I. INTRODUCTION

A. It is often said that "seeing is believing." In the case of those who saw and heard Jesus while He was on earth, seeing and hearing Him were often not enough for them to believe in Him.

B. Presently, let us consider those who have fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah concerning Jesus and the blinded eyes, dull ears, and hardened hearts of those who do not believe in Him.

II. THE COMMISSION OF ISAIAH -- ISAIAH 6:1-13

A. Around 740 B.C., Isaiah was given a view into the throne room of God.

1. In the midst of the awesome scene around God's throne, Isaiah heard the seraphim call out to one another, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory" (v. 3).

2. When Isaiah recognized his unworthiness because of his sin, one of the seraphim touched his lips with a hot coal and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven" (v. 7).

B. During his vision, Isaiah received a commission from God.

1. Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord asking, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" He accepted the call and said, "Here am I. Send me!" (Notice how the Lord described Himself as "Us," indicating the presence of Father, Son, and Spirit. See also Genesis 1:26; 3:22.)

2. Consider the mission given to Isaiah.

a. The substance of it is in verses 9-10 -- "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on listening, but do not perceive; keep on looking, but do not understand.' Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed."

b. The duration of it is in verses 11-12 -- "Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, houses are without people and the land is utterly desolate, the LORD has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land."

c. The proper interpretation of this mission is that God through Isaiah was reaching out to heal His people, but they were too stubborn and rebellious to respond. Nevertheless, Isaiah was to continue his preaching until there was no one left to hear the message.

d. Isaiah carried out his mission in his lifetime as he preached repentance to the nation of Judah. Their fall was delayed, but eventually they were carried away into captivity.

e. Isaiah's long-term mission was carried out through the messianic prophecies recorded in his writings. These were not fulfilled until the first century A.D. Even to this day, man is often still too blind, dull of hearing, and hard of heart to believe the word of God through Isaiah concerning Christ.

III. ISAIAH'S WORDS FULFILLED IN CHRIST -- JOHN 12:12-50

A. John's record of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem in John 12:12-50 declares the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecies through Jesus.

1. John 12:38 is a quotation from Isaiah 53, which is a prophecy of the event and the meaning of Christ's suffering on the cross. Notice this verse -- "This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet, which he spoke: 'Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?'"

2. Similarly, John 12:39-40 quotes from Isaiah 6:9-10 (see above). In both of these quotations, we see Isaiah's prophecies of man's resistance to belief in Christ.

3. Notice the reference to Isaiah's vision of God's throne room in John 12:41 -- "These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him."

a. Let there be no doubt of what Isaiah saw in his vision. It was the glory of God, and Christ Himself was there. When Isaiah spoke of these things, he spoke of Jesus Christ.

b. This was the same scene that the apostle John was permitted to see later in Revelation 4.

B. The primary lesson of John 12:12-50 is that the blinded eyes, the dull ears, and the hardened hearts of men prevented them from believing in the obvious truth about Jesus, which is that He is Christ, the Son of God.

1. The emphasis in John 12 concerning Isaiah's prophecies is on the refusal of men to believe in Jesus as the Christ. They simply would not believe what they saw and heard, and their foolish hearts prevented them from understanding who Jesus was.

2. On this occasion, the people came in great multitudes to see Jesus, yet they still did not believe.

a. This great multitude went out to meet Jesus as He entered Jerusalem, and they praised Him with loud voices (John 12:12-16).

b. Many of these people had seen His signs, and all of them had heard about them (John 12:17-18). Even some Greeks came to see Him (John 12:20-22).

c. The multitude was so enamored with His signs that the Pharisees, who sought to do away with Christ (John 11:53), said to one another, "You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him" (John 12:19).

d. Nevertheless, "though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him" (John 12:37). The people were impressed by the signs, but they still were not believing that He was the Christ.

3. They also heard the word of God, but they still did not believe.

a. When Jesus declared that the hour of His glorification had come (John 12:23-28), He said, "Father, glorify Thy name." With this the Father answered, "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." The multitude all heard this, but they did not believe it. Some said it was thunder, and others said it was only an angel (John 12:29).

b. When Jesus explained the voice of the Father and declared that He must be "lifted up" (crucified) to draw all men to Him, the multitude rejected Him. They falsely believed that the Christ was to remain with them on earth forever (John 12:30-34).

c. In John 12:44-50, Jesus explained the error of rejecting His words, for they were rejecting eternal life. Notice verse 48 -- "He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day."

4. They were prevented from believing because of the conditions of their hearts.

a. Their hearts' preconceived notions of the Christ prevented them from accepting who He really was (John 12:34).

b. Their love for the approval of men rather than the approval of God prevented them from confessing their belief in Him (John 12:42-43).

IV. APPLICATIONS

A. Our eyes, ears, and hearts must be opened to the word of Christ to have eternal life.

1. Personally seeing and hearing Jesus was not sufficient to save anyone. Likewise, witnessing His miracles did not bring anyone eternal life. Only believing in the words that Jesus spoke and delivered through the Holy Spirit can lead anyone to salvation and eternal life.

2. Jesus affirmed His unity with the Father (John 12:44-46), and concerning His words, He said in John 12:49-50:

"For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me."

3. Those who reject His words are rejecting the Christ, the Father, and the standard of their own judgment (John 12:47-48).

B. The glory of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection must draw us to Him.

1. The multitude came to see Jesus because of the signs. Their faith fell short because they were merely captivated with the signs and did not accept the meanings of the signs. These were indications of who Jesus was, but the multitude did not believe in Him.

2. Today, the signs of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection draw men to believe in Him. Notice that Romans 1:4 says He "was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord."

3. Because of these things, we must believe that He is the Christ (anointed Prophet, Priest, and King), the Son of God (deity), and the Lord (authority over all -- Matt. 28:18).

C. We must love the approval of God rather than the approval of men.

1. The rulers in John 12:42 believed in Jesus but were afraid to confess Him. Consider what Jesus says about such believers in Matthew 10:32-33 -- "Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven."

2. Regardless of who may disapprove of our belief in Jesus, we must confess Him before men to have eternal life. Not only must our eyes, ears, and hearts be opened to Him, but our mouths must opened for Him as well.