"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. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man." - John 2:23-25
In John 2:23-25 we are told of a scenario where Jesus amassed a following because of the signs that He did. But although the crowds believed in Him, He did not commit Himself to them because He knew them. Pretty surprising, right?
This simple fact - that Christ Jesus knows what is in man - actually helps us in our walk with Him. It allows us to truly live free in Him. "How does this help us?" you might ask. The answer is pretty simple as well: We can't hide anything from Him.
When we realize we can't fake it
Een in Christian circles, we can live fake lives. We try to fake appearances, reputations, even connections, just so we can feel better about ourselves. We try to project the image that we want others to see and know about us.
Some Christians can fake an image of holiness and religiosity. We try to present ourselves as good and kind people, the type to be so sold-out for the Lord with all our "hallelujah" and "praise the Lord" shouts. Even ministers and people of authority in their respective churches can do this.
This is where Christ's knowledge of all men kicks in. He can see right through the façade. He can see the inner workings in our hearts. While we scream and shout His praise, He sees our sin and hears the cries of our hearts. While we try to smile in front of people to encourage them, He can see that we're torn and breaking apart from within.
Friends, God sees through all the outer coverings that we put up. He sees the real condition of our hearts: He knows if we're in sin, He knows if we're offended and hurting, He knows if we are faking our praise and obedience to Him, He knows if we really love Him or not.
So how does this help us?
So how does this help us in our walk with Him? Simple: He sees us, and there's no need to fake anything before Him.
We can just come as we are before our holy God and ask His forgiveness when we have sinned. We can just come before our righteous God to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and help us live a life that's pleasing to Him. We can just come before our good Father and ask for His provisions to our every need.
We can just come as we are before our God with no need for pretensions. No more hiding our sin from Him. No more faking in front of Him. No more lies and deceit. We can come boldly before God and repent of our sin with no fear of being rejected by Him.
1 John 1:8-9 perfectly explains just how liberating this is:
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Christ didn't entrust Himself to all men alright, but that didn't mean He didn't love them. He loved all of us so much that He died on the cross for our sakes, so that we won't have to live a lie anymore - a life of sin and hiding.
