Joh 2:24-25 | KingComments | STEP | Here we come to a new part of the Gospel, which deals with man and the condition he is in. In the first part of this chapter ( ) the joy of the kingdom is presented in the change from water to wine. In the second part of the chapter ( ) the power of the kingdom is represented in the cleansing of the temple, after which the right of the Lord to the kingdom is established in . Now it has yet to be determined who can enter the kingdom with Him. The Jews take it for granted that they will enter the kingdom. But the Lord Himself does not entrust Himself to them. Therefore, in John 3, follows what is necessary to enter. During the Passover, the Lord Jesus, Yahweh and Messiah, is in the city that God has chosen. The Passover is the feast that shows the most of God’s mercy toward His people. The many lambs slaughtered on that day should have reminded the Jews that God is a righteous Judge Who must judge the sinner unless he hides behind the blood of the Passover Lamb. Now the Lamb of God stands before them, but they do not acknowledge Him. What they do see, however, is that He does many signs. That leads many to believe in His Name. As far as external circumstances are concerned, everything seems to be ready for Christ to be accepted by His people. After all, there are many who believe in His Name. Belief here, however, is not the inner conviction of the truth of God that leads to submission to God. These people’s belief is their judgment of what gives them satisfaction, of what they experience as pleasant. Their belief is based on what they see. They conclude that the Lord Jesus is the Messiah, but they do not submit to God and do not accept His testimony. Man sits on the throne and judges. Their judgment stems from their affections. What makes us feel happy, we easily believe. But we resist and reject what makes us nothing and condemns us. As long as Jesus can be seen as the improver of mankind and the circumstances in which man lives, there is the quickest and warmest welcome. He then complements a deficiency in and of man. Man has a lot of good things, but is still missing something for optimal happiness. If Jesus wants to provide this, man can maintain himself and even shine. But how will he receive what makes him nothing, what condemns him spiritually, what gives him the serious warning of eternal judgment and the lake of fire? He hates that, and also the Person about Whom God is concerned. Christ entrusts Himself only to those who have a broken and contrite heart ( ) and bow in the dust before God with confession of sins. Then there is repentance that has been worked by the grace of God. It is sobering to read that the Lord does not entrust Himself to people who do believe in Him. The cause is that we are dealing with Someone Who has become flesh, but Who is also the omniscient God and the Judge of the living and the dead. He knows all men perfectly. No one can pretend anything to Him. He is not led by outward things. He knows the value of their belief and that there is no sense of sin before God or recognition of the need for remorse and repentance. No one needs to tell Him anything about man’s condition. He knows perfectly what is present in man, what drives man. The reason He does not entrust Himself to them lies in man’s incorrigible wickedness and his failure to see it. In this Gospel, the Son of God establishes man’s incorrigible depravity from the very beginning, for God is not in his thoughts, but his own self is central.

‏ John 2:24-25

Jesus Himself Knows What Is in Man

Here we come to a new part of the Gospel, which deals with man and the condition he is in. In the first part of this chapter (Jn 2:1-12) the joy of the kingdom is presented in the change from water to wine. In the second part of the chapter (Jn 2:13-17) the power of the kingdom is represented in the cleansing of the temple, after which the right of the Lord to the kingdom is established in Jn 2:18-22.

Now it has yet to be determined who can enter the kingdom with Him. The Jews take it for granted that they will enter the kingdom. But the Lord Himself does not entrust Himself to them. Therefore, in John 3, follows what is necessary to enter.

During the Passover, the Lord Jesus, Yahweh and Messiah, is in the city that God has chosen. The Passover is the feast that shows the most of God’s mercy toward His people. The many lambs slaughtered on that day should have reminded the Jews that God is a righteous Judge Who must judge the sinner unless he hides behind the blood of the Passover Lamb. Now the Lamb of God stands before them, but they do not acknowledge Him. What they do see, however, is that He does many signs. That leads many to believe in His Name.

As far as external circumstances are concerned, everything seems to be ready for Christ to be accepted by His people. After all, there are many who believe in His Name. Belief here, however, is not the inner conviction of the truth of God that leads to submission to God. These people’s belief is their judgment of what gives them satisfaction, of what they experience as pleasant. Their belief is based on what they see. They conclude that the Lord Jesus is the Messiah, but they do not submit to God and do not accept His testimony. Man sits on the throne and judges. Their judgment stems from their affections.

What makes us feel happy, we easily believe. But we resist and reject what makes us nothing and condemns us. As long as Jesus can be seen as the improver of mankind and the circumstances in which man lives, there is the quickest and warmest welcome. He then complements a deficiency in and of man. Man has a lot of good things, but is still missing something for optimal happiness. If Jesus wants to provide this, man can maintain himself and even shine. But how will he receive what makes him nothing, what condemns him spiritually, what gives him the serious warning of eternal judgment and the lake of fire? He hates that, and also the Person about Whom God is concerned.

Christ entrusts Himself only to those who have a broken and contrite heart (Psa 51:17) and bow in the dust before God with confession of sins. Then there is repentance that has been worked by the grace of God. It is sobering to read that the Lord does not entrust Himself to people who do believe in Him. The cause is that we are dealing with Someone Who has become flesh, but Who is also the omniscient God and the Judge of the living and the dead. He knows all men perfectly. No one can pretend anything to Him. He is not led by outward things.

He knows the value of their belief and that there is no sense of sin before God or recognition of the need for remorse and repentance. No one needs to tell Him anything about man’s condition. He knows perfectly what is present in man, what drives man. The reason He does not entrust Himself to them lies in man’s incorrigible wickedness and his failure to see it. In this Gospel, the Son of God establishes man’s incorrigible depravity from the very beginning, for God is not in his thoughts, but his own self is central.