Matthew Henry Commentary John 2:23-25

"Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, during the feast, many believed on his name, beholding his signs which he did. But Jesus did not trust himself unto them, for that he knew all men, and because he needed not that any one should bear witness concerning man; for he himself knew what was in man." — John 2:23-25 (ASV)

Our Lord knew all people—their nature, dispositions, affections, and designs—in a way that we do not know any person, not even ourselves. He knows his crafty enemies and all their secret projects; his false friends and their true characters. He knows who are truly his, knows their uprightness, and knows their weaknesses.

We know what is done by people; Christ knows what is in them, he tries the heart. Beware of a dead faith or a formal profession: carnal, empty professors are not to be trusted, and however people impose on others or themselves, they cannot impose on the heart-searching God.