[Sunday, October 26, 2025] The Lord Knows Every Heart | John 2:23-25

[Sunday, October 26, 2025] The Lord Knows Every Heart | John 2:23-25

Sermon by Rev. Jinkook (Danny) Sohn (Hope of Heaven Baptist Chuch) 

 

2025. 10. 26. 주일예배 설교- 요한복음 강해 8
본문: 요한복음 2:23-25
제목: 모든 사람의 속을 아시는 주님

설교자: 손진국 목사 (하늘소망교회)

 

 

Last Sunday, we looked at the event of Jesus cleansing the temple when He went up to the temple in Jerusalem during the Passover, driving out the animals, pouring out the coins, and overturning the tables. Through that, we learned that Jesus does not look at people’s appearances or pretenses but at the center of their hearts. Today’s passage carries the same message.

Let us read today’s text, verse 23. [John 2:23] Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name.
Again, it says that during the Passover, Jesus showed signs in Jerusalem, and many believed in His name after seeing them. I wish such things would also happen in our church. If something like that happened here, what would we say? I would probably say, “God is doing amazing things in our church. A great revival is happening among us.”

I sincerely desire that such a thing would happen, but what is the problem? The problem lies in the last word of verse 23 — “believed.” Something feels uneasy. It would have been nice if it simply ended with “believed,” but it doesn’t. It gives a troubling feeling. And sure enough, in verse 24, we naturally find ourselves asking, “Why?”

[John 2:24] But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people.
How do you feel when you read verse 24? If what happened in verses 23 and 24 took place between friends, or between a husband and wife, or between brothers, what would you think? You would probably feel betrayed, thinking, “How could you do this to me?” — because one person says, “I trust you,” while the other says, “I don’t trust you.”

At the end of verse 23, it says that many “believed” in Jesus, but in verse 24, it says that Jesus “did not entrust Himself” to them. The Greek words used here — “believed” (ἐπίστευσαν, episteusan) in verse 23 and “entrust” (ἐπίστευεν, episteuen) in verse 24 — come from the same root word pisteuō (πιστεύω), meaning “to believe.” This means that while many believed in Jesus, Jesus did not believe in them.

Isn’t this a shocking thing that should not happen in human relationships? Normally, when one person trusts another, it is natural to expect that trust to be mutual.

That is why, as I meditated on today’s passage, the first and continuing question that came to my mind was this: “Why did Jesus do that?” Why does this question arise? Because we Christians all commonly believe, “Jesus is good and always right.” Do you believe that too? Can you make that confession of faith? Let’s say it together: “Jesus is good and always right.”

Believers are those who make such a confession of faith. But our faith is not a blind or thoughtless one. Some people say, “Don’t question it, just accept it,” or “Just believe without thinking.” But that is not true faith. If there is something you do not know or understand, keep asking questions and study it more deeply. Keep examining it. Can you see something when it’s covered? No. So, don’t close your eyes and hypnotize yourself into believing what you cannot see. Instead, open your eyes and seek to see what is invisible; try to know what you don’t yet know; strive to understand what you haven’t yet grasped. Then, as you begin to see and understand what you could not before, your confession will come not from force, but from a sincere heart: “Lord, now I truly believe.”

Christian faith is not brainwashing. It is not about mindless repetition or forced hypnosis. Even when people questioned or challenged Jesus, He did not tell them to “just believe blindly.” Instead, He explained. He said, “You do not understand because you are not seeing spiritual things,” and then revealed the spiritual reality to them. He said, “You belong to this world and do not know what the Kingdom of God is like,” and then explained what the Kingdom of God is.

I am a science major, so I tend to analyze things carefully. But is it only science students who examine things closely? No. If you are from a liberal arts background, then analyze things through literature, history, logic, and reason. Examine them scientifically, rationally, and psychologically. As you do, God will open your eyes to the unseen spiritual world. You will begin to see the limits of humanity, the limits of your thoughts, and the limits of science — and beyond those limits, God will lead you into a wondrous world you have never known.

[Jeremiah 29:12-13] Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Here we see the heart of God. God wants to reveal Himself to us. He wants to be known and found by us. But when we do not seek or call upon Him, His heart grieves.

Through today’s passage, I hope that we too will ask, “Why did Jesus do that?” — and through that question, come to understand the heart of the Lord and grow into a true and right faith.

 

1. Faith that depends on signs is not the faith the Lord desires.

[John 2:23] Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name.
Verse 23 says, “Many people believed in his name.” What was the reason for their belief? It says, “because they saw the signs he was performing.” They were fascinated by the miraculous works of Jesus — turning water into wine, healing the sick, driving out demons. What did they see in those things? “He has the power to solve my problems. If I follow Him, my problems will be gone.” To them, what mattered most was not who Jesus truly was or what the gospel of the Kingdom of God meant, but whether their personal problems could be solved.

Theologically, this is called “sign faith” or “prosperity faith.” This kind of belief treats Jesus not as a personal Savior and Lord but as a “means” to fulfill one’s desires — like a genie in a lamp. When Jesus answers their prayers, they shout “Lord!” with joy, but when trouble comes or things do not go their way, they are ready to turn away at any moment.

In the Gospel of John, the word “sign” (sēmeion) refers to something that points to who Jesus truly is. The purpose of a sign is to lead people to its destination. But these people were not looking at the destination — Jesus Himself. They were captivated only by the brilliance of the sign and stopped there.

Not long ago, we celebrated Chuseok. During Chuseok, a perfect full moon rises. Imagine pointing at that beautiful moon and saying, “Wow, look at that moon! It’s so beautiful,” but your friend, hearing that, says, “Oh, you’re right — your finger is really long!” That would be strange, right? There is even a saying for this — gyeonjimangwol (見指忘月), meaning “to look at the finger and forget the moon.” It refers to missing the essence and becoming fixated on something secondary.

But look again at the end of verse 23: [John 2:23] Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. It says they “believed in his name.” Isn’t that enough?

[John 1:12] Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. Those who believe in His name are given the right to become children of God — that is, they are saved. But in today’s verse (2:23), though they also believed in His name, it seems to be something different. Is believing in Jesus because of the signs wrong? Don’t we need to see signs to recognize that He is God? Don’t we need signs to confirm that He is the Messiah spoken of in Scripture?

[Application] Is my faith the kind of faith the Lord desires? Am I, like the one who looks at the finger instead of the moon, missing the essence and being caught up in the means?

Then why does the Lord not desire faith that depends on signs? What is the reason?

 

2. Faith that follows signs has self at its center.

The reason Jesus did not accept the faith of those who believed in Him after seeing the many signs He performed during the Passover can be found in His words recorded in John 6, related to the miracle of feeding the five thousand.
The feeding of the five thousand is one of the few miracles recorded in all four Gospels. After seeing Jesus feed five thousand people with only five barley loaves and two fish — and still have twelve baskets of leftovers — the people said: [John 6:14] After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Who is “the Prophet”? It refers to the one Moses spoke about: [Deuteronomy 18:15, 17–18] The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him... The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.”

That is why when John the Baptist was preaching repentance, the Jews asked him, “Are you the Messiah? Are you Elijah? Are you the Prophet?” The Jews called the prophet Moses mentioned “the Prophet,” believing him to be a foreshadowing of the coming Messiah. So, when the people saw the miracle of the loaves and fish, they thought Jesus was “the Prophet.” Then in verse 15, when Jesus knew they intended to come and make Him king by force, He withdrew again to a mountain by Himself. ([John 6:15] Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.)

Jesus truly was “the Prophet,” that is, the Messiah — so why did He withdraw? Later we see the reason. The people went looking for Him and eventually found Him in Capernaum. They asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” (John 6:25) Then Jesus replied: [John 6:26] “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”

In other words, Jesus did not reject faith that sees the signs themselves, but faith that fails to see what those signs truly point to — faith that seeks to use Jesus’ power to obtain one’s own desires and wishes. Such faith wants the miracles of Jesus to appear in one’s own life so that personal problems may be solved, sicknesses healed, life may go smoothly, and one’s children may live in comfort and success. This kind of faith is not centered on Jesus, but on oneself.

Once their wishes are fulfilled, Jesus no longer has value to them — until another problem or desire arises, when they seek Him again. Such faith is not genuine; it is temporary and self-centered. Jesus does not accept this kind of faith.
There is an old Western proverb: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” It warns us that even if our motives seem good, the center of them can still be wrong.

The people who believed because of the signs may have had a motive of “wonder” or “amazement.” But when the motive of faith points to oneself rather than Jesus, that path eventually leads away from the Lord.

[Application] Am I seeking Jesus only for the solution to my problems or for blessings in my family? Even if all the “signs” (health, wealth, stability) in my life disappear, can I still follow and be satisfied with Jesus alone?

 

3. Have true faith that entrusts everything to the Lord.

[Verse 24] But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people.
Despite the people’s enthusiastic faith, Jesus did not entrust Himself to them, and the reason is clear: “for He knew all people.”

Jesus saw through the fickle hearts behind their praises. He knew that the same crowd shouting “Hosanna! Hallelujah!” would soon cry “Crucify Him!” when their political or material hopes were shattered. Their faith was emotional, conditional, and temporary. Therefore, Jesus could not entrust His holy mission or Himself to such shallow trust.

This verse strongly testifies to Jesus’ divinity — His omniscience. Verse 25 makes this even clearer: [Verse 25] He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

Jesus is not deceived by our appearance, our words, or even our religious acts. He knows our deepest motives, our hidden sins, and even the hypocrisy we ourselves do not see.

So, what should we do? We must let go of everything we have trusted in apart from the Lord. Past experiences with God are precious, but we must not cling to them. Our fellowship is not with past memories but with the living Lord who is with us now.

In Numbers 21, the story of the bronze serpent appears. When the Israelites complained against God, He sent venomous snakes among them as punishment. Moses interceded for them, and God provided a way of salvation — a bronze serpent on a pole. Whoever looked at it lived. That serpent remained for about 700 years, until King Hezekiah destroyed it because it had become an object of worship. [2 Kings 18:3–4] He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)

What did the bronze serpent represent? It showed Israel’s disobedience and God’s way of salvation from the curse of that disobedience — a symbol pointing to Jesus on the cross. The Israelites were meant to look at the bronze serpent and repent, realizing that obedience to God’s Word was the only way of salvation.

But they began to treat the serpent itself as powerful, worshiping it and seeking blessings from it. Over 700 years, it became an idol — until Hezekiah destroyed it and called it Nehushtan, meaning “a piece of bronze.” In other words, it was nothing but metal.

This is exactly what our passage teaches. Jesus knows whether our faith, like Israel’s faith in the bronze serpent, is focused on signs and benefits (“because you ate and were filled”) or truly recognizes who He is.

The medieval theologian Meister Eckhart once said, “We want to be judged by what we do, but God judges us by what we are.” People see our actions (faith based on signs), but God looks at our being (the transformation of our hearts).
Let us not be those who look to signs to make our lives easier or more prosperous, but those who, through the signs, see and believe in Jesus — the true Lord and God who changes and leads our lives. May we offer the center of our hearts to Him every day with true faith.

[Application] When I confess, “Lord, You are my only hope and purpose,” what or who makes me hesitate? If Jesus were to say to me, “I know you, and I trust you,” how would that make me feel?

 

 

하늘소망교회(담임 손진국 목사)는 뉴질랜드 오클랜드 북부 실버데일에 세워진 한인교회로 '하나님의 마음으로 사람을 살리는 교회'입니다.

Hope of Heaven Baptist Church (Senior Pastor: Rev. Jinkook Sohn) is a Korean church established in Silverdale, Auckland, New Zealand. It is a church that saves people with the heart of God.