The Omniscience of God
by Steve Ostrom
www.fotbc.org

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 2:24-25 
Knowing that Jesus knows everything is an awesome revelation. It brings Him to the door of a person's soul and forces them to allow or deny His entrance. Knowing that He knows our thoughts brings conviction of sin, shows us our need of forgiveness, and allows us to believe on Him as our Saviour.
The Gospel of John clearly reaffirms this divine attribute of Christ. That Jesus is omniscient is one of the evidences of His identity. John's account of our wonderful all-knowing Saviour is revealed through his written testimony (John 21:24). He was one of Jesus' twelve apostles, having previously been a disciple of John the Baptist (1:35). He and his brother, James (also an apostle) were the sons of a man named Zebedee (Matt. 4:21), and were fishermen by trade. He was one of the three apostles that were among Jesus' "inner circle" (Matthew 17:1; Mark 9:2, 14:38; Luke 8:51, 9:28), who also wrote I, II and III John as well as the book of Revelation. Even though Jesus labeled him and his brother James, "sons of thunder" (Mk. 9:38, Luke 9:54), he affectionately referred to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (John 13:23, 21:20). He was a pillar in the early church (Galatians 2:9, Revelation 1:9) and his apocalyptic visions made him a "new testament" prophet, akin to those that Jehovah had sent to His people Israel. 
Thus, John, this richly endowed witness, is the person who relates the passage of consideration. He understatedly affirms his purpose for so doing to his universal audience: that they "might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing (they) might have life through his name" (John 20:31). This is the modus operandi of the church as well.
Although we know that John wrote his gospel sometime during his later life, somewhere between A.D. 85-90, the exact date is uncertain. However, the time of the events surrounding the passage is easier to pinpoint. John is referring to the time that Jesus made his first Passover journey to Jerusalem in the early part of His ministry. This would have been the 14th day of the Hebrew month, Abib, A.D. 27 (A. T. Robertson), during the feast day itself (John 2:23).
Since Passover was a required holy day for the Jewish people (Numbers 9:2-3; Deuteronomy 16:1-8), Jesus naturally partook of the ordinance, as did his disciples, by going to Jerusalem which was the appointed "place" (Deut. 16:6, 16), that being where the temple was located (John 2:13-15) and previously where the ark had been located (i.e., God's presence). It was the place where religious Jews assembled to fulfill the required holy days. Subsequently, it was the religious center of the nation, and those that traveled there for appointed holy days had their "best (religious) foot forward." Doubtless, those inhabitants of Jerusalem also "gussied" themselves spiritually for the onslaught of the descendants. 
The city had gone through several metamorphoses since the time of the original temple construction by Solomon and David. Due to the Jews disobedience, God allowed enemy nations and kingdoms to ransack, plunder and destroy the city. These included the Philistines and Arabians in the reign of Johoram (II Chronicles 21:16-17); and the divided Northern Kingdom in the reign of Amaziah (II Chron. 25:21-24). Nebuchadnezzar thrice took the city; his last attack leaving it thoroughly destroyed (II Chron. 36). Divinely sanctioned, Cyrus, king of Persia had Jerusalem rebuilt (II Chron. 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4), only to have it later captured by Alexander the Great in B.C. 332, and later by the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes, in B.C. 170. The city was captured by the Romans in B.C. 63, and Herod was appointed ruler of the Judean area. Nominally a Jew, he had a beautiful temple constructed for the people which entailed an ongoing process of adornment (John 2:20). Undoubtedly, Herod's concept of religious worship had influenced Jerusalem and its inhabitants.
The occasion of John's statement was then in reference to events that had occurred during this time of religious activity at the Jerusalem Passover. Jesus had entered the city in obedience to the Mosaic command, and upon his arrival, having seen the greed and commercialism rampant in the house of worship commenced to eradicate the sin and hypocrisy (John 2:14-16). The Jews, upon seeing his self-proclaimed authority, demanded a sign from Jesus (v. 18), although they had already had the witness of John the Baptist through their emissaries that had been sent (John 1:19,24) to question John of his authority and identity (John 1:19-34). Having not received John's witness of Christ, they sought for a sign whereupon Jesus spoke of His death and resurrection (vs. 19, 21). Amongst those who demanded Jesus credentials were others who "believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did" (v. 23). These are the "them" that the apostle John is referring to in our passage of consideration. 
The aim of John was not only to convey the omniscience of Christ, but also the exercising of that omniscience in the area of faith. That Jesus, as God, could embody this attribute is awesomely wonderful while being awesomely terrifying. Although the circumstances in consideration convey the Lord's disassociation from a particular group of "believers," this timeless principle can be applied to all professors of Christianity.
The literary form of John's gospel lends itself to an accurate rendering of factual data, employing many sublime metaphors such as: "Lamb of God" (John 1:29,35), "I am the bread of life" (6:48), "I am the light of the world" (8:12, 9:5), "I am the door" (10:9), "I am the good shepherd" (10:11), and "I am the vine" (15:1-5). It is probably the most endearing account of Christ due to John's closeness to the Saviour - closer than any other of the gospel writers.
The time of the incarnation of the Son of God or the unveiling of the Second Person of the trinity was the historical time frame of our passage. The promised Messiah had appeared on the scene of human history (John 1:14). It was the time directly after John the Baptist's identification of the Saviour (v. 7-8, 15, 29-34, 36). It was the time of the most important event in the affairs of man - the time for the antidote that would rectify the malaise that had occurred in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15). Even though God's dealings with His creation had experienced the cycles of judgment and favor, the culmination of both were to be manifested in His Son, the epitome of truth and righteousness - the Light of the world (John 1:7-9, 23, 29). This manifestation of God Himself, dwelling amongst His creation, makes the revelation of His mind so important. While He knew the minds of men, man had the privilege of knowing the mind of God. Through Christ, we have access to the mind of God (John 1:18). John, the disciples and all seekers of the truth had the opportunity to "pick" the mind of God and to inquire into the mysteries of life (Colossians 2:2-3). What a privilege! What a responsibility.
Spiritually, it was a very dark time (John 1:5). Israel, nationally, had more or less lost its unity, not having the presence of God or a king in the succession of David. They had suffered the ravages of God due to their disobedience, although He had not forsaken them entirely - the appearance of Christ confirmed that. Only a few looked for the hope of Israel, such as Simeon, Anna, John the Baptist and a few others. Israel's religion had degenerated to factious sects enlisting their followers to various rules and regulations regarding their perverted beliefs of the truth. Amongst them were the Pharisees, Saducees and Herodians. Even when gentile wise men sought for the King of the Jews, few Jews enjoined their excitement and anticipation, with the exception of Herod, who diligently strove to eliminate any successor to his throne. The religion of the day was powerless and hypocritical.

Prior to the Incarnation, Israel had the oracles of God (Romans 3:1-2). They were entrusted with His Word, and were accountable to obey it. Jesus had come to them in fulfillment of God's promises of a Messiah (John 1:11, 31). They were under law and grace simultaneously at the time of the revelation of the Son of God (John 1:14, 16-17; Matthew 3:15, 5:17). Thus, it was a time of division. God had intervened from eternity, dividing darkness from light, error from truth, wrong from right, and death from life. The revelation of the Son of God was the revelation of God Himself - the dawning of greater grace.
As the text is considered in our passage, the rendering of "But Jesus did not commit himself unto them" (KJV) or "But Jesus on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them" (NASV) indicates a disassociation on the part of the Lord to a group of people who "believed in His name" (John 2:23) while He was in Jerusalem during the early part of His ministry. "Did not commit" (KJV) or "was not entrusting" (NASV) embody the Greek verb "pisteuo," which means "believe, have faith in, be convinced of, trust, rely on, or have confidence in" (Complete Biblical Library). Although it is the same Greek word used in verse 23 as "believed" its negation here requires careful consideration which will be discussed later. It is the same word used in John 1:50, where Jesus is asking Nathanael if it was due to the Lord's omniscience that he had "believest" Him to be the Son of God and King of Israel.
"Because He knew all men" (KJV) and "for He knew all men" (NASV) explain why Jesus did not commit Himself to these Jerusalem "believers." The word "know" is the key word in this passage. It is the word which describes the omniscient attribute of the Lord. It is translated from the Greek word "ginosko," which means "know, become aware, perceive, understand, be conscious of" (CBL). W. E. Vine states that it also includes "to be taking in knowledge, to come to know, recognize, or to understand completely." He further adds: "ginosko frequently indicates a relation (emphasis mine) between the person knowing and the object known; in this respect, what is known is of value or importance to the one who knows, and hence the establishment of the relationship." The CBL notes that "a fundamental tenet of Johannine Christology is that the world (kosmos) does not - cannot - know the Son or the Father apart from the grace of God manifest in the Son (John 1.10...). The Son revealed himself in His miracles...but his glory was made full known, and hence the Father was made known, through the Cross... 'Knowledge' comes through revelation of God through Jesus (17:6) to those willing to believe. In this sense 'knowledge' approximates faith."
"And needed not that any should testify of man" (KJV) or "And because He did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man" (NASV) express the sufficiency of Christ's knowledge. "Testify" (KJV) and "bear witness" (NASV) are translated from the Greek word "martureo" which means "bear witness, be a witness, testify" (CBL). It has a legal meaning and in John's gospel denotes "the witness (a) of God the Father to Christ (5:32, 37; 8:18); (b) of Christ (3:11, 32; 4:44; 5:31; 7:7; 8:13, 14, 18; 13:21; 18:37); (c) of the Scriptures, to Christ (John 5:39); (d) of the works of Christ, to Himself, and of the circumstances connected with His Death (5:36; 10:25); of prophets and apostles, to the righteousness of God (1:7, 8, 15, 32, 34; 3:26; 5:33)...(f) of others, concerning Christ (4:39); (g) of believers to one another (3:28);...(j) of unbelievers concerning Christ (18:23), concerning others (2:25)...(Vine). This important word describes "such testimony...predicated upon personal experience" (CBL). Our Lord Who "testified" of God, Himself, His work and others, and had God, Himself, His work and others "testify" of Him, did not need anyone to tell Him anything: "for he knew what was in man" (KJV) or "for He Himself knew what was in man" (NASV). This closing phrase of our text, explains why Jesus did not need any one to inform Him of anything.
The omniscient aspect of Jesus' nature is clearly stated. "Knew" is translated from the Greek word "eginosken" a cognate of "ginosko," a verb we have already examined. Here this divine attribute ascribed to God in the Old Testament in scores of passages is manifested in Jesus. Jesus knew the miracle-generated believers in Jerusalem to the core, and because of His knowledge he did not trust them.
In viewing the structure of John 2:24-25 it can be concluded that the subject involves Christ's knowledge of genuine faith in Him. Possible outlines may include:
Faith
I. Involves knowledge
A. Of Christ by men
B. Of Men by Christ

II. Involves commitment
A. Of Christ to men
B. Of men to Christ
or: Christ Knows
I. All thoughts
II. All men
A. Those having faith in Him
B. Those not having faith in Him	
True faith involves a mutual knowledge, both of the recipient and of the person believed in. A believer in Christ cannot have an incomplete understanding of Jesus. It cannot be superficial or deficient in any way. He must be seen as the Saviour. Just to see the miracles or signs that He performed and attributing them to divine power only frustrates His identity, since all persons in the Godhead have the same ability. Since John the Baptist introduced Jesus as God's sacrificial Lamb, he was looking beyond any miraculous tokens of the Godhead to the essence of the person and work of Christ. Those that saw Jesus in this manner, as the sacrificial Lamb exercising His grace and mercy on their soul's behalf, would see Him in the proper context and therefore commit their souls to Him. Anything less or other than this could not be genuine faith.
In return, due to His omniscience and foreknowledge of those that would believe on Him in true revelation of His person and work, Christ would commit Himself to them. This union, a relationship of the most intimate nature, is the glorious salvation of sinful man. When Jesus commits Himself to someone, He teaches them. They become His disciples. If a person is not teachable, they are not committed to Christ, nor is He to them. Many saw the power of Christ, but failed to see His omniscient eye. Had they allowed themselves to experience such scrutiny, they could have experienced His grace and mercy through conversion.
Since Christ is salvation, His thoughts toward men would concern their redemption, as was evidenced by His incarnation and sacrificial life. Christ's omniscience plays an important part in the salvation of every soul. He knows those who will believe on Him and those who will not. His ability to know the thoughts of every heart should invoke fear and dread in those that know that they have been "discovered," and are worthy of righteous judgment.
If a person just looks at the "signs" or "miracles" that Jesus performed, they don't see Jesus as He truly is. Truly, only God could perform the miracles He did, but they only revealed His omnipotence, not His omniscience. His manipulation of the physical blinded people to His spiritual prowess. Certainly, the miracles should have drawn people to enquire of the Person performing the miracles, but the gaze of many went no further than what had occurred before their eyes. Had they encountered the Person of Christ, they would have encountered His whole being which would have revealed His omniscience, their sin, and their need to trust in Him.
When we look at our passage in the context of John's gospel the meaning becomes more clear. One of the themes of the book is the deity of Christ as conveyed in the first chapter. The grand truth that the Word became flesh is another. The importance of the ministry and witness of John the Baptist further enriches the book. John's sole purpose was to identify the Lamb of God and fade off the scene. Identification of both John and Christ are big issues in the first two chapters. The Pharisee were more willing to accept John's person as the Messiah than Jesus Himself, even though John denied the title and performed no miracles or signs. 
Even when people sought for a sign or miracle from Jesus he replied by speaking of His salvific work on their behalf for their sin (John 21:8, cp. Matthew 12:38-41). Many saw the miracles that He did and "believed" in Him, but never saw their need in having Him forgive their sins. It was also necessary for His omniscience to be apprehended. 
As mentioned earlier, "ginosko" is a key word in John's gospel "frequently indicating a relationship between the person knowing and the object known. In this respect, what is known is of value or importance to the one who knows, and hence the establishment of the relationship." When Andrew and John were directed by the Baptist to the Lamb of God (a sin-bearing, salvific title), they followed Jesus (John 1:37). By perceiving His true identity, a relationship was established upon value and importance. Jesus, in turn, committed Himself to them as their teacher and Saviour. Their insight prompted their witnesses to Peter and James, who also became disciples. Philip recognized the identity of Jesus after he obediently responded to the Lord's calling (1:43-45) and directed Nathanael to Him. Although Andrew, John and Philip followed Jesus from either John the Baptist's or the Lord's bidding, their obedience or commitment to Him revealed or unveiled His true identity and thus His divine attributes, including omniscience. 
Peter and Nathanael on the other hand, although curious of the prospect of Jesus being the Messiah, were not fully persuaded until they experienced His omniscient gaze (1:42; 47-50). Up to this time in our passage these were the only disciples that John mentions prior to the beginning of Jesus' miracles. When miracles were performed by Christ, beginning with the turning of water into wine at the wedding in Cana, the faith of His disciples increased, though others seeing the miracles did not believe in Him. Those that were willing to follow Jesus received fuller revelation as to His true identity.

When Jesus came to Jerusalem for the Passover during the first part of His ministry the city was moved by His presence. Ironically, they were celebrating the Passover but failed to see the Passover Lamb that God and the Baptist had acknowledged. At that time of skepticism, some Jews "believed" in the name of Jesus "when they saw the miracles that he did" (2:23). They were shallow believers. Obviously, Passover was the height of religious activity in Jerusalem - high holy days, just as the holidays Christmas and Easter are to the "church" today. Everyone was religious. Everyone is "holy." Everyone likes to acknowledge and claim Jesus at such times - its getting into the "spirit" of the occasion. Doubtlessly, many of those keeping the Passover were Jews who, like the Pharisees, had a "works righteousness" type of religion. 
But, alas, it is too well known that such "acknowledgers of Jesus" fail to acknowledge Him at other times or on a continual basis. Nor do they follow Him and His teachings in a consistent way. As they are not committed to Him, He is not committed to them. Although they claim to believe in Him, to know Him - He is really the One who knows them. The few disciples that Jesus had at that time were those whom He was committed to, as well as all that have committed themselves to Him across the centuries (John 17:20). But those that He committed Himself to were those that knew Him and knew that He knew them. It is one thing to know about a person: his life and his works, but it is another thing to know him personally. The Jerusalem, miracle-seeing "believers" had this knowledge of the Messiah without the "personal touch."
The reason why any person will witness or give testimony of Christ is because their testimony is based upon personal experience, due to the mutual, intimate knowledge of Christ knowing them and of them knowing Christ. It was especially omniscience on the part of Christ that greeted Simon (in renaming him Peter, 1:42) and that amazed Nathanael in having his thoughts revealed (1:47-51). Peter gave clear witness as to Christ's identity (John 6:66; Matthew 16:16) as well as did Nathanael (John 1:49).
Subsequently, there are the renown accounts in John's gospel of Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman; the Nicodemus conversation being the very next issue in John's train of thought, "...for He knew what was in man. There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus" (John 2:25-3:1). Here, again, the display of Christ's omniscience was working in a salvific manner to awaken a religious man's soul. By deflecting Nicodemus's pretext of coming in a representative capacity ("we know," John 3:1), Jesus dealt with the man's personal problem and desire to know, evidenced by his being alone and coming under the cloak of darkness (3:1). Nicodemus was among those that sent a delegation to enquire of John the Baptist's (John 1:19, 24) and received the clearest witness possible from God's witness (1:15-34; 3:11). Christ's miracles were interpreted properly by Nicodemus as well, for they caused him to seek the true identity of the one performing the miracles. 
But Jesus did not ignore Nicodemus's error (which is a sin for an instructor) of being "the teacher of Israel" and not instructing the nation as to the ways of the Messiah (3:10). What in tarnation had he been teaching them? Nicodemus should have recognized Jesus because of his familiarity of the Scriptures, but he did not. A blind man leading other blind men. However, Jesus, the all-knowing Lord, saw through Nicodemus' greeting to his true condition and need: that of regeneration (3:3-8). He re-confirmed His salvific identity to one who had properly responded to His miracles (3:14). Nicodemus' commitment to Christ was evidenced by his defense of the Lord (John 7:50-51) and participation in His burial (19:39).
Also in John's gospel the omniscient attribute of Christ is seen in His dealing with the Samaritan woman (John 4:17-18, 29, 39). Jesus could have told the woman everything about herself as our text confirms (2:24-25), but his all-seeing eye focused on her sin (4:17-18) not her good works, name, age or anything else. Although modern day "healing evangelists" may claim to be "omniscient" in proclaiming much trivial information about their "patients", how refreshing it would be if they proclaimed the sins of the people that sought after them for physical healings! Someone could get saved then, but who would want to follow after the first victim's exposure? Oh, how revival is needed!
One of the most eye-opening verses in the gospel of John to support the text is in the sixth chapter and sixty-fourth verse where Jesus says, "'But there are some of you that believe not.' For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him." Here we see a Satanic force behind some "believers" in Jesus. They were actually not believers at all. They had only followed Jesus for food, not even because of the miracles (6:26), but to fulfill their fleshly appetites. His omniscience revealed that they were the group that would condone His death. When Jesus' discourse on the bread of life was taught to them, they found the teaching as well as the teacher offensive, and separated themselves from it and Him. They were not committed to Jesus, nor was He to them. 
From Genesis to Revelation God has been reminding people of His omniscience. He judged the world by the Flood, having seen "that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). The writer of the book of Hebrews tell us, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Hebrews 4:12-13). Is not this Christ? When the Word was made flesh (John 1:14) did He not embody this passage? In virtually every verse where Jesus is said to know the thoughts or hearts of individuals, it is in reference to the evil that is there, not the good (Matthew (9:4; 12:25; Mark 2:8; Luke 5:22; John 5:42). The evil heart produces the evil thoughts (Matt. 15:19). 
Jesus is aware of the true and false disciples. He chose His disciples, Judas being one of them, knowing full well of his betrayal (John 6:64, 70-71) and affiliation with Satan. Constantly, false disciples were being weeded out by Christ's teaching; by being confronted with the truth. Constantly were His disciples thoughts being considered and exposed. A continual purging was taking place and those that continued were the true believers (8:31). As more of the Word was being applied to their lives, sin was being purged and Jesus was becoming more fully revealed (8:32).
The same work of Christ through His Word is continuing today (Heb. 4:13). There are many false disciples who stumble at the Word, i.e., reject it, and maintain the outward veneer of religion while remaining the same unchanged core. They will not allow the omniscient mind of Christ, through His Word, to penetrate their thoughts, find them guilty, and cleanse them; therefore they betray Him. If a person gets to the place where they can say, "I am a sinner and God knows it" - it is then that they can come to Christ. Rejected grace can only bring judgment, as it has throughout redemptive history and always will.
What a comfort it is for the true believer (and they are the only believers) to know that Christ knows everything about us, including our thoughts. His omniscience produces sanctification in His saints (John 21:17). How glorious it is for them to know He is aware of the minutest details of their lives and loves them. That He would choose and commit Himself to their eternal well-being through His redemption and sanctification are thoughts too wonderful to consider. David said in the 139th Psalm, "O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandeth my thought afar off...Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it...How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, God! how great is the sum of them!" (Psalm 139:1-2, 6, 17).