Revealed

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

REVEALED

John 2:18-25

18 Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?" 19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."  20 The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. 23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.   24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25 He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.

NIV

So it wasn’t till after he was dead and buried and resurrected on the third day that they believed him? They too were Jews, although mostly common working class men, and they had to be aware of the scriptures. They still grew up with them and had to Bar Mitzvah at age thirteen. This meant they were required to memorize at minimum the Torah, as well as had been in temple, or rather synagogue and heard the prophets being read. They may have had a better knowledge of the scriptures, what we call the Old Testament, then we do. Yet it would seem it wasn’t till after everything happened they truly believed. Surely when Jesus told them about if the temple was destroyed he would raise it again in three days, they were just as puzzled as all the rest of the people who heard him say that, even maybe just as disbelieving. It seems we usually have this picture of the disciples as these great men of faith, who did great things for the kingdom of God. They were, but this scripture reveals to us they were not so filled with the power of God, or great men of faith yet. They had not been filled with the Spirit. Of course they have already witnessed Jesus doing miracles and were aware, or believed he was the Messiah, but as to his ministry as the Messiah, they were not fully comprehending all that implied. After the fact, they were great men of faith, and as we are completely aware of all that Jesus did, and have the full revelation of God, the completed word, we too should be great people of faith.  The other revealed truth in this passage has to do with the idea Jesus would not reveal himself to them, for he know all men. It goes on to say that he did not need the testimony of men about other men, for he know what was in a man. The idea of pride and self-aggrandizement that men have is not what Jesus was about. He wanted to please the Father. He already had the testimony of the Father on that day of his baptism by John. Jesus did teach, he did teach the truth about God, not so much about his own greatness, but about the greatness of God, the Father. He taught the truth of the scriptures, but he lived the truth. He lived a perfect life in the flesh, as it is the only way he could become the perfect Lamb of God, the complete sacrifice for the sins of the world. If people wanted to see, if they looked with their spiritual eyes, rather than physical ones they would have seen Jesus for who he was, he would have been revealed to them.  But because Jesus knew they could not see past the physical, they wanted physical signs. Are we looking for physical signs? Can we see past the physical and see the truth of scripture? This life is more than just this life, it is a life of faith, living believing Jesus, not just for our salvation, but for life. He has revealed himself to us, we only need to see.