{"id":241,"date":"2023-04-19T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=241&2023"},"modified":"2023-04-17T18:00:01","modified_gmt":"2023-04-18T00:00:01","slug":"jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesus the Magnet: John 12:37-50"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"spoiler spoiler-style-2\"><div class=\"spoiler-title\">Focus Passage: John 12:37-50 (GNT)<\/div><div class=\"spoiler-content\"><p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">37<\/sup> Even though he had performed all these miracles in their presence, they did not believe in him,\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">38<\/sup> so that what the prophet Isaiah had said might come true:<\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Lord, who believed the message we told? <br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To whom did the Lord reveal his power?<\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">39<\/sup> And so they were not able to believe, because Isaiah also said,<\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">40<\/sup> God has blinded their eyes <br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and closed their minds, <br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0so that their eyes would not see, <br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and their minds would not understand, <br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and they would not turn to me, says God, <br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0for me to heal them.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">41<\/sup> Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus\u2019 glory and spoke about him.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">42<\/sup> Even then, many Jewish authorities believed in Jesus; but because of the Pharisees they did not talk about it openly, so as not to be expelled from the synagogue.\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">43<\/sup> They loved human approval rather than the approval of God.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">44<\/sup> Jesus said in a loud voice, <br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in him who sent me.\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">45<\/sup> Whoever sees me sees also him who sent me.\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">46<\/sup> I have come into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">47<\/sup> If people hear my message and do not obey it, I will not judge them. I came, not to judge the world, but to save it.\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">48<\/sup> Those who reject me and do not accept my message have one who will judge them. The words I have spoken will be their judge on the last day!\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">49<\/sup> This is true, because I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has commanded me what I must say and speak.\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">50<\/sup> And I know that his command brings eternal life. What I say, then, is what the Father has told me to say.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"passage-read-more\">Read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John 12:37-50&amp;version=gnt\" title=\"Read the passage on BibleGateway.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"hyperlink-underlined\">John 12:37-50<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>In our passage for this journal entry, we read a side-note that John includes in his gospel about the reaction Jesus had on those who He was teaching and preaching to. The big idea I want to draw our attention to comes from something that Jesus says in verse 40: <strong>\u201cGod has blinded their eyes and closed their minds . . .\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p>What is even more startling about this is the reason Jesus gives in the very next verse: <strong>\u201cIsaiah said this because he saw Jesus&#8217; glory and spoke about him.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p>Isaiah prophesied that God will blind their eyes and close their minds because he saw Jesus\u2019 glory.<\/p>\r\n<p>This passage then makes me believe that God\u2019s glory, shining through Jesus, could be similar in a way to a magnet: attracting some people and repelling others. The same glory shining down could, similar to the sun, harden \u201cclay-like\u201d hearts that are unreceptive, or soften \u201cbutter-like\u201d hearts that are receptive: same sun <em>(i.e. same glory)<\/em>; opposite results.<\/p>\r\n<p>While God\u2019s glory, shining through Jesus, is the same glory that shines towards everyone, perhaps the focus and choices in our lives plays a role in whether we are attracted to God, or repelled away from Him. It seems as though there is no real middle ground: Either Jesus is the Son of God and the person He claimed to be, or He is the greatest imposter who ever lived. Lots of culture would lean towards the idea of Jesus being a \u201cgood teacher\u201d, but this belief is based in complete ignorance from people who want to not irritate either side. Read Jesus\u2019 teaching, and you\u2019ll be forced to pick from either \u201cSon of God\u201d or \u201cpotentially sincere, but solidly delusional, counter-cultural teacher\u201d.<\/p>\r\n<p>But in either case, our big idea remains: <strong>God\u2019s glory, which shone through Jesus, polarizes people. Some people will be attracted, and others will be repelled.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<div id=\"aj-wrap-up--241\" class=\"aj-wrap-up\"><p><em>This thought was inspired by studying the <strong>Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, <a class=\"underline\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/\" title=\"Check out Reflective Bible Study!\">click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p><p><em><a class=\"underline\" href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onClick=\"rbs_aj_inline_subscribe(this, '241');\">Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In our passage for this journal entry, we read a side-note that John includes in his gospel about the reaction Jesus had on those who He was teaching and preaching to. The big idea I want to draw our attention to comes from something that Jesus says in verse 40: \u201cGod has blinded their eyes [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Jesus the Magnet: John 12:37-50 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jesus the Magnet: John 12:37-50 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In our passage for this journal entry, we read a side-note that John includes in his gospel about the reaction Jesus had on those who He was teaching and preaching to. The big idea I want to draw our attention to comes from something that Jesus says in verse 40: \u201cGod has blinded their eyes [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-19T09:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cam\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cam\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"headline\":\"Jesus the Magnet: John 12:37-50\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-19T09:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":719,\"articleSection\":[\"Written Journal Entries\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\\\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus the Magnet: John 12:37-50 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-19T09:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Jesus the Magnet: John 12:37-50\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\",\"name\":\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"description\":\"Your Life. God&#039;s Truth. His Way.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\",\"name\":\"Cam\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Cam\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jesus the Magnet: John 12:37-50 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jesus the Magnet: John 12:37-50 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","og_description":"In our passage for this journal entry, we read a side-note that John includes in his gospel about the reaction Jesus had on those who He was teaching and preaching to. The big idea I want to draw our attention to comes from something that Jesus says in verse 40: \u201cGod has blinded their eyes [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\/","og_site_name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/","article_published_time":"2023-04-19T09:00:00+00:00","author":"Cam","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@godstruthhisway","twitter_site":"@godstruthhisway","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\/"},"author":{"name":"Cam","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"headline":"Jesus the Magnet: John 12:37-50","datePublished":"2023-04-19T09:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\/"},"wordCount":719,"articleSection":["Written Journal Entries"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\/","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\/","name":"Jesus the Magnet: John 12:37-50 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-04-19T09:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/jesus-the-magnet-john-12-37-50\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jesus the Magnet: John 12:37-50"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/","name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","description":"Your Life. God&#039;s Truth. His Way.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3","name":"Cam","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","caption":"Cam"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}