Friends,

Please read these sobering words from John 12:40 (quotation from Isaiah 6:10)

“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.”

John is pulling from Isaiah 6 to explain the unbelief of God’s people who rejected Jesus as their rightful King. What’s striking is that we see this same passage quoted in the first 5 books of the New Testament (Matt. 13:14-15; Mark 4:11-12; Luke 8:10; John 12:40, Acts 28:26-27). In addition to the repeated use of the text, Paul then uses essentially the same language to explain unbelief in the first chapter of the 6th book (Romans). He writes, “Therefore God gave them up in the lust of their heart.”

The temptation of the sinful heart may be to subtly accuse God of injustice (although under the guise of compassion for our fellow man). The finite might stoop so low to question the infinite God in an accusatory manner. The flesh may ask, “How can a benevolent God harden a man’s heart and close his eyes to the truths of salvation?“ I offer some responses to this accusatory question (although I give it no credence):

1. We are not God and therefore we cannot self-determine what “fair” is.

2. Because God alone defines justice, we conclude that justice for all men under the curse of sin is His righteous indignation.

3. God’s justice is displayed both in the outpouring of wrath upon Christ who was crushed for our iniquity, and it is likewise displayed in the rightful condemnation of sinners.

4. If these questions arise in our hearts, we must tread lightly considering what Isaiah later says in chapter 45: “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker— A piece of pottery among the other earthenware pottery pieces! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’? Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you fathering?’ Or to a woman, ‘To what are you giving birth?’”

5. Ultimately, when the Lord hardens man’s heart, he is giving them what they want. This is why Paul writes that they have been given over to “the lust of their hearts” (Rom. 1:24) Who is man to craft idols in his heart and then accuse God of injustice when he is given over to the very idols that he himself fashioned to replace his creator.

Brothers & Sisters, may we turn to the Lord in repentance with opened eyes and softened hearts.