Jesus Knows What is in Man

A study of John 2:23–25

“Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.”
‭‭John‬ ‭2‬:‭23‬-‭25‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Definitions of the original language in the context of this passage:

-Passover: “pascha”, “πάσχα”; neuter noun — the paschal festival, the feast of Passover, extending from the fourteenth to the twentieth day of the month of Nisan.

-(At The) Feast: “heortē”, “ἑορτή”; feminine noun — to be engaged in celebrating the feast.

-Many: “polys”, “πολύς”; adjective — many, much, large, many people.

-Believed: “pisteuō”, “πιστεύω”; verb — the creedence given to God’s messengers and their words.

-Name: “onoma”, “ὄνομα”; neuter noun — the name of God in the N. T. is used for all those qualities which to his worshippers are summed up in that name, and by which God makes himself known to men; it is therefore equivalent to his divinity; used in the N. T. of all those things which, in hearing or recalling that name, we are bidden to recognize in Jesus and to profess; accordingly, of “his Messianic dignity, divine authority, memorable sufferings, in a word the peculiar services and blessings conferred by him on men,”.

-When They Saw (Observing): “theōreō”, “θεωρέω”; verb — to be a spectator, look at, behold, the majesty of the Father resplendent in the Son.

-Signs: “sēmeion”, “σημεῖον”; neuter noun — of miracles and wonders by which God authenticates the men sent by him, or by which men prove that the cause they are pleading is God’s.

-He Was Doing: “poieō”, “ποιέω”; verb — joined to nouns involving the idea of action (or of something which is accomplished by action), so as to form a periphrasis (use of multiple words to express what could be said in fewer words) for the verb cognate (verb’s object) to the substantive, and thus to express the idea of the verb more forcibly.

-Entrusting: “pisteuō”, “πιστεύω”; verb — to entrust a thing to one, to be entrusted with a thing.

-Knew: “ginōskō”, “γινώσκω”; verb — to know one, his person, character, mind, plans.

-All People: “pas”, “πᾶς”; adjective — all people in every time and place.

-Man: “anthrōpos”, “ἄνθρωπος”; masculine noun — all human individuals.

Observation/Summary(short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

As Jesus stayed in Jerusalem during the Passover feast, many believed in Him when they witnessed the signs He performed. Evidently, the “sign” asked for by the Jewish leaders after Jesus cleansed the temple was provided in the following hours and days if only they would stoop from their lofty perch to look. And we know from what comes next in chapter 3 that at least one Jewish leader named Nicodemus did take notice of His signs. We are also told that while Jesus performed signs and people believed in His name, He did not “entrust” Himself to them because He knew all people and knew what was in them, in other words, the content of their heart, mind and character.

Implication (what does this mean to us):

In the previous verses we read of how Jesus traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover feast, and then cleansed the temple of the greedy merchants and money changers who should not have been buying and selling in a place of worship. After this first cleansing of the temple, the Jewish leaders who should never have allowed the market to be set up in the first place, questioned Him, asking for a miraculous sign as a symbol of His authority to cleanse the temple and He told them that if they destroyed the temple of His physical body, He would raise it back up in three days. They did not understand and thought He meant the temple building complex, but even in spite of all this, Jesus was not arrested, and He stayed in Jerusalem for the multiple days long celebration of Passover.

In verse 23 we read that while in Jerusalem many people believed in “His name” when they saw the signs He was doing. Evidently Jesus performed many signs while in Jerusalem. In light of the questioning Jewish leaders at the temple, it seems Jesus did perform many miraculous signs to satisfy their request for a sign of His being sent from God. He did not do so only because they asked, but the fact is He did perform signs for them and all of Jerusalem to see. And we know not all of the Jewish leaders rejected these signs out of hand because in John chapter 3 we will read of Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a Jewish ruler, coming to Jesus saying He and at least some of his colleagues knew Jesus had come from God because of the signs He performed.

Before reading of Nicodemus though we see here that many people believed in Jesus because of the signs, but He did not entrust Himself to them because He knew all people. The people saw real miracles and this caused them to believe at the very least that Jesus was a teacher sent from God. They may even have believed in Him as the Messiah, but their belief was a shallow belief in reaction to their awe at seeing the miraculous. Their belief did not come from a sincere desire to worship God. They saw miracles and wanted them for themselves. They wanted the gifts, not the Giver. Knowing their belief to be shallow, Jesus did not entrust Himself to them.

We should not despise the people for their superficial faith. Even weak faith in a strong branch is enough to save us. But we should consider the state of our own faith. Weak or immature faith is a start, but we must not be content with that. We must press on, by the power of Christ to greater heights and further depths of faith. After seeing the majesty of Jesus displayed in our own lives, we should develop a desire to know Him more, not only to see more signs and wonders. The signs, the experiences of peace and joy or any other thing that draws us to God with a sense of reverent awe and wonder should lead us to desire Him, not simply more signs or experiences.

Even our immature, shallow faith is a good thing, but it is like the milk infants live on. If we are to grow strong in the faith, we must sink our teeth into the solid food of faith. We must develop a sincere desire for God and love for and trust in Him in every season of life, whether we are witnessing “signs” or not. As followers of Jesus today, He has entrusted Himself to us and we have the immeasurable privilege of His indwelling Spirit. Having received Him in His fullness, we should now, by faith, pursue growing in relationship with Him and the strengthening of our faith out of love and devotion to Him, not out of love and devotion to what we want Him to do for us.

With that said, the final words of this chapter tell us more of Jesus’ infinite knowledge and wisdom. He did not entrust Himself to the people because He “knew all people.” And He did not need anyone to bear witness to Him about man (humanity) because He knew Himself what was in man. Jesus is fully God and fully human. He knows absolutely everything and that includes the content of every human being’s heart and soul. As He said to the Jewish leaders in Matthew 5:42, “I know that you do not have the love of God within you.” And as King David told his son Solomon about God in 1 Chronicles 28:9, “…know the God of your father and serve him with your whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought.”

This knowledge should comfort us. Jesus knows everything about every single one of us and He still loves us. He did not entrust Himself to the people in Jerusalem at this time, but He still loved them. Knowing we have been made in His image, but have rebelled and fallen into sin and corruption, He still loves us. Jesus did not commit Himself to them by revealing the full knowledge of His Messiahship and Deity, but He still came to them in the flesh to begin to reveal Himself as such by teaching and performing miraculous signs of healing. These last verses of John chapter 2 reveal to us the Divine knowledge of Jesus Christ. He has complete knowledge of what is in every single human heart and mind, and yet, He loves us still.

Application (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):

This passage should cause us to search our hearts. Do we desire the Giver or simply more of His gifts? This passage should cause us to think about the infinite knowledge of Christ and how He knows every good and bad thing about us, but He still loves us and died and rose again to restore us to relationship with Him. With this in mind we should now pursue growing in the faith we have been granted by sincerely pursuing Jesus through prayer, Bible study, sound Biblical teaching, and loving Christian fellowship. We need to sincerely pursue growing in relationship with Him, obedience to Him and love for Him and others. We should pray for Him to increase our faith and love for Him, even as we remember the signs of His love and mercy we have witnessed in the past and humbly request more in the future. We should also pray prayers of thanksgiving to God for His infinite love for us even while we were still dead in our sin and at enmity with Him.

Self Reflection:

What has Jesus done in my heart, mind and life that demonstrates His power over all creation and His love for me?

Do I desire the gifts of Jesus more than Jesus Himself? Do I desire temporary physical comfort more than the God of all comfort (2 Cor. 1:3)?

How does the fact that Jesus knows absolutely everything about me and yet still loves me comfort me right now no matter what I am going through?