Friday, September 18

The message of Christ is often missed, misunderstood, and even rejected as foolishness by people in our culture today. The truth is that even those closest to Jesus sometimes missed His message, and did not always understand Him. Consider the response Jesus gave to His own parents when they found Him at the temple: Luke 2:49-50 - “Why were you searching for Me?” He asked them. “Didn’t you know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” But they did not understand what He said to them.

The following examples from the Gospels show us other examples of people not understanding His message:

John 1:9-11 - The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

Luke 18:34 - But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

Matthew 15:16-17 - Then Peter replied to Him, “Explain this parable to us.” “Are even you still lacking in understanding?” He asked. 

John 16:17-18 - Therefore some of His disciples said to one another, “What is this He tells us: ‘A little while and you will not see Me; again a little while and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” They said, “What is this He is saying, ‘A little while’? We don’t know what He’s talking about!”

It encourages me to know that Jesus' own disciples, both before and after Pentecost, frequently didn't understand what the Master was doing. Although they had a perfect Teacher, they often failed to understand him correctly. Nevertheless, Jesus used them. This demonstrated that the disciples' success was a result of God's work, not human achievement.

Over and over again, the followers of Jesus fail to fully comprehend who He is and what He is all about. Sometimes they come right out and ask Jesus what He means, and sometimes Jesus has to prompt their understanding. But Jesus does not leave them (or us) in the dark. He reveals Himself to those who seek Him!  

One example is in John 6, when soon after performing a miracle involving physical bread, Jesus proclaimed himself the bread of life (John 6:32-35). He then said that people must eat his flesh and drink his blood if they want to have eternal life. This was much too strange for many people. His disciples called it "a hard teaching," and they grumbled about it. They did not understand it, and many left him. But the Twelve remained because they knew that Jesus alone had the teachings of eternal life (even if they didn’t understand them quite yet).

They didn't understand, but that wasn't a reason to leave. They set a good example of faith and patience for us today. The disciples eventually learned what Jesus was talking about. The people who left him, however, remained in ignorance. Although the human desire is to understand everything right away, we need patience when dealing with the teachings of Jesus Christ.

And one of the best examples of this kind of patient trust comes from Mary, the mother of Jesus. In Luke 2, we find the 12-year-old Jesus was in the temple, amazing everyone with his understanding. But his parents were astonished that he had done such a thing. They did not understand. His mother treasured these things in her heart, but she didn't understand her Son until many years later, probably after his resurrection more than 20 years later.

We need to ask God for patience like that — if there are things we don't understand, questions that haven't been resolved to our satisfaction, then we can treasure them in our hearts for a while. In time, Christ will reveal to us whatever we need to know — if our hearts are right, if we are trusting in him.

Jeff Frazier