They Loved Praise From Men
37 But though he had done so many signs before them, yet they didn’t believe in him, 38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 For this cause they couldn’t believe, for Isaiah said again: 40 “He has blinded their eyes and he hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, and would turn, and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said these things when he saw his glory, and spoke of him. 42 Nevertheless, even many of the rulers believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they didn’t confess it, so that they wouldn’t be put out of the synagogue, 43 for they loved men’s praise more than God’s praise. 44 Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me, but in him who sent me. 45 He who sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in the darkness. 47 If anyone listens to my sayings and doesn’t believe, I don’t judge him. For I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 He who rejects me, and doesn’t receive my sayings, has one who judges him. The word that I spoke will judge him in the last day. 49 For I spoke not from myself, but the Father who sent me gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak. 50 I know that his commandment is eternal life. The things therefore which I speak, even as the Father has said to me, so I speak.”
The narrator sums up the public ministry: they saw everything and did not believe, and some who did would not say so.
But though he had done so many signs before them, yet they didn’t believe in him,
The verse closes the first half of the book. Twelve chapters, seven signs, and this is the verdict — and the writer states it without softening, about the material he has spent his whole first half assembling.
It also answers a question the reader may have been forming. If the signs were meant to produce faith John 20:31, why did they not?
"Lord, who has believed our report? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" John 12:38 Isaiah 53:1.
The first answer is that this was foretold, and the chapter quoted is the one about the servant who was despised and rejected. Isaiah's complaint was that his own message went unbelieved, and the failure is presented as a pattern rather than a surprise.
For this cause they couldn't believe... "He has blinded their eyes and he hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes" John 12:39–40 Isaiah 6:10.
The second answer is much harder and the account does not soften it either. The text quoted is Isaiah's commission, and it says the blinding is God's act.
What keeps this from making God the author of their refusal is the shape of the passage in Isaiah and here. In both, the hardening follows a long period of refusal rather than preceding it — the eyes were closed by their owners first, as Matthew's fuller quotation makes plain Matthew 13:15. Scripture regularly credits to God what he permits inside his government, as with Pharaoh, whose heart is described as hardened by himself and by God in the same narrative. A settled preference is confirmed, and the confirming is a judgment.
And Isaiah's purpose clause runs toward healing — lest they see with their eyes... and turn again, and be healed — which is what the closed eyes were closed against.
Isaiah said these things when he saw his glory, and spoke of him.
The aside is one of the boldest claims in the book. The vision in question is Isaiah in the temple, seeing the Lord high and lifted up with the seraphim crying holy Isaiah 6:1–3 — and the writer says the glory he saw was his.
Nevertheless, even many of the rulers believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they didn’t confess it, so that they wouldn’t be put out of the synagogue,
The qualification matters. The unbelief was not total, and the men in the council chamber who had said have any of the rulers or any of the Pharisees believed in him? John 7:48 were wrong about their own colleagues.
for they loved men’s praise more than God’s praise.
And here is the plainest diagnosis in the Gospel of why belief stalls at the last step. Not evidence, not intellect, not even fear of loss in the abstract — a preference, weighed and chosen, between two audiences. It is the mechanism named in chapter five John 5:44, now shown at work in named men.
Two of them will surface in six chapters, carrying a body and a hundred pounds of spices in daylight John 19:38–39.
Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me, but in him who sent me.
The last paragraph is a summary of everything said in public, placed after he has hidden himself — a closing statement rather than a scene. Its themes are the ones the book has repeated: seeing him is seeing the Father, he came as light, he came to save and not to judge.
He who rejects me, and doesn’t receive my sayings, has one who judges him. The word that I spoke will judge him in the last day.
And judgment is located exactly where the third chapter put it. He does not judge; the word does, and it does so by having been spoken and heard. Nothing further needs to be added at the end for a verdict to exist.
held with reason What this mark means