“Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.” – John 2:23-25
Because Jesus was well aware that we all, men (all people translated to today’s cultural norms of who is considered a person with full rights), are simple. We run to at the simplest signs of magic, value and treasure (I would say for NY it’s the allure of success, either embodied in someone (people we want to attach ourselves to), or a thing (affluence/cost signaling), etc, and run from when we no longer see the signs. As Niccolo Machiavelli noted too in The Prince (I love this book, because as ruthless as the writer seems, he’s just calling it out: the worst or more accurately, the raw in human nature).
(undeveloped thought: I see this all the time person to person, person to goods, person to business opportunity. We are no better than animals, some parts. At least cattle, wolves.. stick to the herd and follow through.)
We do it all in varying degrees. Even those enlightened to the fact and striving with earnestness not to.
(second undeveloped thought: We also profit from it. Every brand, company, human working in professional context really. We need people to run to us, when we hold up carrots and perceived "treasures")
Ah, the unending fallability of man.
