Day 25 The New Exodus

The New Exodus

Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfil the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” For this reason they could not believe, because as Isaiah said elsewhere:

“He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so that they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn – and I would heal them.” John 12:37-40

These scriptures are the first part of a concluding summary of Jesus’ public ministry. They explain the unbelief of the Jews, and the next part, verses 44 to 50, are a summary of the message that almost all the nation has rejected.

From chapter 13:1 on Jesus is no longer the public preacher of salvation and the revealer of God’s glory through signs. He will become the instructor of His disciples (chapters 13-18), the intercessor with the Father (chapter 17) and the Lamb of God crucified and raised again for the sins of the world (chapters 18-21).

John has carefully chosen seven signs – water turned into wine (2:1-11), the healing of the royal official’s son (4:46-54), the healing of the lame man (5:1-9), the feeding of the multitude (6:1-14), walking on water (6:16-21), healing of the blind man (9:1-12) and the raising of Lazarus (11:1-46). These and the discourses around them have been carefully crafted by John to reveal who Jesus really is and engender faith in Him (20:30,31). But like Moses’ signs before Pharaoh, the signs haven’t convinced those who saw them. Could this parallel be a clue? The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart made the liberation of God’s people all the more dramatic. Human unbelief didn’t thwart God’s purposes. In fact, it hastened them; so here.

Isaiah, faced with the people of Israel in his day in flagrant immorality and rebellion against God, found himself called to speak to them, knowing it would only make matters worse. They had become just like Pharaoh. Their eyes were shut, their hearts were hard and it seemed as though God had made it that way. They were so sunk in their sin and rebellion that the only course for God now would be judgement, even though, as Isaiah saw, through that judgement an extraordinary new work of salvation would emerge.

John, with both these terrifying examples in his mind, looks at the Judeans who saw Jesus’ signs. The only explanation he can find for their unbelief is that something similar has happened. Most of the people were hard-hearted. They rejected both their Messiah and their own Father-God.

But John is clear that the new exodus was about to take place. The signs were leading rapidly when all the themes in the gospel would come rushing together with the image of a dying man on a cross, lifted up for all the world to see, opening blind eyes and softening hardened hearts with the love of God. The greatest Pharaoh of all, the power of death itself, would lunge at Jesus, only to be fatally wounded.

We are part of this new exodus. Pharaoh and his chariots are destroyed. Christian, you are free!

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