Prove It!
“Then answered the Jews and said unto Him, What sign shewest thou us, seeing that Thou doest these things?” John 2:18
Jesus had just cleared the temple of the moneychangers who were cheating the people who were coming to sacrifice by overcharging them for animals which these unscrupulous men claimed to be “better” than what the poor people had brought. I remember someone telling me about a trip they made to Egypt. It cost ten dollars to tour a pyramid, and if one gave them a twenty-dollar bill, they would not get back any change. In some places of the world, one has no recourse to make someone do the right thing. However, Jesus did that day in Jerusalem.
To continue, the religious leaders saw what Jesus did and instead of being grateful that he rid the temple of the moneychangers, they wanted to know what right He had to do what He had just done. They wanted to see some kind of proof that He was a prophet or other ordained authority. Jesus answered them with somewhat of a mysterious analogy. He said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up”. We have to understand how precious the temple was to the Jews. To even consider it being destroyed again (it was first demolished by the Babylonians during the days of King Zedekiah), was unthinkable. They asked Jesus (paraphrasing), “It took 46 years to build this temple, and You are going to demolish and then rebuild it in three days?” To them, that was preposterous.
However, Jesus was not speaking of the temple building which had been reconstructed after the return of the captives from Babylon. It had been just under 550 years since that time. Rather, He was speaking of the temple of His own body. Of course, they wouldn’t understand that. If we had been standing there that day, even if we had become true followers of Jesus, we wouldn’t have understood what He meant either, and neither did His disciples. When He spoke of the temple of His body, He was speaking of His crucifixion, death, and resurrection on the third day. It wasn’t until after His resurrection that His eleven disciples remembered that He had told them about His mission, and they then believed what He had said. However, just before Jesus ascended back to His Father in heaven, they asked Him if He was going to restore the kingdom of Israel, that is, remove the Romans and set up His kingdom on earth (Acts 1:6). Thus, they still didn’t fully understand the gospel message until the day of Pentecost when they were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4).
Jesus knew what was in the hearts of those Jews who questioned His authority. Had He seen a true searching for the truth and a willingness to accept Him, He likely would have spoken to them in a way that they could have understood Him clearly. However, they had hardened their hearts to Him and to the truth. Digging a little deeper, we find that the rulers were not the only ones who did not truly believe that Jesus was God’s Son.
“Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in His name, when they saw the miracles which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself unto them, because He knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for He knew what was in man.” John 2:23-25
Many saw Jesus’ miracles and many believed on Him, yet they weren’t all really convinced of the true identity of Jesus. Jesus knew their hearts. No one had to tell Him how mankind could not be trusted. We like to imagine that every person, those in Jesus’ day as well as those in our day, would have followed Him or are following Him wholeheartedly as Lord and Savior when presented with the gospel message. However, we know that doesn’t happen. There is too much evil in the world which indicates there are many who have rejected Him. Because Jesus is omniscient, He knows everything about every person. He doesn’t need anyone, an angel, or a prophet to tell Him who is a genuine follower and who is only a pretender. He knew then just as He knows now who those are who have committed their lives to Him and, in contrast, those who say that they are a Christian but have no real evidence to back up their claim. When we commit our lives to Christ, He commits His life to us for all eternity. Unless one truly commits himself or herself to Jesus, He doesn’t commit Himself to him or her.
For Jesus to know the heart of each person can be a frightening thought to many, but to those who trust in Him, it is a comforting thought. To know that the King of kings and Lord of lords knows me with all of my faults, mistakes, sins, and doubts, but still loves me anyway, is a big sigh of relief!
Happy Birthday, Matt