21-23). As a result, their hearts became darker, because God withdrew from them, leaving them to do as they wished (Romans 1:24). Thus, by withdrawing from men, Light was removed and their thoughts became (spiritually) darker. Notice that darkness resulted from men turning away from God, and God accommodated them by withdrawing himself, leaving man to an ever-deepening darkness, as they turned away from him more and more, even to the point of expunging all knowledge of God from their lives (Romans 1:28), and, remember God is Light, and he accommodates man’s desires by withdrawing further and further away, leaving them to the blindness they’ve chosen to embrace.
So, yes, God blinded their eyes, with the result that they could not believe (John 12:40), but this was, because no one believed the report or message he sent to them through the prophets or Jesus. First, men chose not to believe, then God reinforced their decision by accommodating their desires by withdrawing from them. In taking away their Light, they were left in the dark and blind, but believing they could see (cp. John 9:40-41).
To put this in context, we need to keep in mind that John quotes from Isaiah, when Isaiah saw HIS glory (John 12:41). Whose glory? Well, Isaiah tells us that he saw the glory of YHWH. However, John attributes HIS glory (John 12:41) to Jesus. Thus, Isaiah saw Jesus before he became man (John 1:14), but John saw YHWH in the flesh (John 1:14)! So, Jesus hid himself (John 12:36), and the LIGHT departed from the folks who began to doubt him.
Nevertheless, among those very believers who doubted were believing rulers, among whom were men like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea. The text says they believed but feared the Pharisees, knowing, if they expressed their belief in Jesus, they would be cast out (excommunicated) from the synagogues. Thus, they chose (though they later repented) the praise of men rather than the praise of God (John 12:42-43).
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[1] (1) changing water into wine—John 2; (2) healing the nobleman’s son—John 4; (3) healing the man impotent for 38 years—John 5; (4) multiplying the bread and fish to feed 5000—John 6; (5) walking on water–John 6; ; (6) healing the man born blind—John 9; (7) resurrecting Lazarus—John 11
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