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Oct 4, 2020

Scripture Reading: John 2:23-25

If we read the gospel of John carefully, we see John's governing purpose illustrated again and again.  John's purpose, which he specifically states at the end of his book, is to display the nature of Jesus … seen in the many signs which He did … in order that the readers of this book would believe in Christ and have eternal life.

John presents his accounts of Jesus' life and wondrous signs and the result is faith in Him.  Today's passage mentions Jesus' signs and a resulting belief, but there does seem to be another point that John is making in these verses … a point about the nature of the kind of faith he is heralding in this gospel.

After John tells us that "many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing" (Jn 1:23), John tells us "But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people" (Jn 1:24).

John does seem to be making a statement about the 'belief' of the people who had seen the signs when he says that Jesus did not entrust himself to them.  What immediately follows these few verses is the story of Nicodemus.  He is an illustration of the description which we find in verses 23-25.  He has responded to the miracles Jesus did, but his heart had not yet been changed.

There is a response to Christ, which the Bible even calls 'believing', which is not saving faith (cf. Jn 8:31ff; Acts 8:13; Jam 2:14-26).  Intellectual acceptance of the facts about Jesus, and even an emotional delight in these facts, are not the essence of truly believing in Him.  There must be a deep and profound resting in, relying on, Christ alone for spiritual life, which necessarily includes a turning away from any self-reliance to earn God's mercy