Misunderstanding Jesus
Isaiah 53 is a prophesy in the Old Testament that was written about 700 years before Jesus was born that was fulfilled when Jesus lived out his earthly ministry. When you read Isaiah 53, one thing you will notice is how much the person it refers to, Jesus, is misunderstood.
But he lifted up our illnesses,
he carried our pain;
even though we thought he was being punished,
attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done.
— Isaiah 53:4, NET
Then in the New Testament gospel accounts of Jesus life and ministry we see example after example of people not understanding Jesus. Jesus’ religious opponents, the Pharisees and Sadducees, did not understand him or believe in him. The regular people that heard Jesus often misunderstood what he was trying to say. Even John the Baptist and Jesus’ own disciples, who did believe in him, still misunderstood him quite a bit.
To be clear, Jesus was not misunderstood because he was a bad communicator. Jesus was quite adept at preaching and teaching and he could hold an audience spellbound all day. People loved to listen to him - then just had trouble grasping all that he was trying to say.
The reason that people had trouble understanding what Jesus was trying to say was, at least in part, is because they were underestimating him. In Isaiah 53 people misunderstood Jesus because they underestimated how God himself was using Jesus. In Jesus’ own ministry Jesus was often misunderstood because people underestimated who he really was and what he was actually calling them to believe.
Jesus was speaking with a depth of truth that often exceeded what people were prepared to accept.
Which makes me wonder …
How often am I misunderstanding Jesus, or underestimating Jesus, or not recognising the depth of what he is really saying? Am I really listening to what he is trying to communicate through God’s Word to me?
Prayer: Help us, Lord, to have ears to hear what you are saying in your Word for us today. As I read the Bible daily, help me understand so that I can become more like you.