John 12:44 - Meaning and Application

Here we see the honor Christ did not take for himself, but claimed as his own, in the account he gave of his mission and purpose in the world. This speech may not have happened at the same moment as the one before it, because “he departed” from them (John 12:36). It may have come later, when he appeared in public again. As this Gospel records it, it was Christ’s farewell sermon to the Jews, his last public speech. After this, what follows was spoken privately with his disciples.

Notice how our Lord Jesus gave this final message: “he cried and said.” Does not wisdom cry out? (Proverbs 8:1). She cries aloud in the streets (Proverbs 1:20). His raised voice showed three things. First, it showed boldness. Though they did not have the courage to confess his teaching openly, he had courage to proclaim it openly. If they were ashamed of it, he was not. He set his face like a flint (Isaiah 50:7). Second, it showed earnestness. He cried out as one who was serious and urgent, speaking with full conviction and ready to give them not only the gospel of God, but even his own life. Third, it showed his desire that everyone should notice. Since this was the last public preaching of his gospel by his own voice, he made a final proclamation: “Whoever will hear me, let them come now.”

What is the closing summary of all Christ’s teaching? It is much like Moses’ warning: “See, I have set before you life and death” (Deuteronomy 30:15). So Christ leaves the temple with a solemn declaration of three things. First, he shows the honor and privilege of those who believe, which gives us strong reason to believe in him and own that faith openly. It is not something we need to hide or be embarrassed about.

By believing in Christ, we are brought into an honored knowledge of God (John 12:44, John 12:45). “He who believes in me,” and so sees me, believes in him who sent me, and so sees him. The one who believes in Christ is not believing in a mere man, as many thought him to be, but in one who is the Son of God, equal with the Father in power and glory. Or, more exactly, that person’s faith does not stop with Christ himself. Through Christ, faith reaches the Father who sent him, because the Father is our goal, and Christ is the way. Christ’s teaching is received as the truth of God. The rest of a believing soul is found in God through Christ as mediator, that is, the one who stands between God and us. Our surrender to Christ is meant to bring us to God. Christianity is made up not of philosophy or politics, but of true knowledge of God.

This is explained further in John 12:45. “He who sees me” is the same as believing in him, because faith is the eye of the soul. To know Christ is to come to know God. God makes himself known in the face of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6), who is “the exact image of his being” (Hebrews 1:3). Everyone who sees Christ with faith is led by him to know God, whom Christ has revealed by his word and Spirit. Christ, as God, was the image of the Father’s person. Christ, as mediator, was the Father’s representative in his dealings with human beings. So the Father’s light, law, and love come to us in and through him. When we look to him as our Savior, Prince, and Lord, we also see the Father as our Owner, Ruler, and Benefactor. God is pleased to deal with fallen people through Christ.

By this same faith, we also come into a comforting enjoyment of ourselves (John 12:46). “I have come as a light into the world, so that whoever believes in me, Jew or Gentile, will not remain in darkness.” Notice Christ’s character: he came as a light into the world, to be a light for it. This means he existed as light before he came into the world, just as the sun exists before it rises. Prophets and apostles were made lights to the world, but only Christ came as light into this world, after already being a glorious light in the higher world.

This is the comfort of Christians. They do not remain in darkness. They do not stay in the dark state they were born into, for they are light in the Lord. They may still lack true comfort, joy, or hope for a time, but they do not remain there. Light is stored up for them. Even if they later face sorrow, fear, or inner trouble, provision has been made so they will not stay in it long. And they are delivered from the darkness that lasts forever, that outer darkness where there is no light at all, not even the smallest hope of it.

Second, Christ shows the danger of those who do not believe, giving fair warning to all who might keep going in unbelief (John 12:47, John 12:48). “If anyone hears my words and does not believe, I do not judge him,” meaning not at that moment, and not by myself alone, so no one can say I acted unfairly by judging my own case. But unbelief should not think it will escape punishment, because “there is one who judges him.” This is the sentence against unbelief.

The people condemned here are those who hear Christ’s words and still do not believe them. Those will not be condemned for unbelief who never had the gospel, and could not have had it. Everyone will be judged according to the amount of light he had. Those who sinned without the law will be judged without the law. But those who heard, or could have heard, and would not, are left under this warning.

The true evil of unbelief is that it does not receive Christ’s word. In John 12:48, this is called rejecting Christ, and the word means a rejection with scorn and contempt. Where the gospel banner is raised, there is no middle ground. Every person is either under Christ’s rule or against him.

We also see the great patience of our Lord Jesus toward those who despised him while he was here on earth: “I do not judge him,” not now. Christ was not quick to seize on those who refused the first offer of his grace. He kept waiting to be gracious. He did not strike down those who argued against him, and he never called down judgment on Israel as Elijah did. Though he had authority to judge, he held back the execution of that authority, because he had other work to do first, and that was to save the world.

He came, first, to save all those given to him before he came to judge the fallen human race. Second, he came to offer salvation to the whole world, and in that sense to save people so far that it is their own fault if they are not saved. He was to put away sin by offering himself as a sacrifice. The work of a judge did not fit with that mission (Acts 8:33). In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away, meaning it was set aside for a time.

Still, the judgment of unbelievers at the great day is sure and unavoidable, the day when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. Unbelief will certainly prove to be a damning sin.

Some think that when Christ says, “I judge no man,” he means that these people are already condemned. No legal process is needed, because they have judged themselves. No one needs to carry out the sentence, because they have ruined themselves. So judgment naturally goes against them (Hebrews 2:3). Christ does not need to stand before them as their accuser, but they are in misery if he does not stand for them as their advocate.

Even so, he tells them plainly when and where they will be held to account. There is one who will judge them. Nothing is more terrible than patience that is abused and grace that is trampled underfoot. For a while, mercy seems to triumph over judgment, but in the end there will be judgment without mercy. Their final judgment is reserved for the last day, and Christ here binds every unbeliever over to that day, when they must answer for every insult they have shown him. Divine justice has set a day and puts off the sentence until then (Matthew 26:64).

The word of Christ will judge them then. The words he has spoken, no matter how lightly they treated them, will judge the unbeliever on the last day. In the same way, the apostles, the preachers of Christ’s word, are said to judge (Luke 22:30). Christ’s words will judge unbelievers in two ways. First, they will expose their guilt and convict them. Every word Christ spoke, every sermon, every argument, and every kind invitation will be brought forward as witness against those who ignored all he said. Second, his words will be the standard for their sentence. They will be judged by the terms of the covenant, the agreement of peace, that Christ secured and announced. That word of Christ, “Whoever does not believe will be condemned,” will judge all unbelievers to everlasting ruin, and there are many other sayings like it.

Christ then makes a solemn statement about the authority he had to call for our faith and require us to accept his teaching under penalty of damnation (John 12:49, 50). Notice, first, the commission our Lord Jesus received from the Father to bring his teaching to the world. He says, “I have not spoken on my own.” He did not speak as a mere man, much less as an ordinary man acting independently. The Father gave him a command about what he should say. This is the same point he made in John 7:16.

Christ’s teaching was not his own in the sense that he invented it himself. As the Son of man, he did not speak what came from human planning or skill. As the Son of God, he did not act apart from the Father. What he said came from the counsel of peace. As Mediator, one who brings God and people together, his coming into the world was voluntary and wholehearted, but not self-directed or independent. Yet it was his teaching because it came from the Father who sent him.

God the Father gave him two things. He gave him his commission, sending him as his representative and full envoy to arrange peace between God and man and settle the terms. He also gave him his instructions, here called a commandment, like the orders given to an ambassador, telling him not only what he may say, but what he must say. The messenger of the covenant was given an errand he had to deliver.

Our Lord Jesus learned obedience himself before he taught it to us, even though he was a Son. The Lord God commanded the first Adam, and by his disobedience he ruined us. He commanded the second Adam, Christ, and by his obedience he saved us. God commanded Christ what he should say and what he should speak, words that mean the same thing, to show that every word was from God. The Old Testament prophets sometimes spoke on their own, but Christ always spoke by the Spirit. Some understand this to mean that he was directed what to say in his public sermons and what to speak in private teaching. Others take it to mean that he was directed what to say in his preaching now and what to speak when he judges at the last day, for he had authority and instruction for both.

Second, notice the purpose and direction of this commission: “I know that his commandment is eternal life” (John 12:50). The commission given to Christ had the eternal future of human beings in view, and it was meant to lead them to everlasting life and happiness. As a prophet, he was sent to reveal eternal life (1 John 5:11). As a king, he was given power to give eternal life (John 17:2). So the command given to him was connected with eternal life.

Christ says he knew this. He knew his Father’s command led to eternal life, and that shows how willingly and confidently he carried out his work. He knew he was on a good mission, one that would bring fruit leading to eternal life. It also shows how justly those will perish who reject Christ and his word. Those who disobey Christ are rejecting everlasting life and turning it away. So it is not only Christ’s words that will judge them, but their own actions and choices as well. They have already decided their own case, and no one can rightly object to the sentence.

Third, notice Christ’s exact obedience to the commission and instructions he received, and his steady faithfulness in carrying them out: “Whatever I speak, I say just as the Father has told me.” Christ knew the plans of God very deeply, and he faithfully revealed to people all that had been agreed to be revealed. He left out nothing that would help them. As the faithful witness, he gives life to souls, and he spoke the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

This is a great encouragement to faith. Christ’s words, rightly understood, are words we can trust our souls to. It is also a great example of obedience. Christ spoke as he was commanded, and so must we. He passed on what the Father had told him, and so must we pass on what we have received (Acts 4:20). Even with all the honor shown to him, this is the honor he points to: he spoke what the Father had said to him, and he spoke it in the way he was directed. This was his glory, that as a Son he was faithful to the one who appointed him. And by a sincere belief in every word of Christ, and by full submission of our souls to it, we must give him the glory due to his name.