JESUS, MISUNDERSTOOD. - PART I

The gospels show that even Jesus’disciples did not understand him at first. He was “flesh and blood” (Hebrews 2:14) like all of fus, He had a family, a profession, but the disciples noticed that He was differente. His attitudes, his speech, his spirituality and his power to perform miracles made the disciples see him as the Messiah who was to come, but not exactly as they thought.

One night, while they were crossing the Sea of Galilee, Jesus was sleeping in the stern of the boat, when a great storm came so that the disciples despaired and woke him up, crying for help. Then Jesus rebuked the wind and the fury of the sea, and soon there came a great calm. When the disciples saw Him doing this, they were astonished and said to one another, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" (Mark 4:35-41).

But this misunderstanding of the person of Jesus was not limited to the disciples alone. On one occasion He returned to the city where He grew up, Nazareth, and as He preached in the synagogue, many of His countrymen said, "Where did this man get these things?”... “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?" (Mark 6.1-3).

On another occasion, after having performed the miracle of multiplying five loaves and two small fishes in a quantity sufficient to feed the crowd that followed him, the people said: "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world" and wanted to proclaim him king (John 6:14-15). Then, after Jesus gave a speech to that same crowd, the people said to each other, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?" (John 6:42).

Thus, it is observed that they did, in fact, see Jesus as the King who was to come (John 1:35-42). The point, however, is that, according to the Gospel narratives, the diciples, like all Jews of that time, awaited the arrival of a political-nationalist Messiah who would deliver them from Rome and elevate Israel to a status of prominence among the nations. But the problem is that Jesus was not involved in politics.

This whole issue, surrounding the person of Jesus, stemmed from the fact that, since the time of King David, there was the prophecy of the prophet Nathan, in which God spoke to that king: "Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me ; your throne will be established forever" (2 Samuel 7:16). Therefore, in those days, when Jesus came into the world, there was a very strong messianic expectation because of the growing dissatisfaction with Roman domination over Israel.

Jesus was of the seed of David (Luke 2:4; Romans 1:3; 2 Timothy 2:8), but He was not concerned about Israel's earthly situation. This nation was created by God (Genesis 12:1,2) to enter, in the world, the Messiah who would solve the problem of humanity that was established after original sin: the condemnation of eternal death, an eternal life separated from the Creator.

However, since the period of the reign, a process of secularization began in Israel and, therefore, they developed this notion of a political-nationalist messiah. But Jesus' messianacy was spiritual. Jesus was God, in the person of the Son, who entered the world to rescue man from the condemnation of death, creating a new humanity and establishing his eternal Kingdom. In the divine plan, this is what the Messiah would come into the world for. It was in this sense that David's kingdom would be eternal (Psalm 89:30-38; Isaiah 9:6,7).

After two thousand years of Christian culture, Jesus Christ remains misunderstood to humanity. Its complex nature, absolutely human and admirably divine, can only be understood spiritually. It is as Christ Himself said: "No one knows who the Son is except the Father; no one knows who the Father is, except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him" (Luke 10:22). But in His goodness, He says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

Antônio Maia – Ph.B., M. Div.

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