The prophet Jeremiah described man’s heart as “deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” After Jesus had cleaned the temple of the market business, he remained in Jerusalem for the Passover. During this time, Jesus performed miracles resulting in many people following him and believing that he was the Messiah. Yet the passage states:
“… Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.”Jesus knew that these people thought more of him as a “messiah” to release them from Roman rule and to establish a kingdom on earth. He also knew of their corruption – he certainly foreknew, but he also witnessed it with the profiteering going on in the temple courts. He did not need man’s explanation, because he knew, he knows, man’s heart. The sad part is in verse 24, “Jesus would not entrust himself to them.” The state of our hearts keeps Christ from entrusting himself to us. He has a purpose for us; he has challenges for us; he has opportunities for us; he has blessings for us. Yet, if our heart is not changed by him, if we do not allow our hearts to be changed by him, he will not entrust himself to us.
Jeremiah was partially right. There is no natural cure for man’s condition … only a supernatural one. In Ezekiel 36:22-27, we find that God can give us a new heart:
“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘… I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you …’”For those who believe in Christ and trust him as Lord, Paul calls them a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). We need this new heart for Jesus to entrust himself to us. Philippians 1:6 says that we can be “confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Once we trust him and have a new heart from him, he will entrust himself to us and complete his work in our life.
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