The Light Shines in the DarknessSample

Jesus knows what is in man

“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)

Today’s verses provide another clear sign that Jesus is God, since He knows what is in the heart of man. In chapter 1, He knew what Nathanael was thinking about Him. Here, it says that He “knew all people” and therefore did not entrust Himself to them. They were not trustworthy.

That is not a flattering assessment of the human heart, but it is in line with God’s diagnosis in the book of Jeremiah: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9). Many people who initially believed in Jesus because of the signs He did, turned back later when they found His message hard to understand or hard to accept. Even one of Jesus’ closest disciples eventually betrayed Him. Jesus knew that beforehand as well (see John 6:70-71).

If we don’t want to surrender to Jesus, the fact that He knows us through and through can be scary. But if we have given our hearts to Him, we can echo Peter’s words: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you” (John 21:17). And that’s a good thing, since we don’t want anything to stand between God and us.

Do you want Jesus to know your deepest thoughts?