Conversion: Reading through John 12 with my wife yesterday after work, I stopped a few minutes and made some remarks on these words of Christ: “He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.” John 12:40. What stood out to me was that expression: “and be converted.” It struck me that the Lord here unfolds conversion very differently than it is commonly understood and presented today.
Modern religion commonly treats conversion as little more than an emotional experience, a personal decision, or an outward change in life. But the language before us places conversion in the realm of spiritual sight and understanding: “that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted.” According to Christ’s own words, conversion is tied to seeing and understanding something concerning Him that previously remained hidden. John 14:20. Scripture repeatedly connects believing with spiritual sight and understanding concerning Christ.
Men in Christ’s day saw His miracles with their natural eyes, heard His words with their natural ears, and yet remained blind because they did not truly perceive who He was. Their blindness was not merely intellectual ignorance, but spiritual blindness concerning the testimony God had given of His Son. Ephesians 1:18. In many ways, this sheds light upon the very nature of faith itself. Scripture continually connects faith with seeing and understanding the testimony God has given concerning His Son. This is why II Corinthians 4:6 harmonizes so beautifully with John 12:40: “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Just as God once commanded natural light to shine out of darkness, He must also shine spiritual light into the heart, or Christ will remain hidden to us no matter how much outward religion or knowledge we may possess. II Corinthians 4:3-4. MPJ