“Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.” John 2:23-25
Throughout the Gospels those who both followed and opposed Jesus would clamor for a sign. They wanted proof that He was who He said He was. They wanted Jesus to prove His lineage, authority, divinity, and sovereignty. They wanted Jesus to somehow demonstrate His fullness to them in a way that would remove all doubt from their minds that He was the Son of God, that He was (is) God.
It makes me wonder, what exactly did they want Him to do? What kind of miracle would enough for them to believe? Is there really anything that He could have done that would have convinced them?
He turned water to wine, made the lame walk, the blind see, loosed tongues, bound demons, healed the sick, and raised the dead. In His final miracle He, Jesus Himself, was raised by the Father. In a world bound by doubt was there actually anything that He could have done that would convince them?
In Matthew 16 the Pharisees and Sadducees asked Jesus for a sign from heaven, “He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.” Matt 16:2-4
I don’t know what exactly the Pharisees and Sadducees were hoping Jesus would do. I’m sure they hoped to trap Him in some way or to disprove before the masses who He said He is. Perhaps in their hearts they hoped He would or could do something, anything, to convince them. At the end of the day, they didn’t really want it to be true, they wanted Him not to be the Messiah because that would ultimately mean they were on the wrong side of God. If Jesus had proved to them who He said He was, they would have to give up their power, authority, influence and wealth. They would be forced to accept that they had put the law before love and had failed miserably.
What more could Jesus have done? There is nothing He could have done, because at the end of the day we each have to believe. We have to trust that what we saw, felt, heard, experienced was from God. We can explain away, make excuses, and divert responsibility until we are blue in the face. In the end we have to make the choice to believe, not just in the miracle, but in the power of the one who performed it, Jesus.
In the opening scripture it reads that, “Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people.” Jesus was not going to reveal Himself fully to those who chose not to believe. What would be the point? How can someone begin to understand all thing things Jesus was trying to teach them if they did not believe in the person of the one teaching it? In other words how would they take Jesus at His word, if they did not believe that He is who He claimed? Would you listen and follow the teachings of a plumber who was telling you how to be a surgeon?
Jesus did not entrust Himself to those who were awed by His works but not by His person.
Faith is a choice. If Jesus appeared before you in person, would you recognize Him? If he stood there performing miracles would you believe that He was who He said, or would you continue down the path of the scientific method trying to disprove all that He does and says until no other explanation could be found and still claim the impossibility of it all?
Is there any miracle Jesus could perform in your life that would lead you to believe that He is all the things the Bible states, and will fulfill all the promises that God has made to His people?
We live in a world of doubt, a world held captive by fear and uncertainty. We don’t know who to listen to and believe. We don’t know if what we see and hear is true or false. We are pulled by voices and images coming from every direction. Jesus tells us, “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:10-14
Jesus still performs miracles and signs today. The Holy Spirit is active in our world. Will our hearts recognize them for who they are and what they are doing, or will we continue to explain it all away as coincidence or our own doing? Will we chose to believe in the person of Jesus and receive all that He intends, or wonder at His miraculous works and never know the person.
The scripture above states, “Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people.” The reverse is equally true, to those who believe in Jesus, He will entrust Himself to them, for He knows in their hearts they believe.
Test Jesus, put your faith in Him, give Him the opportunity to show you His love for you through His promises, provision, faithfulness, and love. He will never let you down, He will never leave or forsake you. Decide today to give into the knocking you hear on your heart and let Him in.
“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Matthew 8:31-40
Let God surprise and bless you in this new year!
Please help me share the good news of Jesus and how He can change your life, and our world!
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