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Unbelief In Israel (John 12:37-43)

 One of the reasons why St. John quotes Isaiah here is that the Apostles and the rest of the Church were trying to explain why the Messiah had not been fully accepted by the people. One of the things they eventually saw—which is explained later by St. Paul—is that Israel’s rejection led to the acceptance of Jesus by non-Jews. The way they tended to think of it is that these outsiders were added on, not that they were God’s main concern.

There is still something special about receiving the Law, the prophets, and the wisdom. Even so, we shouldn’t think that unbelief is good, even if God brings good out of it. It’s a great mystery, because we are responsible for not believing, but God is responsible for all the good that comes from faith.

St. John seems to think that the One Isaiah saw was Jesus. Jesus doesn’t allow us to have a generic faith in God. He says at the end here that some of the Pharisees knew and believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but they were afraid to say it. We sometimes are just like them: we fear to speak the truth, because we fear people won't like and accept us.

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