They thought they knew Jesus, but they didn’t! The powerful Jews thought that He was a fraud. They thought He had cleansed the temple without authority. They believed the only proper authority was their authority, and He most definitely did not have that. Many of the people saw the signs He was doing and they believed in His name. They knew He was a miracle worker, however they did not yet know that He was the Son of God. They knew He was powerful, but they did not know he was all-powerful. His disciples knew He was the Messiah, but even up until his death and resurrection, they still didn’t know what being the Messiah meant. They started out believing the Messiah was coming to lead Israel to victory. They were right, they just had a wrong understanding of what real victory is. They expected Jesus to defeat the Romans and rule as an earthly king. They came to understand that Jesus rules a heavenly kingdom.

As a percentage of the population, the people who thought they knew Jesus was still very small. Jesus was just beginning His ministry. Over the next three years He would train His disciples to be servants instead of rulers. He would teach them to forgive and turn the other cheek instead of hating and seeking revenge. He would do many miracles, so that all the people of Israel would know His name and have an opportunity to believe in Him. However none of that would have happened if He had entrusted himself to the people this early in His ministry. The same people who crucified Him later would have crucified him sooner. Jesus knew this because He knew what was in each person.

Jesus knew who they were, but He also knew who they could become. Jesus lived three years in the shadow of death so that they might have the opportunity to know Him. Jesus knows us, but more importantly He knows who we can become. Through faith we become God’s children.