While Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover, He taught and He did miracles and many people believed Him. But He didn’t tell them the deep truth about Himself. He remained cryptic to them. Not because He didn’t want them to know Him, but because wanting to know Him, meant seeking Him, asking questions, and pursuing the answers. He wants the same today. Verses 24-25 read,
“But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.”
To discover the truth and to sincerely believe it, one can’t just be told the information. Jesus told them He was the Son of God. He showed them miracles. He healed. He forgave sins, yet that wasn’t enough for them to believe it at their core. Knowledge stays shallow when it is what we are told, for it to become intrinsic, we must learn it through search, discovery, and revelation.
Jesus knew this. That is why rather than speak plainly, He answered questions with questions, spoke in parables, and pointed to motivations. Especially at this point, before The Holy Spirit had come to allow people the depth of revelation, Jesus knew that people believed, but didn’t believe it at that intrinsic deep-down level. Rather than entrust them with the treasure of Himself, He left it for them to seek Him and learn the truth.
You can tell people about Jesus ‘til your blue in the face and it might not make a dent. You can and should show people who Jesus is by actively and intentionally loving them the way Jesus does. But it is not you that does the saving. It is God.
When they seek to know the truth, perhaps because you made them curious to know more about this Jesus guy, it is The Holy Spirit who will reveal Him.