Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for He knew all people. (John 2:24)
This verse has intrigued me for years. It’s one of those verses that you read and you think, “there is a wealth of wisdom here. I just haven’t plumbed the depths of it yet.” I’m sure I still haven’t. In this passage we get to see part of Jesus’ glory, but I think we also get to see part of what He gives us in the abundant life He offers.
The passage starts with Jesus destroying the market which had been set up in the Temple, and the leaders asked Him for a sign to show His authority to do such an outrageous thing. You can sense their sense of authority over Him. I love Jesus’ response to them. It was a cryptic response that pointed to His resurrection. Now, His resurrection was still almost three years away. Think about this … they want a sign of His authority so they can know if they should put their seal of approval on these actions or not. Jesus, in essence, says, “I’ll give it to you in three years.”
It strikes me that He felt no need for their approval at all. He didn’t need their official stamp on His ministry. And He didn’t recognize any authority they claimed over Him to verify His identity. And it wasn’t only the leaders whose approval He didn’t seek (or accept).
As Jesus continued to perform miracles, other people continued to “believe in His name” (John 2:23). But it was these people, these new believers, to whom He refused to entrust Himself (John 2:24). His purpose was to draw people to life in Himself, not to seek their validation. He did not need people to verify His value or His identity. So when people wanted a sign so they could validate His ministry, He didn’t recognize their authority over Him to do so.
God the Father Himself had already verified Jesus’ identity. He had validated Jesus’ ministry. So Jesus felt no pressure to prove to anyone who queried Him from their supposed place of authority over Him. This freed Him from the pressure to conform to their standards. It freed Him from being a slave to the words of affirmation from fickle humans.
Perhaps you can see where I am going with this, and maybe you are beginning to whisper in your heart, “but I’m not Jesus, I do need words of affirmation. I do need people’s validation.” I certainly understand that this is our natural bent. I certainly find myself seeking and loving the approval of people.
But I also know how enslaving this can be, so while I acknowledge this weakness in myself, I do not acknowledge that it is God’s highest good for us. Just as Jesus, we should refuse to entrust ourselves to people in the sense of entrusting our worth and value to their valuation of us. When we feel that we must receive “words of affirmation” from fickle people, then our value is only as secure as our most recent positively received performance. That is a sad kind of slavery to submit ourselves to.
Rather, we should entrust ourselves to our Savior who has confirmed and established us through His gracious assessment of us.
“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (1 Peter 5:10 – ESV) So whether we are accepted or rejected by people, we must live with the confidence, joy, and freedom that comes from being confirmed and established by our Creator.
– Deryk Pritchard, Preacher