Thursday, May 05, 2011

John 2:23-25

Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.

These three verses could as easily be a preface to chapter 3 rather than a coda to chapter 2. The chapter breaks are, of course, arbitrary.

By the time of the attendance at the Passover feast, Jesus was regularly performing miracles, which naturally drew men to him, but Jesus was not taken in by easy applause. He knew what man is like. I can never understand it when people say that men are naturally good; quite the reverse, we are naturally evil. The older I get and the more honest I am with myself, I recognize my own evil heart and have no reason to think that other people are different.

1 comment:

Carter said...

Five weeks out: Glad to hear you are making progress. You are an inspiration to me and many others with your rational, uncomplaining approach to your situation.

As get older, aware of evil: I have the same feeling about myself. Paul's words "who will deliver me from this" don't comfort me, but they should, I think.