What Does the Bible Say About the Heart of Man? The Truth from John 2:23-25
Jimmy Fortunato
April 25, 2025
The Surprising Truth About Our Hearts
Have you ever wondered why people can believe in Jesus one moment and abandon Him the next? Why we struggle with the same sins repeatedly despite our best intentions? John 2:23-25 offers a profound insight into this human condition.
"Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover in the feast day, many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did." This sounds encouraging—people witnessing miracles and responding with belief! But then comes the unexpected twist: "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."
What did Jesus see when He looked into the human heart that caused Him to withhold His full trust?
What Jesus Knew About the Human Heart
This passage reveals something profound about both Jesus' divine nature and our human condition. Jesus possessed perfect knowledge of what lies in the human heart—and what He saw gave Him pause.
The Bible doesn't leave us guessing about what Jesus saw. Throughout Scripture, we find a comprehensive diagnosis of the human heart:
The Heart's Deceptive Nature — Jeremiah 17:9 delivers this sobering assessment: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Our hearts aren't just occasionally misguided—they're fundamentally corrupt.
The Evil of Human Thoughts — In Jeremiah 6:19, God warns: "Behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts." Even our thinking process is fundamentally flawed.
The Universal Condition — Romans 3 paints a devastating picture that applies to every human being: "There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10). This passage continues with multiple indictments against humanity's character.
The Corrupted Source — Jesus Himself diagnosed the issue: "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies" (Matthew 15:19). The problem isn't external but internal.
When Jesus encountered the crowds in Jerusalem, He saw beyond their superficial faith. He recognized that many were drawn to His miracles rather than His message, to what He could do for them rather than who He was. Their belief was shallow, self-interested, and conditional.
Why Our Hearts Can't Be Trusted
Understanding what Jesus sees when He looks into our hearts should transform how we approach our relationship with Him.
The natural human heart functions like a corrupted operating system—it processes information incorrectly, makes decisions based on false premises, and ultimately produces harmful outputs. This is why willpower alone fails us. This is why New Year's resolutions fade by February. This is why religious rituals without heart transformation leave us unchanged.
Consider these troubling realities about our hearts:
Self-Deception — Our hearts don't just deceive others; they deceive us about ourselves. We justify our actions, minimize our sins, and maximize others' faults—often without even realizing we're doing it.
Pride — The natural heart is naturally self-exalting. Even our "good deeds" can be motivated by a desire for recognition or a sense of moral superiority.
Idolatry — Our hearts constantly manufacture idols—things we trust, value, or desire more than God. These can be obvious (money, pleasure) or subtle (reputation, religious performance).
In John 2, Jesus saw that many who "believed" in Him did so based on spectacle and potential gain, not because they recognized their desperate need for transformation. They wanted Jesus the Miracle Worker, but not Jesus the Lord.
The Divine Solution to Our Heart Problem
If the diagnosis is so severe, what hope do we have? Here's the amazing solution:
We Need a New Heart — Like a surgeon who sees past our surface appearance into the ugly reality of our diseased spiritual heart, Jesus came not just to diagnose our condition but to perform radical surgery: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26).
We Need the Holy Spirit — Galatians 5:22-23 offers the alternative to our corrupt nature: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." What we need isn't self-improvement but divine transformation through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
We Need Christ's Righteousness — 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 provides the ultimate hope. After listing those who "shall not inherit the kingdom of God," Paul declares, "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."
Jesus knew what was in the heart of man, and He offered Himself as the solution. He didn't just come to forgive our sins, but to give us new hearts that can truly love and obey God.
A Tale of Two Heart Transformations
Consider this powerful story from the sermon: A mother whose daughter was suffering from terminal cancer had been desperately seeking healing at various "deliverance meetings." When she finally came to a Bible-believing church, her focus began to shift.
After six months, with her daughter's condition worsening, she told the pastor something profound: "I'm so glad I stayed. I know my daughter isn't going to make it from the cancer, but I met Jesus."
This mother discovered something more valuable than physical healing—she found Jesus Himself, the One who gives eternal life through a transformed heart. Both mother and daughter experienced the ultimate healing: a new heart through relationship with Christ.
The Heart That Jesus Is Looking For
Jesus isn't looking for perfect performance or religious devotion that stems from an unchanged heart. He's looking for people who recognize their desperate condition and come to Him for a heart transplant.
This is why in John 3—immediately following our passage—Jesus tells Nicodemus, "Ye must be born again." A religious leader with all the right knowledge and behavior still needed a completely new heart.
The good news of the gospel is that while our hearts are worse than we dare believe, God's grace is greater than we can imagine. Jesus knew what was in man, and He came to save us anyway. He offers not behavior modification but heart transformation.
Will you trust Him with your deceitful heart today?
🔍 Dive Deeper Into God's Word! 🙏
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Our church is committed to faithful biblical preaching that transforms lives through the power of God's Word. Join us this Sunday to explore Scripture together and discover how Jesus can transform your heart!
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