Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,
“He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
and understand with their heart, and turn,
and I would heal them.”
Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
Comment: The phrase ‘might be fulfilled’ needs to be thought about. In the background we must remember that God is not controlled by our earth time. We are told that to Him a thousand years is as an evening spent! In the book of Revelation in the Bible we are told that in God’s planning the Cross occurred before the world began! God is ultimately ‘THE BOSS’. That does not mean that we can escape the responsibility of our choices. Thus we have here the Isaiah prophecy which suggests that people couldn’t believe in Jesus because of God’s choice. Later we have the record of some believing and some not, and we are given two reasons why they didn’t believe – fear of the Pharisees, and they loved the praise of men more than the acceptance of God!
Prayer: May I manfully accept my responsibility to make the right choice, knowing that You are ultimately in control.
As I read it! 