Commentary - John 2:23-25

Bird's-eye view

This brief but potent passage serves as a crucial hinge between Jesus's public ministry of signs and His more intimate discipleship. John has just recorded the cleansing of the Temple, a sign of immense authority, and now notes the popular reaction to Jesus's other miracles in Jerusalem. The result is a widespread but shallow "belief." The central point of the passage is the stark contrast between the people's belief in Jesus and Jesus's refusal to believe in, or entrust Himself to, them. This is not because Jesus was cynical, but because He is God. His divine omniscience allowed Him to see straight through their miracle-induced excitement to the unregenerate reality of their hearts. He knew what was truly in man, and it was not a foundation upon which He could build His kingdom. This passage is a profound statement on Christ's deity and a sober warning against a superficial, signs-chasing faith.

John is setting the stage for the conversation with Nicodemus in the next chapter. The "many" who believed are the backdrop for the one ruler who comes by night. Theirs is a public, noisy, but ultimately flimsy faith. Nicodemus, on the other hand, represents a more serious, albeit fearful, inquiry. Jesus's discernment here demonstrates why the new birth, which He will explain to Nicodemus, is absolutely necessary. Man-made faith, stirred up by spectacle, will not do. A divine work is required, and Jesus, knowing the bankruptcy of the human heart, is the only one who can bring it about.

Outline

Context In John

This passage concludes the second chapter of John's Gospel, which has been about the "new beginning" Jesus inaugurates. He turned water into wine, demonstrating His glory and the superiority of the new covenant over the old rites of purification (John 2:1-11). He then cleansed the Temple, declaring His authority over the central institution of Jewish worship and prophesying His resurrection (John 2:13-22). Now, at the height of the Passover feast, the crowds are abuzz. They have seen His "signs" and are ready to jump on the bandwagon. This section, therefore, acts as a necessary brake on the enthusiasm. John wants his readers to understand that not all "belief" is saving belief. This is a theme he will return to throughout his Gospel (e.g., John 6:66, 8:31ff). This passage serves as a crucial theological clarification before Jesus explains the nature of true, saving faith, being "born again", to Nicodemus in chapter 3.

Key Issues

Miracle-Faith

There is a kind of faith that is generated by spectacle. When people see something amazing, something that defies their ordinary categories, they have a response. In the Bible, that response is often called belief. But we must be careful here. The same Greek word for believe (pisteuó) is used for the saving faith of a true disciple and the temporary excitement of a thrill-seeker. The context determines the meaning.

The faith of these Jerusalem crowds was a miracle-faith. It was contingent on the signs. As long as Jesus kept providing the supernatural entertainment, they were with Him. But this kind of faith is a mile wide and an inch deep. It has no root. It is the faith of the rocky soil in the parable of the sower (Matt. 13:20-21). It springs up with joy, but when the sun of persecution or the hard demands of discipleship comes out, it withers away. Jesus is not in the business of collecting fans. He is in the business of redeeming sinners, and that requires a faith that is not manufactured by signs, but is a sovereign gift of God.

Verse by Verse Commentary

23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, when they saw His signs which He was doing.

John sets the scene for us. It is the Passover, the most significant feast in the Jewish calendar, and Jerusalem is teeming with pilgrims. This is a high-stakes environment. Jesus is performing signs, miracles that point beyond themselves to His identity. The response is what we might expect: many believed in His name. On the surface, this sounds like a revival. The phrase "believed in His name" often signifies genuine conversion. But John immediately qualifies this. Their belief was not grounded in who Jesus was, in His teaching, or in a conviction of their own sin. It was grounded in what they saw: the signs. They were impressed, amazed, and perhaps hopeful that this miracle-worker was the political Messiah they had been waiting for. But their "faith" was entirely dependent on the evidence of their senses.

24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men,

Here is the sharp contrast. They believed in Him, but He did not believe in them. The Greek word for "entrusting" is the same verb as "believed" (pisteuó). It is a play on words that is lost in most English translations. They put their faith in Him, but He did not put His faith in them. Why? Because He is not a mere man who can be deceived by outward appearances or professions of loyalty. The reason given is profound: for He knew all men. This is a direct claim to divine omniscience. Jesus possesses an exhaustive knowledge of the human heart. He doesn't have to wait and see if their loyalty will last. He knows, in the moment, the quality of their faith, and He judges it to be untrustworthy. He doesn't hand the keys of the kingdom over to a mob, no matter how enthusiastic they seem.

25 and because He had no need that anyone bear witness concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.

John drives the point home. Jesus's knowledge was not secondhand. He didn't need spies or informants to tell him what people were really like. He didn't need to conduct a background check. His knowledge was direct, immediate, and comprehensive. He Himself knew what was in man. And what is in man? Apart from the regenerating grace of God, what is in the human heart is deceit, rebellion, self-interest, and a profound inability to please God. Jeremiah tells us the heart is "deceitful above all things, and desperately sick" (Jer. 17:9). Jesus knew this not as a theological proposition but by direct, divine insight. He saw the raw material of the unregenerate heart, and He knew it was sand, not rock. He knew that the same crowd that hailed Him with hosannas because of His miracles would soon be the same crowd screaming "Crucify Him!" when He failed to meet their worldly expectations. This is the doctrine of total depravity in narrative form. Man, left to himself, is not a reliable partner for God. He needs to be remade from the inside out.

Application

This passage is a standing rebuke to much of what passes for modern evangelicalism. We are often obsessed with drawing a crowd, with generating excitement, and with getting people to "make a decision." We think that if we can just put on a good enough show, with the right music, the right lighting, and a sufficiently dynamic speaker, we can produce faith. And we can. But we produce the same kind of faith that was on display in Jerusalem at the Passover: a flimsy, superficial, signs-based faith that does not save.

Jesus was not impressed by the numbers. He was not swayed by the applause. He knew that a faith built on anything other than a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit is a house of cards. The application for us is twofold. First, we must examine our own faith. Is our faith in Jesus, or is it in the experiences, the feelings, or the miracles? Do we follow Him for who He is, or for what we think we can get from Him? A true and saving faith clings to Christ alone, even when the signs are absent and the feelings have faded. It is a faith that says with Peter, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:68).

Second, in our evangelism and church life, we must be more concerned with faithfulness than with flash. We must preach the whole counsel of God, not just the miracles, but the cross; not just the benefits, but the demands of discipleship; not just God's love, but His holiness and our sin. We must trust the power of the gospel, not the power of our presentation. Jesus knows what is in man. He is not fooled by our slick programs, and He will not entrust His kingdom to a faith that we have manufactured. Our task is to proclaim the truth faithfully and pray for the Holy Spirit to do what only He can do: raise the dead to life.