Because of the miraculous
signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust
in him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew human nature. No one
needed to tell him what mankind is really like. John
2:23-25, New Living Translation
We live
in a day and age when signs and wonders abound in the land. It is exciting to
see many people in society embrace the name of Christ and profess faith in Him.
It’s just like after Jesus turned water into wine at Cana (John 2:1-12) and
attended the Jewish feast of Passover in Jerusalem where He chased out the
merchants out of the temple (John 2:13-22) and did so many miraculous signs
that many trusted in Him because of the wonders (John 2:23-25). Exciting stuff!
If I was Jesus sent on a mission by God the Father to save the world, I would
be like, “Yes! It’s happening! That’s what I’m talking about!” But not Jesus.
John the Gospel author writes in this chapter that though many trusted in Him because of the miracles
He did, He did not trust them (I like
the NLT as it clarifies that it’s the very same word translated “trust/believe” in the original Greek of
the text of John 2:23, 24). Why not? Because He knew human nature and didn’t
need anybody to tell Him what the “trust”
in Him was all about. They “trusted”
in Him because of what they could benefit from Him so Jesus did not “trust” them.
Here is
my point: It is possible to see the miracles that are happening around us – whether
genuine or fake, is another story altogether – and trust in Jesus because of
them but not be regarded as a believer by Jesus. The key lies in seeing the
contrast between these Passover believers and the disciples of Jesus who
believed in Him when he performed His first miracle of turning water into wine
at Cana (again the issue of the church reversing the miracle is for another
post) in John 2:1-12. The disciples of Jesus believed John the Baptizer’s
testimony that Jesus was the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”
(John 1:29-36), followed Him on that basis (John 1:37-39, 43-44), and invited
others to put their faith in Christ as the Saviour of the world (John 1:40-42,
45-51). In other words, the disciples had faith in the person of Jesus Himself.
So when the miracle at Cana happened, it was just confirmation of what they had
already believed, that He was truly the sacrificial Lamb of God who came to
take away the sins of the world.
May we be
careful in this day of signs and wonders that our focus is not on the miracles of
God but on the God of the miracles who has shown that our greatest problem is
not poverty, sickness, generational curses, witchcraft, or indeed any other terrifying
thing we can pull out of our cultural backgrounds. Our greatest problem is that
of sin which has damned us to hell. And that
sin can only be taken away by our genuine trust in the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of those who trust in Him for eternal life. It is possible to
trust in Him because of His miracles but not follow Him even on the path of
suffering that He calls all that name His Name to take. Remember He said,
“Whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matthew
10:38). So the real issue is not whether you believe in Him because of what He
can do but whether you will believe in Him enough to follow Him daily in your
life. When that happens, you move from being just another religious junkie looking
for the next anointed fix – or perhaps a religious consumer moving from one
anointed water factory to another – to being a disciple of Jesus whom He can
trust.
