The Hope of Delayed Illumination (John 12:16)

Children's Lesson (click here)

I. The Mercurial Farmer

Let's call this one, “The Parable of the Mercurial Farmer”. Imagine a farmer who wakes up each day during a particular season on the farm, and greets the day with excitement and expectation. As he heads out early to sew seed in his field, he is blessed by the sunrise, he is stirred in thinking about his family's legacy on this plot of land, and he is delighted as he thinks about the potential of the upcoming harvest. And as the days turn into weeks... he carries that same joy into the rest of the season, greeting his eventual yield with a smile and a grateful heart.

But as the next season begins, this same farmer feels tired and disinterested. As he heads out into the field, day after day, he wonders what happened to his joy. Why does his heart no longer seem engaged in the work? As the season unfolds over many months, this man plods through his duties, considering for the first time the possibility that his farming days are over. And though there's nothing to indicate this year's harvest will be any different than the previous year, this time he feels doubtful and anxious. Have all of his labors simply been a waste of time?

Keep that parable in mind as we look together at John 12, one of the chapters from last week's selections in Our Bible Reading Plan.

II. The Passage: “Then They Remembered” (12:16)

Our verse this morning in verse 16 of John 12. But to make sense of that verse in its context, let's start back in verse 12. This is what the Evangelist tells us...

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. [13] So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!" [14] And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, [15] "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!" [And here's our main verse, verse 16...] His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.

Now notice how the context helps us understand verse 16. “His disciples did not understand these things...”. What “things” did they not understand? Well, the crowd greeting Jesus with cries of “Hosanna”, and how Jesus entered into Jerusalem on a young donkey. To be clear, it wasn't that they didn't comprehend the words or actions they were hearing and seeing. It's that they didn't understand the significance of these things. That's clear from the second half of the verse: “then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.” It was the reality of Jesus fulfilling the Scriptures that was initially lost on them.

But look back and think carefully about that phrase from v. 16: “then they remembered”. When did they remember, or when did they get it? That's answered in the previous phrase: “when Jesus was glorified”. What you may or may not know is that this ignorance or this obtuseness is something referred to a number of times in the Gospel accounts. Let's look at those passages and see if they can help us arrive at a fuller understanding of John 12:16.

In the opening chapters of this same Gospel, we find a very similar account connected to Jesus telling the religious leaders that he would raise up the temple of his body in three days. So in 2:22 we read, “When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.” In the Gospel of Luke, we read the words of the angels that first Easter morning in 24:6-8... “He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, [7] that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise." [8] And they remembered his words...”.

Now let's talk about that remembering in John and Luke's Gospels. Notice that in all three passages (John 2, John 12, and Luke 24), this remembering takes place after Jesus has risen; or as John expressed it, after “Jesus was glorified”. And that fact is connected to what we might call a divine work of illumination described in both of these Gospels. Here's Luke 24:44-45...

Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. [45] Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures...”

In John's Gospel, that divine work is connected with the Holy Spirit: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

So if we circle back to John 12, notice how three things are converging there: 1) the disciples' experience (including the noise of the crowd and the smell of the donkey), 2) the identity of Jesus, and 3) the word of God, specifically scriptures like Zechariah 9:9, and thought it's not quoted, Psalm 118 (which mentions “Hosanna” and “Blessed is He who comes in the name of Yahweh!” (vs. 25, 26)). But we cannot and should not miss how the word of God is central in all of these passages. It's the divine word from the Old Testament (OT) and the divine word from Jesus' own lips that illuminates the significance of what's happening. But as we see here... that doesn't always happen right away.

III. Waiting in Faith

So why is the timing of this illumination concerning significance significant for us? Because sometimes our reception or intake of Scripture can feel more like just getting information, rather than receiving God's revelation. We may comprehend the basic meaning of a verse or passage, but it may not feel meaningful. Mere information, rather than God's revelation. Ever felt that way as you study the Bible? Every felt like the experience was dry... flat... cold... clinical... lackluster.. ho-hum... uninspired?

If you have, then you know the ways in which that feeling can tempt you. Like our mercurial farmer, on certain days or in certain seasons, my time and your time laboring in God's word can feel dry and discouraging. We might ask, “What am I doing wrong?” or “Am I just wasting my time?” Maybe like that farmer we are referring back to days gone by when everything about God's word seemed fresh and new and exciting; when we felt joy and enthusiasm; when we felt like God was really meeting us there, and the intersection of my life and God's word seemed clear and meaningful. Or maybe, if you haven't had experiences like that... maybe you've imagined that that's how it should be. If God is spirit, and faith is spiritual, then shouldn't our time in God's word, if we're doing it right, shouldn't it be a deeply spiritual experience?

What our main text has revealed or reminded us about this morning is that sometimes, God's revelation comes as delayed illumination. The disciples saw and touched the Word made flesh, and they heard and received the divine words he spoke and the divine words he cited. But for whatever reason, in his sovereign wisdom, God delayed or deferred their understanding. Some-one might say, “Yes, but that was the disciples. And that was connected to Christ's finished work and the giving of the Spirit.” Okay. Yes. But is that the whole story? Don't we hear these same dynamics in Paul's words to his younger co-laborer in 2 Timothy 2:7... “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” Divine, but delayed, illumination. And that's not a 'one off' for Paul. For the Ephesians he prays that,

...the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, [18] having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints... (Ephesians 1:17-18)

Similarly, to the Colossian Christians he writes, “...we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding...” (Col. 1:9). Remember, he's writing to believers who know God's word. But he's praying for more than just intellectual knowledge or generic agreement. No. He's praying for divine illumination.

You see, the disciples in John 12 struggled to connect the dots between what they knew of God's word, what they were experiencing, and the true identity of Jesus. But when Christ opened their minds, those pieces came together. Do you believe God still does that work of divine illumination, and that he wants to do that work (or maybe more accurately... continue that work) in you as well?

How are you struggling with God's word this morning? Maybe you're struggling to make sense of how God's word lines up with your past hurts or current challenges. Or maybe you're strugg-ling with some intellectual difficulty, with some apparent deficiency in God's word. Or maybe, as I mentioned earlier... maybe your times in the word have felt dry and lifeless; like your getting information, but not much revelation. Whatever that struggle looks like, my encouragement to you, and to myself, is this: wait in faith for God's illumination. Please don't let your feelings discourage you from regularly sewing the seed of the word in your own soul. Here's a wonderful truth: that seed contains life and will continue to grow, even when the farmer feels uninspired or skeptical or tired. In the same way, the word of God that you've digested through reading his word, and the word of God that you've heard (in whatever context), is in you right now... and it contains life. As the Apostle Peter reminded his readers, “...you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God...” (1 Pet. 1:23).

Believer, that word is living and abiding in you. So, through you may be tempted to pull back and set God's word aside, let me again encourage you: wait in faith for God's illumination. Of course, biblical waiting always seem to involve prayer. So pray for that illumination, just as Paul prayed for his readers. Wait for Him. He will meet you there, as you seek him; as you seek to hear him through the word. Yes, a flatness or coldness with the word can point to a deeper issue. That's why its so important to have other believers in your life... and I mean really in your life, to help you in times like that. But that help will still come from God's word and God's illuminating work. So let us drink in everything God wants to show us about Jesus as we stay devoted to the word, trusting in God's timing. Don't acquire godly knowledge as an end in itself. But... acquire godly knowledge. Christ Jesus died and was raised so that we might know God. But that doesn't happen without divine illumination. So if he's already done that in saving you, trust him to keep doing that, in spite of those seasons of struggle. And let's share those struggles with one another, brothers/sisters, and seek prayer and encouragement in light of them as we wait in faith.