Does He Trust You?

The greater question regarding your salvation was never so much “Do you trust in Jesus?” but rather “Does he trust in you?” In fact, in John chapter 2, John explicitly tells us that Jesus did not trust most of his followers when he writes:

Jesus, on his part, was not entrusting himself to them, for he knew all men.

But, why not? Why did Jesus not entrust himself to people? What was his reason for not trusting those who followed him? Well, their reason for believing in him was mistaken. And that’s why the Bible says ‘He himself knew what was in man.’

Case in point: Nicodemus.

Let’s listen carefully to the story of Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus. It says:

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name, observing his signs which he was doing. 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.

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to him, 'Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him' (John 2:23–3:2; NASB).

No Trust in Man

Did you follow the flow of ideas? Did you get the gist? If so, then did Jesus trust in the man Nicodemus?

The answer: No, not at all. Jesus knew exactly what was in the heart of man. And he could discern the unbelief in the heart of the man Nicodemus.

Now, let’s bring it home. Jesus knows what is in our hearts too. We are all “men” in the Biblical sense. We are either guys (men) or we’re girls (wo-men), and Jesus knows how much selfishness and egotism is in our hearts. He is familiar with the cowardliness, the worldliness, the greed, the hypocrisy, and the apathy (deadness) that are rooted in the human heart.

Jesus knows all about the spiritual laziness that’s deep inside us--and it's mainly because he fought against the spiritual laziness in his own heart when he was in the flesh! So he looks at ours with great sympathy--not with disdain.

The Right Reason

Now that we've established Jesus' perspective, ask yourself: "Does Jesus trust me?" And know that he will only if you have the right reason to believe in him.

And, if you have that reason, it's the same reason the Apostles had when they put their faith in Jesus: They trusted in Jesus mainly because of his relationship to God.

The Apostles saw Jesus as a Messenger—a man subordinate to the One God. They believed that he was sent by God. That’s what Peter declared in response to Jesus’ famous question ‘… who do you say that I am?’

Peter answered and said ‘the Christ of God’ (Luke 9:20; NKJV, NASB).

That’s literally ‘The Christ of the [One] God’ in the original Greek, by the way. The Christ belongs to the One God, our Father! Jesus is his, and God sent him on a mission to redeem the World. Jesus' purpose in life was to fulfill God's mission.

Now, as you can see, Peter was convinced that God was behind all Jesus did. He believed that Jesus was subject to God, anointed by God, and he believed that Jesus was authorized by God.

Accredited to You by God

And Peter reinforced that core Christian belief on the day of Pentecost. Listen to how he spoke when he preached on that memorable day:

Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.

This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan… and you… put him to death… But God raised him from the Dead (Acts 2:22-24).

Do you see Peter’s huge emphasis on God’s full control, purpose, and empowerment of Jesus? That’s the purest and most true way of understanding Christ Jesus. As Peter said, ‘Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you.’

So, now what are you going to do with Jesus? Well, the Apostles came to understand that Jesus was worthy of their trust. You too must come to trust in him like they did. You must get to the point where you trust in him the right way.

The Apostles were rugged Galilean fishermen. They were not naïve inexperienced teenagers who would have followed just anybody—and neither should you be. The Apostles had the same choices you have today. They chose who their pastor would be, and they chose Jesus.

The Right Rabbi

Jesus in his day was a real choice for people. He was an itinerant teacher with a very clearly defined set of doctrines walking around from place to place, and many chose not to follow him. However, the Apostles got to know his credibility, tested his trustworthiness, and found him to be true.

Their society was filled with Bible teachers; but among those teachers—the Jews called them rabbis—the Apostles chose to trust Jesus. They decided to make Jesus their Teacher.

How do we know that they chose the Lord as their teacher? Quite simply, by the fact that they constantly called him rabbi. It was a term of respect for a teacher in their day, so every time they used it, they were honoring Jesus as their instructor.

Rabbi, Rabbi,Rabbi

Here are five examples from the Gospel of John of how the Disciples addressed Jesus:

And they said to him, 'Rabbi (which translated means teacher), where are you staying?' (John 1:38)

Nathanael answered him, 'Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel' (John 1:49).

… the disciples were urging him, saying, 'Rabbi, eat' (John 4:31).

When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, 'Rabbi, when did you get here?' (John 6:25).

And his disciples questioned him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?' (John 9:2)

So, it was rabbi, rabbi, rabbi... rabbi, rabbi, rabbi. Now, who do you call rabbi? In whom do you trust as your pastor? There must be someone on Earth you would call your teacher—who is it? You have to make a choice.

Who do you choose to feed you spiritually, to instruct you in the Word of God? If you’re like the Apostles, and you’re wise, you’ll do this: You’ll insist that it be someone sent by God. They trusted in Jesus because he was sent by God.

A Relationship With the Father

The Apostles saw many miracles, deliverance, and signs from Jesus. They heard many prophecies and observed the wisdom of his parables. Nonetheless, those were not the fundamental reasons why they trusted in him. They trusted in him, rather, for one basic reason: Jesus’ subordinate relationship to the Father.

Their close fellowship with him revealed this about Jesus: his utter dependance, complete reliance, and total submission to God. Yep. That’s it! That’s Jesus’ greatest trait: his closeness to God.

He was with God. This one was with the One God (as John’s Prologue puts it).

The Apostles were aware of the source of Jesus’ power. They took keen notice that Jesus only did God’s will, only spoke God’s Words, and only acted in the power of God. He was empowered by God because he loved God so much.

Now, remember: To love God is to obey him. And that’s what Jesus did—not robotically, but as a loving Son. Jesus loved God.

Why Trust?

If you’re going to trust in a teacher of the Word of God, the best reason to believe in them is this: their closeness to God. It’s not what they say or the power they have. It’s not because they can give you food and clothing! It definitely shouldn’t be because they harness technology with a huge Internet platform or a TV show.

Those reasons are exactly why people will trust in the Antichrist! So they're not good reasons to trust a leader.

The reason why you trust in a pastor also can't be simply because they talk about God. There are innumerable pastors talking about God these days. Rather, your decision to trust must be based on whether what they say is from God. Do you see the difference?

It’s not based on whether they have power or whether they can do miracles. It must be based on whether the power they have is from God, and the miracles are from God.

In other words, it’s whether God is with them.

Picking a Rabbi

Are they men accredited by God to you?

Nicodemus understood this principle. Here’s our last verse. Ready? Nicodemus remarked to Jesus one evening:

Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him (John 3:2).

And so another disciple of Christ was born, Nicodemus. He had full faith that God was with Jesus.

In this study we learned about the Twelve Apostles, we learned about Nicodemus, but now what about you? Will you also be Jesus’ disciple?

True disciples of Jesus base their commitment to him on this observation: that Jesus is from God. Do you believe it? Is Jesus 'a man accredited by God to you'? And, in addition, have you chosen to follow a teacher sent by Jesus who will speak that way about Jesus? Did God accredit that man to you as well?

Don't settle for anything less.