Now when he [Jesus] was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man. [John 2:23-25]
This short passage reveals a lot to us about Christ’s way of thinking. He did miracles in the midst of the large passover crowds in Jerusalem to help them out, and because of his miracles many people believed in his name. Yet for all the people who believed in Christ’s name, he did not return the favor of believing, trusting, or committing himself to them.
A complete look at all four gospels shows us that this is his M.O. When devils cried out to proclaim who he was, he shut them up. When people he healed cried aloud in praise to him, he told them not to broadcast who he was. Why? He knew better than to place any kind of faith in man’s faith and because of this, held back on revealing the totality of all of the power he possessed. The fact that the people believed in his name, based on miracles they saw, shows that they lacked a wholehearted belief in him that included their will and heart in addition to their intellect. Their belief was based on their own understanding, their intellect, and not in Jesus himself as Lord and God. Their belief was shallow and based on circumstances, such as their feelings of euphoria at having witnessed miracles, and was not the true heartfelt faith of Christ and in Christ that prompts him to share more of himself.
Our Lord Jesus has the ability to see into men’s hearts to determine why we do what we do. He saw into the hearts of these men and women and could see their thought patterns, their desires, their character, and the things they were zealously preoccupied with in their minds. This gave him a complete spiritual picture of what mankind is like. Where we often have to rely on what people say about an individual to determine what type of person they are, Christ did not have to. Where we can easily be deceived by the outward actions of people, especially when they want us to think they’re good and not evil, Christ was not fooled by such actions. The Lord determines what is in a person’s heart based on his heavenly truths, not on what is esteemed by the world.
Since the faith of the people he encountered was unstable, he knew it was wise not to trust them. They also had wrong ideas about what the Messiah was supposed to accomplish, and Jesus knew this. Jesus came the first time as a Messiah that “hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him,” [Isaiah 53:2]. He also came the first time to be a Messiah that “shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth,” [Isaiah 42:2-3]. Christ had come to do his work and share his truth without major fanfare and without blatant attempts to draw unnecessary attention to himself. And our Lord knew this would be a source of frustration with the Jews, since they wanted a Messiah like Samson who would lead a revolt against any foreign power that would make them their subjects, especially the Romans. They wanted a Messiah who they could force to be their king, as they wanted to do in John 6:15. This is why even his own half-brothers did not believe in him. They mocked the way he wanted to keep a low profile–”His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world. For neither did his brethren believe in him,” [John 7:3-5].
Because of our unstable nature, Christ knew his disciples would be faithful to him one minute and forsake him and deny him the next. He knew those who would praise him with “Hosannas” one week would be crying out “Crucify him!” the following week. Therefore, having this testimony in the scriptures about Jesus not committing himself to people should cause us to have a realistic, humble view of ourselves. If Jesus cannot put his trust in me, I cannot afford to trust myself to do the right thing all the time. I, like Peter, have denied Christ on occasion when I sought the approval or acceptance of men. I have been guilty on many occasions of resisting or quenching the Holy Spirit in favor of my fleshly desires. So, I thank you, Lord Jesus, that you haven’t placed your trust in me and that you are way more faithful and trustworthy than I could ever hope to be while I’m down here on Earth walking around in my corruptible body.
–posted by Harry A. Gaylord–
