Reading for June 23: John 2:21-25

21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22 Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

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. John 2:21-25 (NKJV)

Discussion Question:

• What is the difference between your belief in Jesus and the belief of the many that believed during the feast?
  

Comments:

In verses 21 and 22 we get the conclusion to the cleansing of the Temple scene. John is sure to tell his readers that Jesus was referring to Himself when He said "Temple". John also gives a flash-forward to see that even though the disciples did not understand immediately, they did once Jesus had risen from the dead. He says at the end of v22 that after Jesus' resurrection "they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said." This means that after God's redemptive plan was completed with Jesus' resurrection the disciples were able to connect the dots going all the way back to Old Testament prophecy.

The final 3 verses in chapter 2 are very important; they are important because: (1) what we learn here prepares us for what Jesus is going to teach us in the next chapter and (2) it describes a problem that is rampant in churches today. It begins by telling us that Jesus stayed in Jerusalem during the Passover preaching and performing miracles. Many that observed these things "believed in His name." However, verse 24 tells us that even though they believed in His name "Jesus did not commit Himself to them." Why? Because "He knew all men," meaning that Jesus knew what was really going on in their hearts. In other words, they only had a superficial belief so Jesus did not have faith in their faith.

This tells us that God requires more than just a knowledge of who Jesus is (chapter 3 is going to tell us what more we need). Many, many people think that just because they say they believe that Jesus did what He says He did, that means that they are saved. Unfortunately, they are catastrophically wrong. Remember even the demons believe that Jesus is the Son of God (Matthew 8:29&30, Luke 4:41, Acts 19:15, James 2:19), so there has to be more to it than simple belief. So I have a request, right now before you do anything else, examine yourself. Is your salvation genuine? If you have any questions about it talk to someone you trust as soon as possible. This is not something to put on the back burner, handle it now.

The other aspect to these verses is the display of the omniscience of God. Jesus knows all men and does "not need man's testimony," meaning He knows automatically without anyone telling Him. This is a characteristic of God, not a prophet, not an angel, not a good man; only God. Also, isn't great that even though He knows our sinful hearts He still loves enough to save us.