John 12:40

He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. HE HATH BLINDED THEIR EYES, AND HARDENED THEIR HEART; THAT THEY SHOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES, NOR UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED, AND I SHOULD HEAL THEM. That this expresses a positive divine act, by which those who willfully close their eyes and harden their hearts against the truth are judicially shut up in their unbelief and impenitence, is admitted by all candid critics-Olshausen, for example-though many of them think it necessary to contend that this is no way inconsistent with the liberty of the human will, which of course it is not....

40._He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart. _The passage is taken from Isaiah 6:9, where the Lord forewarns the prophet, that the labor which he spends in instructing will lead to no other result than to make the people worse. First then he says, Go, and tell this people, _Hearing_, _hear and do not hear_; as if he had said, “I send thee to speak to the deaf.” He afterwards adds, _Harden the heart of this people_, _ c_. By these words he means, that he intends to make his word a punishment to the reprobate, that it may render them more thoroughly blind, and that their blindness may be plunged in deeper darkness. It is indeed a dreadful judgment of God, when He overwhelms men by the light of doctrine, in such a manner as to deprive them of all understanding; and when, even by means of that which is their only light, he brings darkness upon them....

37-43 Observe the method of conversion implied here. Sinners are brought to see the reality of Divine things, and to have some knowledge of them. To be converted, and truly turned from sin to Christ, as their Happiness and Portion. God will heal them, will justify and sanctify them; will pardon their sins, which are as bleeding wounds, and mortify their corruptions, which are as lurking diseases. See the power of the world in smothering convictions, from regard to the applause or censure of men. Love of the praise of men, as a by-end in that which is good, will make a man a hypocrite when religion is in fashion, and credit is to be got by it; and love of the praise of men, as a base principle in that which is evil, will make a man an apostate, when religion is in disgrace, and credit is to be lost for it....

Verse 40. _AND I SHOULD HEAL THEM._] This verse is taken from Isaiah 6:9, and, perhaps, refers more to the judgments that should fall upon them as a nation, which God was determined should not be averted, than it does to their eternal state. To suppose that the text meant that God was unwilling that they should turn unto him, lest he should be obliged to save them, is an insupportable blasphemy....

HE HATH BLINDED THEIR EYES - The expression in Isaiah is, “Go, make the heart of this people fat, and shut their eyes.” That is, go and proclaim truth to them truth that will result in blinding their eyes. Go and proclaim the law and the will of God, and the effect will be, owing to the hardness of their heart, that their eyes will be blinded and their hearts hardened. As God knew that this would be the result - as it was to be the effect of the message, his commanding Isaiah to go and proclaim it was the same in effect, or in the result, as if he had commanded him to blind their eyes and harden their hearts. It is this effect or result to which the evangelist refers in this place. He states that God did it, that is, he did it in the manner mentioned in Isaiah, for we are limited to that in our interpretation of the passage. In that case it is clear that the mode specified is not a direc...

EXPOSITION The twelfth chapter neither belongs intrinsically to that which precedes nor to that which follows. It is a paragraph of high significance, as bearing on the construction of the Gospel. It is the transition between the public and the private ministry, the great pause between the two classes of manifestation forming the climax of the public ministry. III. CONSUMMATION OF THE PUBLIC MINISTRY. JOHN 12:1 1. _The feast of love and gratitude_. JOHN 12:1 JESUS THEREFORE, SIX DAYS BEFORE THE PASSOVER. Every preliminary of that solemn feast is memorable to our evangelist. The coincidence of the

HE HATH BLINDED THEIR EYES, AND HARDENED THEIR HEART,.... It is of no great moment, whether the he, who is said to blind and harden, be God or Christ, or whether the words be rendered, "it hath blinded", c. that is, malice or wickedness or whether they be read impersonally, "their eyes are blinded", c. since God or Christ blind and harden not by any positive act, but by leaving and giving men up to the blindness and hardness of their hearts, and denying them the grace which could only cure them, and which they are not obliged to give and which was the case of these Jews, so as never to be converted, or be turned even by external repentance and reformation, that they might be healed in a national way, and be preserved from national ruin, as it follows, THAT THEY SHOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES,.... Matthew 13:14,...

John 12:1. _Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead._ The days Christ was to spend upon the earth were getting to be very few so he paid another visit to that Bethany home where he was always so welcome, and more so than ever since he had raised Lazarus from the dead. John 12:2. _There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment._ All the members of the re-united family were present, Martha busy as usual with the domestic duties which fell to her share, La

JOHN 12:40 evpw,rwsen {C} The reading evph,rwsen (î66, 75 a K W P _al_) appeared to a majority of the Committee to have arisen in an attempt to supply a somewhat more suitable verb with th.n kardi,an than evpw,rwsen or pepw,rwken. The form pepw,rwken (B3 D ¦1 565 700 _Byz al_) has doubtless been assimilated to the tense of the preceding verb (tetu,flwken)....

CHAPTER 12 1. The Feast at Bethany. (John 12:1 .) 2. The Entrance into Jerusalem. (John 12:9 .) 3. The Inquiring Greeks and His Answer. (John 12:20 .) 4. His Final Words. (John 12:34 .) From the close of the previous chapter we learn that the Lord had gone with His disciples to a city called Ephraim. Six days before the Passover He came to Bethany again. They made Him a feast. Lazarus is especially mentioned as well as Martha, who served; Mary also was present with others who were of His disciples. It is a beautiful type of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, when He will have His own with Him. Lazarus represents the Saint