{"id":72857,"date":"2025-10-27T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T04:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/?p=72857"},"modified":"2025-10-31T09:02:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T13:02:38","slug":"the-fulfillment-of-prophecies-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/the-fulfillment-of-prophecies-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fulfillment of Prophecies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

They loved human praise more than praise from God.
\u2014John 12:43<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verse 43 of today\u2019s reading felt like a punch in the gut to me, a turn of phrase that exposed all my idols with its economical nine words. This is a reading about the Pharisees, those oft-demonized leaders of the Jewish people in Jesus\u2019s time. I\u2019ve heard illustrations that compare me to the Pharisees dozens of times: I struggle with legalism (which is true), I focus on outward actions rather than inward transformation (also true), I struggle to believe (definitely true). But this particular description of the Pharisees really knocked me flat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this passage, John recounted Isaiah\u2019s prophecy and experience to contextualize the Pharisees\u2019 disbelief in Jesus as the Messiah. In Isaiah 53:1, Isaiah asked, \u201cWho has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?\u201d When John made this reference, he was showing us how Jesus fulfilled yet another prophecy in the Old Testament. This is a hallmark of John\u2019s Gospel, revealing these glimpses backward to show us the true nature and identity of Jesus. Jesus had done so much to fulfill the words of the prophets; He had \u201cperformed so many signs in their presence,\u201d and yet, \u201cthey did not believe in him\u201d (John 12:37).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what struck me today wasn\u2019t what this passage reveals about Jesus (though that is, as always, incredibly important). It was what it reveals about the Pharisees and what it reveals about me. Yes, the Pharisees are often painted as evil. But who were they? They were men who guarded the truth. Men who dedicated their lives to God\u2019s law, to following it and teaching it. They were misguided by their unwillingness to change, to see the mystery and providence of God in the divinity of Jesus. Tolstoy called it the \u201cstationary righteousness of the Pharisee,\u201d this rigid belief in the words on the page, rather than the incarnate Christ standing before them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pharisees measured their life by their actions, but it was all they had known. Their north star was the Word of God, but they did not see the Word made flesh who dwelled among them. I am duly convicted: by my own unwillingness to turn to Christ but also my willingness to only dwell on the grace of Jesus at the expense of following His law. I can learn from both the Pharisees\u2019 mistakes and their commitment to the Word of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the prioritization John gives us in verse 47 is the piece to remember, the pin that holds together this tension of belief and action. We should love God\u2019s Word as much as the Pharisees loved the law, and we should love Jesus and cling to Him. Our actions should be for Jesus, not for humankind. We should love the praise of God more than the praise of humans. May we crave the praise of God more than anything else, and may our lives reflect the limitless love of Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They loved human praise more than praise from God.\u2014John 12:43 Verse 43 of today\u2019s reading felt like a punch in the gut to me, a turn of phrase that exposed all my idols with its economical nine words. This is a reading about the Pharisees, those oft-demonized leaders of the Jewish people in Jesus\u2019s time. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":72651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[305],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-john25"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"related_plans":[72756],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"#SheReadsTruth","devotional_text":"THE FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECIES<\/b>

\r\nby Melanie Rainer<\/i>

\r\n

They loved human praise more than praise from God.
\u2014John 12:43<\/em><\/p>
\r\n

Verse 43 of today\u2019s reading felt like a punch in the gut to me, a turn of phrase that exposed all my idols with its economical nine words. This is a reading about the Pharisees, those oft-demonized leaders of the Jewish people in Jesus\u2019s time. I\u2019ve heard illustrations that compare me to the Pharisees dozens of times: I struggle with legalism (which is true), I focus on outward actions rather than inward transformation (also true), I struggle to believe (definitely true). But this particular description of the Pharisees really knocked me flat.<\/p>
\r\n

In this passage, John recounted Isaiah\u2019s prophecy and experience to contextualize the Pharisees\u2019 disbelief in Jesus as the Messiah. In Isaiah 53:1, Isaiah asked, \u201cWho has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?\u201d When John made this reference, he was showing us how Jesus fulfilled yet another prophecy in the Old Testament. This is a hallmark of John\u2019s Gospel, revealing these glimpses backward to show us the true nature and identity of Jesus. Jesus had done so much to fulfill the words of the prophets; He had \u201cperformed so many signs in their presence,\u201d and yet, \u201cthey did not believe in him\u201d (John 12:37).<\/p>
\r\n

But what struck me today wasn\u2019t what this passage reveals about Jesus (though that is, as always, incredibly important). It was what it reveals about the Pharisees and what it reveals about me. Yes, the Pharisees are often painted as evil. But who were they? They were men who guarded the truth. Men who dedicated their lives to God\u2019s law, to following it and teaching it. They were misguided by their unwillingness to change, to see the mystery and providence of God in the divinity of Jesus. Tolstoy called it the \u201cstationary righteousness of the Pharisee,\u201d this rigid belief in the words on the page, rather than the incarnate Christ standing before them.<\/p>
\r\n

Pharisees measured their life by their actions, but it was all they had known. Their north star was the Word of God, but they did not see the Word made flesh who dwelled among them. I am duly convicted: by my own unwillingness to turn to Christ but also my willingness to only dwell on the grace of Jesus at the expense of following His law. I can learn from both the Pharisees\u2019 mistakes and their commitment to the Word of God.<\/p>
\r\n

But the prioritization John gives us in verse 47 is the piece to remember, the pin that holds together this tension of belief and action. We should love God\u2019s Word as much as the Pharisees loved the law, and we should love Jesus and cling to Him. Our actions should be for Jesus, not for humankind. We should love the praise of God more than the praise of humans. May we crave the praise of God more than anything else, and may our lives reflect the limitless love of Christ.<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"22","scripture":"John 12:37-50, Isaiah 53:1-6, Luke 11:29-32","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}