Faithfulness Is Never Failure

“Although [Jesus] had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in him….” John records these words as he closes out the record of Jesus’ public ministry at the end of chapter 12. This is somewhat shocking in light of John’s purpose for recording the signs that he will state at the end of the Gospel: “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name” (Jn 20:30-31). If the purpose of the signs was to provoke faith, then it looks as if Jesus failed. The appearance of failure will be compounded within the week as Jesus goes to the cross. A crucified Messiah is a failed Messiah.

However, relying upon the biblical story told through the prophet Isaiah, John tells us that this is exactly how the story was always intended to unfold. John quotes from Isaiah 53:1, “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Isaiah is speaking of the Suffering Servant who “lifted up” (Isa 52:13) as Jesus spoke of himself (Jn 12:32). The Messiah will be exalted, but his throne will be a bloody throne, just like his earthly throne in the Temple, the ark of the covenant. The arm of the Lord has been revealed as it was in the Exodus (Ex 6:6), but it is through the suffering King who bears our griefs, carries our sorrows, and is wounded for our transgressions. Who would believe such a message? Obviously not Israel.

But this too was prophesied through Isaiah. When Isaiah was commissioned in the Temple vision (Isa 6), God told him that his preaching would further Israel and Judah’s blindness, deafness, and hardness of heart. The purpose of his preaching was judgment on these rebellious people, not their salvation. They don’t believe the message (“the report”) because that is what God intended.

The one Isaiah saw exalted and who commissioned him is the glory of God that performs all these signs before Israel. Rejection of Isaiah was rejection of the one who sent him, and the one who sent Isaiah stands before them. The story within the story is that Israel must be hardened so that God’s purpose of salvation for the world can be accomplished (Rom 9—11). God’s plan was always “failure.” This was the only way to greater fruitfulness.

God’s metric for success is and has always been faithfulness. Faithfulness is never failure in God’s economy. We tend to measure ministries by nickels and noses. Men don’t tend to flock to pastors of small churches who have faithfully shepherded God’s people for years to seek their counsel. We are drawn to those who are bringing in the numbers. The man who has fought and struggled with little outward success is looked upon with suspicion. Maybe he should be. Maybe he hasn’t been faithful, and that’s the reason for the troubles he’s faced. But it is possible that, like Jesus and Paul, he might need to be judged by a different standard.

The same is true in other situations in life. Maybe that business venture failed because a man refused to compromise morals with his partners. Maybe that man lost his wife because she didn’t want to be faithful.

The metric God uses is faithfulness. Sometimes the fruitfulness of that faithfulness is seen immediately and steadily. Sometimes it is seen in the future, even after someone’s death. Faithfulness will always be fruitful, but it will not always be “successful” in the short run. Our concern is faithfulness. Be faithful in everything: what you say, how you say it, what you do, and how you work. Be faithful wherever God has put you, even if it is in a difficult place to be “successful” in the short run. Your faithfulness is never failure

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