What did Jesus know, and how and when did He know it? Questions about the knowledge of God, His authority and mankind’s freewill wind themselves together and flow throughout all aspects of Christian Theology.

A quick and easy answer is to say that God knows everything, but quick and easy is seldom the best way to find understanding. These verses tell us about what Jesus knew. Jesus tells us that He knew some did not believe. It does not say that they would never believe, only that He knew they were not believing. How did Jesus know this? The Bible teaches that God knows the desires of our heart. Jesus knew those who had desires that were keeping them from believing Jesus.

When we go out to eat, my wife knows with almost 99% certainty I will choose a Chinese restaurant. Her knowledge does not take away my freedom to choose; it means she knows me. In the same way, God knows us completely, and yet we still retain our freedom.

Jesus says that all God has enabled, can come to belief. Who has God enabled? Some believe only the select are chosen, but how does that work with freewill? Yes, God could make the choice, but He has given us the freedom to choose. John wrote that God loves all of us enough that anyone can believe in Jesus and have eternal life.

Jesus also knew who was going to betray Him in the future. Jesus chose Judas as a disciple, and yet He refers to Judas as a devil. Jesus did not choose Judas as a tool of betrayal. Even though Jesus knew Judas’s desires were so warped and evil that he was as a devil, Jesus risked his own life in an effort to influence Judas to change his desire toward righteousness. Jesus believed Judas was worth saving even at the risk of His own life.

God knows us, and respecting our freewill, He has done everything He can to redeem us.