JOHN 2:23-25 – Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

THEME OF THE DAY. HE KNOWS YOU INSIDE AND OUT. Today’s scripture is one of those portions having one meaning with two extreme opposite applications. What makes this scripture speak in such extremes is because of the main character – the Lord Jesus. Without stating it in clear theological terms, we observe the theological truth of our Lord’s omniscience. He knows all things, not just on the outside of the world around Him but including all that is inside every single person. Imagine this truth of the Lord Jesus for a moment. Imagine standing before Him, eye-to-eye, and with eyes locked together, we know that He is aware of everything about us; every thought we allowed in our thinking, every object or person we looked upon with coveting or lustful gazes, every place we went, every act of hypocrisy we practiced, every conversation we participated in, every temptation we fell to, and every decision we made that was more about our comfort than obeying His will to deny ourselves. The only proper response to such truth is deep humility and feeling of being totally undone. But this truth does something else in the lives of all human beings – Christian and non-Christian alike. And here are the contrasts, the opposites, in the applications from today’s scripture.

First, the all-knowing nature of the Lord Jesus is one of the greatest comforts to the Christian seeking to live a life without pretense and sincerity before the Lord. Knowing we are “the real deal” despite our unwilling failures to measure up to the Lord’s commands provides great assurance and comfort of His love because He knows we are the “real deal.” I am not sure anything is more assuring than a clear conscience able to say like Peter to the Lord, “Lord, you know all things. You know I love You” (John 21:16-17). But there is a catch . . . this means we are not willfully harboring or practicing sin. Yes, we can do this. Yes, we can consistently live under the microscope of Jesus’ omniscience and enjoy His penetrating gaze. We must. This is how joyful fellowship exists before the Lord; a life of humble submission and sincere obedience to His all-knowing Person.

Then, there is the other side of encountering the all-knowing nature of the Lord Jesus. It isn’t comforting. For the unbeliever, it should produce the greatest of terror. His look isn’t one of love but of righteous anger. The unbeliever is spiritually naked before the God who has been willfully spurned and sinned against. Hopefully, such terror soon turns to rejoicing as the awakened sinner sees the all-knowing God reaching out in His Gospel to reconcile the exposed sinner. But the all-knowing nature of the Lord Jesus isn’t a comfort for another type of individual; the rebellious and backslidden Christian. If we are living in sin, knowing and tolerating it, there is no joy, comfort and assurance from the Lord. His all-knowing look is one of displeasure. Granted, He won’t disown us, but He will discipline us. And it will hurt. Let’s pray we won’t enter into this gaze from the Lord.

Yes, Jesus sees us from the inside and out. For His children, this is a look of love. May we find His omniscience producing within us humility, worship, gratitude, and obedience because despite that He does know us inside and out, He loves us the same!

PRAYER: “Father, help me to live a transparent life without pretense or hypocrisy.”

QUOTE: “Living aware that Jesus knows everything about us is a comfort for the sincere and a terror for the hypocrite.”