Although he had performed so many signs in their presence they did not believe in him, 38 in order that the word which Isaiah the prophet spoke might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed our preaching, to whom has the might of the Lord been revealed?” 39 For this reason they could not believe, because again Isaiah said: 40 “He blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they might not see with their eyes and understand with their heart and be converted, and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke about him. 42 Nevertheless, many, even among the authorities, believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not acknowledge it openly in order not to be expelled from the synagogue. 43 For they preferred human praise to the glory of God.
Jesus worked many miracles among the chosen people (Ps. 33:12) but his miracles were met with unbelief. At the beginning of his Gospel, John the Evangelist said, “He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him (Jn. 1:11).” The evangelist explained the unbelief of the Israelites by using words from Isaiah the Prophet (v. 38; Is. 53:1). He also said that the Israelites would fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy of refusing to see Jesus’ miracles and hear his words, but not believe and be converted (Is. 6:9-10; Mt. 13:14-15; Acts 28:26-27). God, because of his foreknowledge, knew that the stubbornly unyielding hearts of the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Mt. .10:6) were not disposed to receive Jesus. Nowhere in the Gospels does it indicate that God was the cause of anyone’s spiritual blindness and hearing, or of anyone’s hardness of heart. The choice to believe in Jesus is an act of man’s free will.
Isaiah can prophesy with authority because he saw Jesus’ glory (v. 41). Even though many of the Jewish authorities did not believe in Jesus, those who believed in him were afraid to do so publicly because they did not want to lose the esteem of their colleagues or to be expelled from the Synagogue. As a result, they did not fully receive the revelation about the glory of God. Nicodemus (Jn. 3:1-2) and Joseph of Arimathea (Jn. 19:38) were examples of Jewish leaders who believed in Jesus.
Almighty God, grant us insight to know your will and the wisdom to follow it with all our hearts. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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