I Don’t Believe You

But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man. John 2:24-25 NASB

Not entrusting – The NASB translation accidentally hides the fact that the Greek verb here is pisteuo, the same word used by John multiple times for “believe.” In other words, Yeshua did not believe in these men in the same sense that his opponents did not believe in him. Of course, we know that in John’s gospel, pisteuo is never a noun. It is not “belief” in someone or something. It is a verb—the act of believing into. For John, this is the summary verb of paradigm shift. I stop believing, that is, acting, as a result of my current paradigm and I begin acting, that is, believing, as a result of the paradigm represented by the Messiah. My world changes, and my behavior reflects that change. It is not about cognitive assent. It is about what I do!

Now let’s read this verse again. Yeshua did not act in ways that committed himself to the worldview of these men. He did not take on their perspective. He did not join them. He did not express himself according to their way of seeing the world. He didn’t believe into them. Why? Because he knew where their worldview would take him. He knew where they were wrong. He knew what would happen if he adopted their way of living. In other words, he knew their hearts. This does not mean that he had divine insight into their inner spiritual convictions. It means what is obvious. He could see how they acted and, as a result, could draw conclusions about their paradigm. So can we!

Someone comes to you and says, “Why do you keep those Torah commandments? Don’t you know Jesus fulfilled the law? You are falling under Jewish legalism again?” Do you have to have an impartation of the Spirit to know what paradigm such a person has? Of course not! You have the evidence right in front of you. In fact, you don’t even need the speech. If they worship on Sunday, enjoy bacon cheeseburgers, charge interest on non-business loans or plow the field on Shabbat, you can be fairly confident that they have a Greco-Roman Christian paradigm. I am pretty sure that Yeshua would not believe into them. By the way, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t speak with them. It doesn’t mean he would avoid them. It doesn’t mean he would castigate them. But it does mean he wouldn’t adopt their way of living in the world.

John says that Yeshua “knew what was in man.” The statement is general. Yeshua knew something about human nature. He knew that people are paradigm-dependent. He knew change is the most difficult human task. He knew tradition is often more powerful than text. He knew that what we think we know is usually the greatest roadblock to learning anything. And he knew that men are motivated by self-interest. We know all this too. The question is whether or not we apply what we know about human nature when we deal with others. Yeshua was immune to the need for human approval. He knew who he was and what the Father was asking from him. We are not always so confident. But perhaps we should be. Then we can say, without remorse, “I don’t believe into you.”

Topical Index: pisteuo, believe, entrust, human nature, John 2:24-25