<p>2:24 <em>But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he understood mankind</em>- Reflect a while on what is really being taught in Jn. 2:23-25: &ldquo;Many <em>believed </em>on his name, beholding his signs which he did. But Jesus did not <em>trust </em>s.w. &lsquo;believed&rsquo; himself unto them, for that he knew all men, and because he needed not that anyone should bear witness concerning man; for he knew what was in man&rdquo;. When a person trusts / believes in the Lord properly, unlike those who believed only a surface level, then the Lord trusts Himself unto them. He believes in them as they have believed in Him. Paul often speaks of how the Lord has trusted / committed s.w. the preaching of the Gospel unto him (1 Cor. 9:17; Gal. 2:7; 1 Thess. 2:4; 1 Tim. 1:11; Tit. 1:3). We believe, and therefore we speak forth the Gospel (2 Cor. 4:13).</p><p>Perceive the parallels within the Jn. 2:23-25 passage:<br />He knew all men = He knew what was in man <br />Jesus did not <em>trust </em>s.w. &lsquo;believed&rsquo; himself unto them = because he needed not that anyone should bear witness concerning man.<br />If we truly believe in Jesus, He believes in us, and we therefore bear witness concerning Him. If we don&rsquo;t truly believe in Him, He will not commit / trust / believe Himself unto us. But by grace we have truly believed. It is therefore axiomatic that we bear witness of Him. God has therefore trusted us with the job of preaching His Gospel. That He trusts us, believes in us, is a surpassing thought. If you trust someone completely with a task, to the point it is clear that now if they don&rsquo;t do it, it won&rsquo;t be done, they often respond with a maturity and zest which wouldn&rsquo;t be seen if they merely were given partial responsibility children are a good example of this. And so God has done with us.</p><p>There seems a purposeful ambiguity in how the process of calling upon the name of the Lord is described in the Greek text; it can mean both us calling upon ourselves His Name, and also His Name being named upon us by Him. Joel 2:32 says that all those whom <em>the Lord</em> calls will <em>call on His Name</em>, a prophecy fulfilled in baptism. In similar vein, the Lord Jesus lived, died and rose as the representative of all men; and those who know and believe this chose to respond by identifying themselves with Him in the symbolic death and resurrection of baptism, and subsequent life in Christ- they make Him their representative, as He has chosen to be theirs. They respond to His willing identification with them by living a life identified with Him. Likewise if a man truly believes in Christ, He will &lsquo;commit himself&rsquo; unto that man- the very same word for &lsquo;believe into&rsquo;. We believe into the Lord, and He believes into us.</p>