Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to John · About this commentary
He Knew What Was in Man
John 2:23-25
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name, observing his signs which he did. · WEB
Many believe because of the signs, and he does not trust them.
Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name, observing his signs which he did John 2:23.
Three verses close the chapter, and they are among the most sobering in the book. The situation described is a success: a crowd at the great feast, signs being done, many believing.
But Jesus didn't entrust himself to them John 2:24.
The sentence turns on a verb the English cannot quite show. Believed in verse twenty-three and entrust in verse twenty-four are the same word in the Greek. They committed themselves to him; he did not commit himself to them. The account is drawing a line through the middle of the word faith.
What is being distinguished is not sincerity. Nothing suggests these people were pretending. It is a faith produced by observing his signs — belief in a man who can do things, which is real as far as it goes and will not survive the moment he stops doing them. This book will show it collapsing twice: a crowd fed on a hillside comes back the next morning and walks away by evening John 6:66, and a city that shouts at the gate is shouting something else by Friday.
Because he knew everyone, and because he didn't need for anyone to testify concerning man; for he himself knew what was in man John 2:24–25.
The reason given is knowledge rather than suspicion. He is not described as guarded, cynical or disappointed. He simply is not working with an estimate.
And the last clause is deliberately general — what was in man, the species, not those particular pilgrims. It is the writer's way of saying that the assessment applies to the reader too.
This is also a claim about who he is. Knowing what is in a human being without being told is something the older Scriptures reserve to God: you, even you only, know the hearts of all the children of men 1 Kings 8:39. The chapter that opened with wine at a wedding closes with a quiet statement of omniscience.
And it is placed exactly where it is for a reason. The next word in the book is now there was a man — one of these very believers, a ruler, coming by night, opening with a compliment about the signs John 3:1–2. The reader has just been told what to make of him before he says a word.
settled What this mark means