On Belief
Scripture Reading: John 2:23-25
In John 2:23 we are told, “many people believed in [Jesus] name…” But the text also says that “Jesus did not commit himself unto them,” (v.24). Verse 25 goes on to explain the reason for Jesus being noncommittal – “he knew what was in man.” Interestingly, John adds this comment about Jesus' response towards some of those who had some kind of faith towards him. What is not clear in the English translations is that the same Greek word, pisteuo, is used in verse 23 for “believe” and for “commit” in verse 24.
Therefore, one could translate it “many people committed to Jesus…but Jesus did not commit to them.” Or “many people believed in Jesus…but Jesus did not believe in them.” To be clear, the translations are not in error. Words like pisteuo can have more than one proper meaning, and when used in a sentence, a word doesn’t encompass every possible definition. For example, if we say, “I am going to run to the store,” it is likely we don’t mean we are going to physically run. We mean we are going to make a fast trip to the store. If a wild animal were to attack, we might yell, “run!” and everyone would understand we mean to physically run away. We know the difference based on context.
So, it is not poor translation work because we know that the context of Scripture would dictate that Jesus would not be placing his faith in people in the same way or with the same purpose that they would be placing faith in him. When it says the people “believed” in Jesus, it means they had faith that he was the promised Messiah. Obviously, Jesus wouldn’t “believe” that about them. There is, then, a distinction that needs to be made between the way pisteuo is used in these two verses.
Having said that, having pisteuo juxtaposed like this is instructive in understanding saving faith. As John explained, Jesus would not commit to people because he knew what was in them. This means he knew how unreliable and untrustworthy their commitment to him was. He knew that their inner character was susceptible to being swayed against Jesus as quickly as it was for him. If that is not having pisteuo in someone, then having pisteuo would be holding confidence in the person who is the object of your pisteuo that they have the character and ability to do what you are trusting them for. Saving faith, at least in part, has to do with confidence in the trustworthiness of Jesus.
Some translations use the word “entrust” instead of “commit.” Both words have similar meanings but connote slightly different ideas. Commit connotes a definitive decision without a suggestion of trust. Entrust connotes a commitment that is made based on confidence in the trustworthiness of the person. Both contain the idea of giving oneself over to someone or something else - signing the dotted line, so to speak. Saving faith, then, involves a commitment to Jesus, a giving oneself over to him based upon our confidence in his trustworthiness