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Words of Faith 9-20-16
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2016
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
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John 2
[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.

Jesus raised the ire of the religious leaders early on when He cleansed the Temple area of the vendors, animals, and moneychangers. Of course they questioned his authority asking for a miraculous sign.
Jesus would have none of it. Jesus replied in a rather cloaked way that the sign of His authority would not be seen by these corrupt leaders until much later when He was raised from the dead.
That did not mean that Jesus would not do many miraculous signs among the people. He did. Many people saw such miraculous signs, but Jesus was not a “miracle-on-demand” sort of Messiah. He proved Himself to no one. No one would come and say, “Do a trick to prove yourself” and have a response from Jesus.
But there is an interesting phrase in this text. “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.” Jesus was not ready to entrust who He was based on superficial belief rooted only in miracles. He did not trust himself to those who had professed belief only on the basis of his miracles. We will see in the next chapter the importance of re-birth by the Spirit.
It is also clear that Jesus chooses to whom He will entrust Himself. Jesus chooses to whom He will reveal Himself. He does not need any recommendations about this because He knows every person. No references were needed. He knew every person He encountered. He knew their life. He knew their destiny. He knew their sin. He knew their need. He knew their heart.
What do we make of this?
First, is the realization that we do not demand of Jesus that He prove Himself. It is the height of impudence that we should demand a sign from Jesus. He may well do miraculous signs among us, but it will not be at our command and this is not the basis of genuine faith.
Even more important is the realization that we are not deciding about Jesus based upon what we know of Him. He has decided about us based upon all that He knows of us! He does not need to meet our criteria for worthy Messiah-ship, His Messiah-ship looks straight through our human masks and foibles to the heart. He does not illuminate Himself for our pleasure and consideration. He shines His Light into our darkness.

Lord Jesus, You do not need to prove a thing. But then, You know that. I surrender to the wonder of Your Light and Life which is driving the darkness out of my life. Thank you for entrusting Yourself to me that I might know life. In Jesus’ Name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2002, 2016
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.