These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and was hidden from them. But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. 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?” John 12:36-38.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Today we continue on from where we left off in our prior Life Lesson in a conversation Jesus was having with His disciples and the listening crowd five days before the final Passover He celebrated as one of you on earth.
This was the time when the Pharisees were seriously lining up their opposition along with the Sadducees against Jesus. Both groups wanted to destroy Him and they had the complete agreement of the priests (who were Sadducees), and the scribes. The Levites, including the priests who were Aaron’s descendants, had always been sacred as My portion and I was their portion, but their hearts had departed from Me.
As Sadducees they even maintained there was no eternal life and no angels or spiritual beings. This was the teaching of an atheist while professing to believe in Me and be leaders in temple worship and the sacrifices and offerings therein. But all I had become for them was a figurehead and a book of laws that they had enlarged and made too heavy for anyone to carry, which they did not keep but tried to enforce on My people.
They had left their first love, and indeed any love, and had become dry and useless branches, cut off from the vine and cluttering the ground.
Like the tenants in the vineyard of the parable Jesus told, they no longer had any regard for anyone but themselves so they killed My prophets and now the were about to kill My Son in the flesh, their Messiah and Lord that was leading them back to Eden. But they would not go. Do not be like them.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, otherwise they will not come near to you. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him. Psalm 32:8-10.
That sums up so much, that is, “Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him.” Psalm 32:10. For those of you who know Me and have tasted My goodness, who come to Me and cast your cares on Me, who love Me with an undying love because of all I have done for you in Christ and believe that I always will make things work out good for you and trust in My lovingkindness, you are safe in Me. No weapon formed against you can prosper for you are in My secret place of favor. I keep you. And I will bring you complete before Me, spirit, soul, and body. I am faithful and I will do it. Nothing is too hard for Me, nothing is impossible for Me, and all things are possible for those who believe that and trust in My goodness and love.
Until it was Jesus’ hour, when people tried to stone Him or harm Him, He just walked right through their midst unseen. I tell you He “hid” Himself in Me. And for you who have made Me your dwelling place, the same is true.
In our last Life Lesson we left off where the crowd was challenging Jesus’ identity as the Messiah, and Jesus had answered with a wise counsel for those among them who really were seeking the answer in Him, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” John 12:35-36.
But He knew their hearts. I gave Him discernment in the Spirit. Once He spoke these things, He went away and was hidden (kruptó (κρύπτω): to hide, conceal, keep secret) from them in Me. For though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they refused to believe in Him. This fulfilled 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?” Isaiah 53:1. Jesus is My own arm that I reach down to save you, to pull you out of the pit of destruction.
And He saw that there was no man and was astonished that there was no one to intercede; then His own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on His head. Isaiah 59:16-17.
The LORD has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations, that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation (Yeshuah) of our God. Isaiah 52:10.
Isaiah foretold the sufferings of Jesus from both a physical and spiritual perspective. In the four Gospels you primarily see the physical, in the letters of Paul, Peter, and John you see the spiritual, but in Isaiah both are combined.
Surely our sickness and griefs He Himself bore, and our pains and sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our shalom fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. Isaiah 53:4-6.
For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, “He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they would not see (horaó (ὁράω): to see, perceive, attend to) with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.” John 12:39-40.
There is a point where you have gone too far in hardening your heart and I cannot help you at that point. You have rejected Me. And Jesus told you that if you deny Him before men, He has to deny you before Me. That is a spiritual law, what you permit into your life, I must permit, what you bind, I must bind. I tried everything to turn Saul (the first king of Israel), Judas, Herod, and many others from their evil ways but they just would not. There comes a point where they so open their heart to evil that the devil takes over their life and they become completely possessed by him as their master. It is possible, but it is very rare, that a person will come back to Me at that point. They have become too entrenched in scoffing, scorning, rebelling, and railing at Me and looking only for their own glory. And that is when they lose everything, including reigning with Me forever in the Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. But I have to let them go their own way.
Periodically you may have to go to war with your own self, that is your flesh from dragging you into the darkness and pushing you to sin by uncontrolled anger, resentment, offense, or lust after things that it craves. Yes, fear the one that can cast you into hell, the devil cannot do that, I will not do that, it is only you yourself who can make that choice. Watch carefully how you live not as foolish men (the fool says in his heart there is no God) but as wise. And we will talk more about this in our next Life Lesson when Jesus tells you that the judgment you face is how your life lined up with My Word:
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. John 12:48.
Do you want to know why Isaiah had so much insight into both the physical and spiritual aspects of the Messiah? When I say spiritual and physical, you will see if you look at some of the prophecies. He foretold a virgin would be with child, but then he told you who that child would be in the Spirit, and that is “God with us.” He wrote about the child born and the Son given upon whose shoulder dominion rests and His Name would be Wonderful, Counselor, God Hero, Father forever, Prince of Peace on the throne of David forevermore. He spoke about My arm and a suffering servant that bore all your sins and took the punishment for them. He spoke many things and I tell you how he did that:
These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him. John 12:41.
Do you recall when he saw Jesus in glory? You may not have realized that but he saw Him seated on the throne in Heaven high and exalted, and he states he saw “Adonai” and he looked upon His face. You cannot look at My face in your human capacity in the flesh and live, there is too much brilliance and it is in the realm of the speed of light. But you can look upon My glory shining upon the Face of Christ.
Please differentiate in the Old Testament when you see the word “Lord” either in all capital letters, “LORD,” or lower case with initial capital, “Lord.” The lower case name is “Adonai,” which can be man or God. David was called “Adonai” (“my lord”) at times, and Sarah referred to Abraham that way, both being terms of respect. But you will also see it referring to God. “The LORD (יְהוָ֨ה) said to my Lord (אדֹנִ֗י) sit at My right hand while I make your enemies a footstool under your feet.” Psalm 110. Jesus quotes this Psalm as referring to Him as Adonai. So now look at when I introduced Isaiah to Jesus, it is after this that Isaiah began his great prophecies of the Messiah.
In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord (Adonai) sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Isaiah 6:1.
And as this vision continued, Isaiah received his call:
Then I heard the voice of the Lord (Adonai), saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” He said, “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.” Isaiah 6:8-10.
Just as He called Peter, Andrew, James and John, Jesus called Isaiah. But you notice, He said, “Who will go for us?” For Him, for Me, and for the Spirit. And that is how you go as well. In My love, in His grace, and in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14.
Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20.
Even though the ones who rejected Jesus in the Sanhedrin had taken over, nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than My approval. John 12:39-43.
You cannot serve two masters and end up on the winning side. What man holds in importance is often not of any importance in the Kingdom. Be careful where you put your priorities. It could cost you your life, that is, eternal life. What does it profit you to gain the approval of the worldly for the brief time in the testing ground of this world and end up losing your soul for eternity?
Anything done without Me will give you no lasting joy. Never try to do things on your own, even for Me. Understand this, you can do nothing fruitful or lasting without Me. But the good news is that you do not have to. I am present as your helper, your Shepherd, your guide, your teacher, your redeemer, your savior, and the lifter of your head. Yes, you do amazing things with the skills I give you that you develop, but I am the one supplying you with the ability to do it. Like Bezalel and Oholiab.
And that is enough for today’s Life Lesson. Tomorrow we will finish this amazing conversation. And you will be blessed by the conclusion of the conversation. And that is the way it is whenever Jesus converses with you if you will open your heart to let Him in to dine with you and you with Him. You, like Zaccheus, will also come out enriched, at peace, and knowing how loved, favored, and blessed you are.
I love you. I gave My Son for you. And He is yours, if you receive Him, now and forever.