At the beginning of chapter 4 of When Heaven Invades Earth, Bill Johnson said faith was anchored in the unseen: “Faith has its anchor in the unseen realm. . . Faith provides eyes for the heart.” Faith sees and “brings His Kingdom into focus.” He wants this secret to the supernatural realm restored to the church. Because, “All of the Father’s resources, all of his benefits, are accessible through faith.”
Johnson seems to believe that the ability to see into the spiritual realm is available to everyone; to all people. Referring to the Pharisees and the Sadducees, he said: “The very fact that they, of all people, were required to see is evidence that everyone has been given this ability.” Unfortunately, he is expounding his own beliefs and not Scripture.
Without giving a Scriptural citation, Johnson said Jesus once called a group of religious leaders hypocrites, “because they could discern the weather but couldn’t discern the times.” He added it was obvious why Jesus would prefer people to recognize the times—by which Johnson means the spiritual climate and seasons— over natural weather conditions. “But it’s not quite so apparent why He would consider them hypocrites if they didn’t.” Johnson thought these leaders became blind to the dominion of Christ because of their corrupted hearts and therefore “were judged for their unfulfilled potential.”
First, Johnson wrongly linked the Pharisees and Sadducees to the inability to discern the weather. Jesus did rail against religious leaders in Matthew 23, giving seven woes to the Scribes and Pharisees. In Mark 7:1-13, Jesus confronted the Pharisees—and some scribes—for corrupting the meaning of Scripture with their traditions and placing them on the same level as the Word of God. Calling them hypocrites, Jesus quoted Isaiah 29:13, saying: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” However, it was in Luke 12:54-56 where Jesus made the remarks about discerning the weather, to the crowds, not the religious leaders:
He also said to the crowds, When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
Second, he suggested these religious leaders became blind because of their corrupted hearts, and were judged “for their unfulfilled potential.” So, before they corrupted their hearts, they had the potential to see His dominion? He should have said they were blind. There was no unfulfilled potential inside of them that they had neglected. They were hypocrites, honoring God with their lips when their hearts were far from him.
Johnson did refer to being born again by grace through faith in Ephesians 2:8-9, where it says: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” If we are saved by grace through faith and not by works, this faith is a gift from God and not by human achievement; nor is it given to fulfill our latent potential. But then he doubled down and made two comments back-to-back, citing two different Scriptures in support of his belief that faith sees and brings the kingdom of God into focus.
We are born again by grace through faith [Ephesians 2:8-9]. The born-again experience enables us to see from the heart [John 3:3]. A heart that doesn’t see is a hard heart [Mark 8:17-18].
Being Born Again
John 3:3 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born-again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The context of John 3:1-21 describes the encounter Nicodemus had with Jesus, where he told Nicodemus he had to be born again. Before referencing John 3:3, Johnson said, “The born-again experience enables us to see from the heart.” Unfortunately, this belief is imposed on the text. Nothing in the entire passage states or suggests the person who is born again is enabled to see into the spiritual realm.
Nicodemus referred to Jesus as a teacher from God, but at this time, does not seem to consider him to be the Messiah. D.A. Carson in his commentary on the Gospel of John said: “Nicodemus was openly curious about Jesus, but it still fell a long way short of confession that he was uniquely the promised Coming One.” Perhaps speaking as a representative for other Pharisees who were in essential agreement with what he said, Carson suggested Nicodemus was hiding behind his colleagues. “Nicodemus, like other Jews, wants to set up criteria by which to assess who Jesus is.” But Jesus turned the situation around, and questioned Nicodemus’ ability to sort out who He was.
Nicodemus claims he can ‘see’ something of who Jesus is in the miracles; Jesus insists no-one can ‘see’ the saving reign of God at all, including the display of miraculous signs, unless born again. Even more fundamentally, if there is any possibility at all that Jesus is the promised Messiah, it would be more fitting for Nicodemus to ask himself if he is ready for him, rather than to ask if a proper claimant has arrived on the scene. As Christians today contemplate the Lord’s return aright, only if in consequence they purify themselves (1 John. 3:1–3), so Jews in Jesus’ day best anticipated the coming of the Messiah when they most wanted to be transformed in line with the promises of life under the messianic age—to enjoy a new heart for God, cleansing and the fulness of the Spirit (e.g. Jeremiah. 31:28ff.; Ezekiel. 36:25–27).
Carson said to a Jew like Nicodemus, to see ‘the kingdom of God’ was to participate in the kingdom at the end of the age; to experience eternal, resurrection life. Jesus is telling a respected Jew and member of the Sanhedrin that he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3); that he cannot enter the kingdom unless he is born again (John 3:5). “What is required is the regeneration of the individual before the end of the world and in order to enter the kingdom.”
The Hard Heart
Johnson then said, “A heart that doesn’t see is a hard heart,” and cited Mark 8:17-18—supposedly to support this statement. Let’s examine the context surrounding what Jesus said here.
After Jesus fed the four thousand (Mark 8:1-9), he and his disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee to the region of Dalmanutha. There he was confronted by some Pharisees, who argued with him and sought a sign from heaven. In dismay, Jesus sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation” (Mark 8:12). Jesus and the disciples got back in the boat and left.
Now the disciples had forgotten to bring bread and only had one loaf with them. After the four thousand ate and were satisfied, they had gathered seven baskets full of leftovers. Jesus cautioned them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. The Gospel of Matthew added that the disciples understood Jesus was telling them to beware of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and not leaven (Matthew 16:12). Nevertheless, the disciples were worried they have no bread and began to discuss the fact that they had no bread. So, Jesus said to them:
Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? (Mark 8:17-18)
In his commentary on the Gospel of Mark, James Edwards said Jesus pressed the disciples with a series of questions. Then he reminded them of the results when he fed the two crowds, the five thousand and the four thousand (Mark 8:.19-20). But the point of the questions was lost on the disciples, for although they witnessed baskets full of bread, they doubted Jesus’ sufficiency in the boat. Echoing a prophetic lamentation (Jeremiah 5:21; Ezekiel 12:2), Jesus lamented the disciples’ failure to understand and not their failure to see into the unseen realm: “Do you not yet understand?” (Mark 8:21)
Their failure to understand led to the hardness of the disciples’ hearts. The plea Jesus made to them for understanding was a reminder “that faith is not separate from understanding, but possible only through understanding.” This is a growing faith born of understanding and insight. “The disciples are not chastised for not believing but for not seeing and understanding.” Edwards said an ignorant heart cannot harden itself; only a knowing heart can harden itself.
Johnson was correct to say a heart that doesn’t see could be a hard heart. That is what we see in Mark 3:1-5, when Jesus healed the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath. But the context of Mark 8:17-18 indicates Jesus said the disciples’ hearts were hard because they failed to see and understand that he who fed the five thousand and the four thousand was with them in the boat. “The faith for which Jesus appeals is a faith born of understanding and insight.”
Faith can lead to seeing, but not in the sense Johnson means—seeing into the unseen realm. Faith born of understanding is what Jesus wants for us. Augustine of Hippo referred to it as believing that you may understand. Anselm of Canterbury called it “faith seeking understanding.” Anselm said he did not seek to understand in order to believe, but believed in order to understand: “Grant that I may taste by love, what I apprehend by knowledge, that I may feel in my heart what I touch in the Spirit.”
