John 2:23-25 “Now when he 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.”

Today we pick up after a bit of a break in the studies, continuing in the book of John finishing the second chapter.

We see the account of when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the passover, and how as previously mentioned during this time He didn’t just get asked by whose authority He did these things due to His casting the money changers out of the temple. Rather He also was performing miracles. And many believed in Him because of such things.

However, in the second verse we see that Jesus did not commit himself unto the people because he knew all men. This is simply letting us know that Jesus did not take advantage of the sudden following He had. He did not revel in the sudden notoriety, and did not set up some sort of office that would let Him rule the people. Many people believed the Messiah was supposed to do such. However, they often thought that in confusion with His second coming when He would reign. This moment in history was not for Him to reign in an earthly kingdom, or to gather all the Jews together to subdue their enemies. He came first so that reconciliation could be made. He came so that He could take payment for our sins, free the world from sin, and allow us to once again be reconciled to God the Father.

This second verse tells us that Jesus did not commit himself to anyone because He knew what was in man. This means He did not latch himself to anyone, or set up anything mentioned above, because He knew what was in man. This is something that many of us tend to forget: God knows the heart. Many use this phrase to compromise in their dealings with God and say “Well, God knows my heart.” But the truth of the matter is…our heart is not always pure! In Fact we read in Jeremiah 17:9 that the heart is deceitful above all things. That is why the Lord has to give us a NEW heart in Ezekiel 36:26. So the excuse to do a half-way decent job with the Lord because “God knows my heart” means the opposite of good. Yes, in such a case as that God knows that your heart really does not want to try to give God all of you and still wants to do its own thing. And this is similar to why Jesus did not commit himself to anyone. He knew the heart of man, and that it was neither time, nor were the people ready, to have Him as their king. Everything had to be done in proper order. Salvation first, growth, and then reigning. The people may have raved about Him now, but later on they all leave simply because He said some things that were hard to handle!

The last verse tells us that He didn’t need anyone to testify of man, because He knew what was in man. This is simply telling us that no one had to explain to Him what was in anyone’s heart, or what the intentions of anyone were. He already knew. And today we can remember this as well in our own lives that God already knows. He knows our needs before we even ask Him. He knows our weaknesses. He knows our personalities. He knows everything. We can fool our neighbors. We can fool the preachers. We can even fool ourselves. But we can’t fool the Lord. He knows. And despite knowing…He STILL came to give us access to a relationship with God again! This, is a true picture of God’s love.

I love you all greatly with godly, brotherly love and do pray for you. Please keep each other in prayer, the whole body of Christ as well as the lost souls worldwide. This time of year there are many who are celebrating. However, there are even more who are going through depression or sadness of some sort and they need prayer for comfort, family, and love from God. Keep on Keeping on interceding, brethren!

Love always in Christ,
Your friend always,
And brother,
Michael