“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
Opposition is definitely not a tell tale sign that you are not being effective in ministry. It was in Jerusalem that Jesus had an extensive outreach, yet was being opposed by the religious leaders. Jerusalem was a very special place and was held in high regard by the Jews, but it was also the place where Jesus was later condemned to die.
Despite the opposition of the religious leaders many were believing in Jesus. The response of the crowds would’ve been any pastor’s dream come true. Our text tells us, “many believed in His name,” of course this happened, “when they saw the signs He was doing.”
It’s important to understand that miracles were not simply for drawing crowds, but Jesus tied His miracles to the truth of His message. People are drawn to the sensational, whether it’s the feeding of the 5,000 or the lights, smoke and energy of a Christian concert. Jesus’ miracles gave proof that He was the Messiah of Israel, but many failed to see the Messiah in the miracles, all they could focus on was entertainment and excitement.
“Many believe” seems like it ought to be a good thing at first glance, until further examination reveals a deficiency. Jesus saw this deficiency and our text says He “did not entrust Himself to them.” The words believe and entrust are the same words translated here. In other words, while many were running around saying, “I believe in Jesus,” Jesus did not believe their profession of faith.
You might wonder why Jesus would respond like this? The answer is seen in v.25 “He knew what was in man.” Christ rejected them because He knew what was in their hearts. They were basically unsaved believers. It didn’t matter what they said with their mouths their hearts, which Jesus could see, were revealing something very different.
It’s one thing to respond to a miracle but something quite different to commit yourself to Jesus Christ and continue in His Word (John 8:30-31). You might fool mankind about your faith, but the Lord knows who is for real and who is false. Vance Havner used to say, “You can be just as straight as a gun barrel and just as empty.”
The crowds were excited and loved watching Jesus miracles until His words began to penetrate their hearts. The 5,000 that He fed wanted to make Him king until He preached on the Bread of Life and then they started to scatter. John 1:17 says, “grace and truth come through Jesus Christ.” In grace Jesus fed the hungry; in truth, He taught the Word. We have more of an appetite for physical food than we do spiritual truth.
People who want Jesus’ works but not His Word will never share His life. The Word penetrates our heart and conviction follows. The problem is conviction can either lead to conversion or opposition, but there is no neutral. Miracles are awesome, but they should always lead us to the Word (John 5:36-38), and the Word generates saving faith. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)
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