READING TIME: 3-5 MINUTES
February 18, 2020
What does John 2:23-25 mean about Jesus not entrusting Himself to those who believed in Him?
Part 1 of 2.
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 was doing. 24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, 25 and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man (NASB).
John 2:23-25 – Jesus not entrusting Himself to them
SUMMARY: Jesus did not entrust Himself to some Jews who had received eternal life and give them deeper fellowship because He knew their hearts were not ready.
There is nothing inherent in the statement about their faith which distinguishes it from the faith of many others in John. There is much more evidence to support genuine faith here than insufficient faith.
Only for Greek students
Perhaps the strongest support is the exact terminology used: πολλοι επιστευσαν εις το όνομα αυτού (polloi episteusan eis to onoma autou). As previously observed, the combination of the verb pisteuō and the preposition eis is unique to Christianity. There are no examples of this combination in the LXX or extant extra-biblical Greek. And since eis is used in other ways to express “personal relationship,” it is believed by almost all expositors that this construction was “coined” by NT authors to express the belief in Jesus which establishes a personal relationship with Him. Of particular interest is the fact that John uses the combination thirty out of the thirty-two occurrences in the NT, and John’s express purpose for eliciting faith was life in His name.
The spurious viewpoint for this passage is not valid
In this passage, it is often alleged that those who “believed in [Jesus’s] name” (v. 23) must have had spurious faith because “Jesus did not commit Himself to them” (v. 24).
But this conclusion is by no means certain. The Greek construction pisteuein eis to onoma (“believed in His name”) is exclusively Johannine and in every other case seems to refer to saving faith. Indeed, John begins his Gospel with the unwavering assertion that anyone who believes in His name is a child of God (1:12-13). It would be unusual for John to employ the phrase just a few paragraphs later in his Gospel to refer to those who are not children of God.
Furthermore, the perseverance advocates suggest that the faith of these believers was spurious or inadequate simply because it was based on Jesus’s signs. “Sign faith” is viewed as something less than faith in Christ Himself. But this overlooks the fact that in the very purpose statement for the entire book, John 20:30-31. In this passage, John explains that he intentionally employed Christ’s signs to lead people to a belief in Him for eternal life. Isn’t this “saving faith”? So, this viewpoint would fly directly in the fact of this stated purpose. Besides, faith prompted by signs is seen elsewhere in John (1:47–49; 2:11; 4:52–53; 10:41–42; 11:42, 45; 20:26–29). Jesus even encouraged faith based on signs (1:50–51; 10:37–38; 14:11) and as mentioned above, the apostle John expected signs to induce faith (12:37; 20:31).
Why was Jesus unwilling to commit Himself to these believers?
More natural is the conclusion that Jesus’s refusal to “commit Himself” to these believers referred to His unwillingness to reveal Himself more intimately to these new believers because He knew that they were untrustworthy—that is, prone to secrecy about their faith and shy about confessing Him to others (cf. John 19:38-39). Nicodemus is included in this group and is described as a secret believer later in John (19:38–40).
It ought to be concluded that these new believers were not ready for fuller disclosures from the One they had just trusted. Looking with supernatural discernment into their hearts, Jesus did not regard them as truly prepared—just then at least—for friendship with Himself.
The idea of Jesus committing or not committing Himself to someone is never used in John or the NT as a reference to the new birth. It refers to Him giving additional truth to people (cf. John 14:21; 15:14–15.
Different levels of intimacy of believers with Jesus in the Gospels
Although in the Fourth Gospel eternal life is presented as a gift freely given to every believer, intimate experience of fellowship with Christ is offered on the condition of obedience to His commands. This is plainly expressed in the Lord’s words to the Eleven in John 15:14. If the question is raised as to what it might mean for the Lord Jesus to “commit Himself” to people who have believed in His name, the answer ought to be given in Johannine terms. His friends are those to whom He commits Himself (as we do to ours!), for it is to them that He unfolds all that He has heard from His Father. It is, in fact, this “commitment” of God’s thoughts to them that raises them above the level of mere servants and admits them to true intimacy with Himself.
Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow.