John 2:23-25

23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. 

24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 

25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

I Can’t Pretend with Jesus

What is our reason for believing in Jesus? The people in this passage believed in Jesus only because of the miracles that He performed. The word “believed” here is translated as “trusted in”. They trusted in His abilities. They wanted to be around Him because of what He could do for them. It was a selfish belief more than a sincere belief. This makes me suddenly think of one of Jesus’ parables. The prodigal son had lots of friends until he ran out of money. They were not truly his friends. They only stayed around to get what they wanted from him (Luke 15:11-32). Likewise, these people did not have a real deep-rooted belief and trust in who Jesus was. This is why Jesus did not “commit” Himself to them. Another word for “commit” is “entrust”. Some of these same people would soon reject Him, and be consenting in His death. They were not going to stick with Jesus through thick and thin, and He knew that. Jesus was and still is a discerner of the thoughts of all of us. Hebrews 4:12 says that the Word of God “is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Jesus was the Word made flesh according to John 1:1, 14. He knows if our motives are pure in every situation. People who have a true belief and trust in Jesus are changed on the inside. It is a heart transplant. We allow Him to give us a new heart. Jesus saw nothing like this in these people. This reminds me of what Jesus says in Matthew 15:8 and Mark 7:6…. “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me”. This is a quote from His Father from Isaiah 29:13. This also reminds me of the stony ground in Jesus’ parable of the sower. The seed that fell among stones sprung up quickly, but had shallow roots which soon destroyed the plant. These people were that stony ground. They accepted Jesus quickly only because of the signs that He performed, but their roots were shallow. Their belief was shallow. When trials and persecutions came, their shallow roots would not allow them to remain faithful to Jesus (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, Mark 4:1-9, 10-20, Luke 8:4-8, 11-15). 

These three verses, John 2:23-25, have always seemed very cut and dry to me until now. That is the way this entire study of John has been for me. I have learned so much from passages that seemed very simple on the surface. I have read them several times before in the past, and not really thought about them. However, as I have dug in and studied each set of verses to get the true meaning behind them, my eyes have been opened to a whole new world…..a world of amazing and infinite teachings and truth. The lessons learned are endless. It is amazing how deep I can go with just one verse. Every word of the Bible is important, even parts that didn’t seem so important to me in the past. The verses that I have dug into today are very important, because they remind us that Jesus knows whether we are truly rooted and grounded in Him. We may be able to pretend with the people around us, but we can never pretend with Jesus. He knows if we are genuine or not. I strive to be genuine. I strive for my life to be rooted and grounded in Jesus. I don’t want to be like the people in these verses. I want nothing more than for Jesus to be able to “entrust” or “commit” Himself to me. I know this is a daily struggle for all of us. I know that I struggle with it, and I own the struggle. I know that I need to check my heart and my motives daily. I need to pray about this every day. I need to pray for help to be genuine in my Christian walk. Jesus should be my “reason why” in everything I do. I think of the song, “Is My Heart Right With God?”. I need to ask myself that question daily. Is there anything in my life that I need to make right? Is there anything amiss? I would venture to say that there is something that I need to make right every single day…..within myself anyway.

Verse 25 says that Jesus had no need for anyone to testify about any other human being, because He already knew what was in every human being’s heart. This is still the case today. No one will be there on the judgment day to testify on my behalf, because there will be no need for that. Jesus will already know if I have been loyal and true to Him or not. I will not be able to plead anyone else’s case for them on judgment day, even those that I love most, and feel like I know better than anyone else. You see…..compared to Jesus, I don’t know them at all. Every day, let’s all ask ourselves if we’re right with God. Every day, let’s all ask ourselves if Jesus is our “reason why”. Let’s keep a daily check on our motives behind the things that we do. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Saturday! 

Are you walking in the light? Are you in Christ? If you aren’t, I’d love to help you. Are you a member of the Lord’s church, but are struggling spiritually in your walk with Christ? If you are…..believe me, I’ve been there many times, and I’d love to help you. If you have any questions, please reach out. 

God’s Plan of Salvation

Below is the plan that God has set forth in His Word, for humankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. This plan is straight from the Bible. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins.  (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)