<p>12:38 <i>So that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, when he spoke: Lord, who has believed our report?</i>- The prophecies of Isaiah 53 had fulfilment in the Lord's life as well as in His death. His crucifixion in that sense was the essence of His life. His whole life was a being acquainted with grief (Is. 53:3); and yet we read in this same context that He was put to grief in His death (:10). The grief of His death was an extension of the grief of His life. &ldquo;Who has believed our report?&quot; (Is. 53:1) was fulfilled by the Jewish rejection of Him in His life, as well as in His death (Jn. 12:38).&quot;He bore the sin of many&quot; (Is. 53:12) is applied by Jn. 1:29 to how during His ministry, the Lord Jesus bore the sin of the world. He was glorified in His death (although the world didn&rsquo;t see it that way), as well as in His life (Jn. 12:23,29). The Jews refused to believe in Jesus whilst He was still alive- and yet by doing so, John says, they fulfilled Is. 53:1:&quot;Who hath believed our report&quot;. But the &ldquo;report&quot; there was clearly the message of the cross. It&rsquo;s as if John applies a clear prophecy about the cross to people&rsquo;s response to Jesus during His lifetime.</p><p>Jn. 12:38 parallels our preaching or &ldquo;report&rdquo; of the Gospel with the Lord Jesus, the &ldquo;arm of the Lord&rdquo;, being &lsquo;revealed&rsquo; through us. The body of Christ thus witnesses to itself by simply <i>being</i> Christ to this world. This is the essence of our calling and of our lives- to manifest / reveal the Christ.</p><p><i>And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?- </i>&quot;The arm of the Lord&quot; is the Father's operation in human individuals and society. Only those who accept the crucified Messiah will perceive that. For it is through the crucified Saviour that God works in hearts and minds and whole groups of people. But that is only revealed to believers in the cross. Those who 'believe the report' about the crucified Lord Jesus see the arm of the Lord revealed.</p>