JESUS KNOWS US

Jesus went public while in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover Feast. His first act when He arrived in Jerusalem was to clear the Temple of the distractions of the noisy clamor of commerce and to reclaim His Father’s house as a place of prayer as it was intended. Unlike His first miraculous sign at the wedding in Cana of Galilee when only His disciples and a few servants knew what had taken place, Jesus now was out in the open and in the public eye. His behavior actually caused a commotion that attracted attention. The response of the public to His authority and displays of power was predictable. Attracted by the excitement and impressed by anyone with such powers, whether divine in origin or not, many believed in Him. Contrary to what some church leaders say today, it was most important to Jesus what the people believed, and why, when it was in Him. Jesus knew what was in their hearts and minds and their motives for believing in Him thus He did not entrust Himself to them. What John’s choice of words actually says is that while the people believed in Him, Jesus did not believe in them.

Jesus’ reaction of not believing in those who believed in Him did not result from paranoia or cynicism toward people. It was based upon His Divine knowledge of the truth of what was in their hearts and exactly what they were thinking. We can sometimes fool one another, be we cannot fool God. He knows what is in our hearts and in our heads.

“Jesus knew” and other similar phrases employed by all the Gospel writers clearly indicate that they had witnessed His omniscience, the all-knowing attribute belonging only to God. This was another sign that identified Jesus as God with us. Thus when He dealt with people, the pride, hypocrisy, duplicity, and hidden agendas that lurked behind the masks of their smiles and even their professions of belief in Him were very visible to Him.

When we make our claim to believe in Jesus, the all important question becomes: Does Jesus believe in us? Can He entrust Himself to us? He will not come into our hearts and abide with all the noisy clamor of the world that’s there. Like the Temple, these things must go that we may become temples of the Holy Spirit. Jesus knows who we are and what we are; “He does not need anyone to tell Him.” Jesus knows what is truly in our hearts and minds when we make our professions of faith, when we pray and go through the liturgy of worship that look and sound so good to the public eye.

The good news is that Jesus did not become aware of the fallen sinful nature of mankind only after He got here. He was not caught off guard nor surprised by it. Way back in Genesis 6:5 we read, “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” Nothing had changed or has to this day; in fact, it was because of this sin nature in mankind that God sent His Son Jesus into the world that the world through Him might be saved. Jesus knew us very well, yet He loved us and came to us anyway and dwelled among us “and we have seen His glory.”

Paul says in I Corinthians 3:18, “We who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

E. Stanley Jones, in his book, Christian Maturity, points out that we become what we habitually gaze upon. He says, “What gets your attention ultimately gets you.” “We have seen His glory,” John said. And as we gaze upon His glory we become more and more like Him which is the gift of His Holy Spirit in us.

Brother Stanley says, “With unveiled faces…If it means anything it means that we must be completely honest with God, with ourselves, with others, with life. We must come clear – absolutely clear. We must have unveiled faces – no masks, no putting on of fronts, no make-believe.
He gives seven steps to true maturity. The first step is this: “We must get it straight, and get it straight once and for all, the pattern of our maturity: ‘into His likeness.’ The pattern of maturity is unique. It is not a pattern of maturity worked out by philosophy, or by psychology, though it may coincide with these patterns here and there. It stands in its own right – unique and alone… because it is not pieced together by man, but placed before us by God – Jesus is God’s revelation. We are to be made in the likeness of God – the likeness of God as seen in Jesus.” Being in His likeness is not accomplished by our own uptight effort. We are “being transformed.” That means the work of transformation is His, not ours. It “comes from the Lord.” And it is a never ending process – “with ever-increasing glory” the Holy Spirit transforms us into His likeness as we reflect more and more of His glory.