MISUNDERSTANDING JESUS

[Pastor Ken]

MISUNDERSTANDING JESUS

     I believe no one who has ever lived has been  misunderstood more than the young teacher who happened to be born, not by preference  but  by promise,  through  the  line  of  the  Old  Testament Hebrew patriarch Abraham—Jesus the Christ. Misunderstanding Jesus has caused Muslims to reject Him, Hindus  to suspect  Him, Buddhists to ignore Him, atheists to hate Him, and agnostics to deny Him.  But it just  may be those  who  claim  to  represent  Him  the most—Christians—who  have in fact misunderstood and, therefore, misrepresented Him the most.

     If my last statement  sounds outlandish  and way off the mark to you, let me encourage you to read the rest of this book before closing your mind to this possibility. In my own life I have had to come to grips with my own personal defects related to my understanding of Jesus and His message. This book will demonstrate beyond doubt that Jesus' message, assignment,  passion, and purpose  were not to establish a religion of rituals and rules but rather  to reintroduce a kingdom.  Everything  Jesus said  and did—His  prayers,  teachings, healings, and miracles—was focused on a kingdom, not a religion. Jesus was preoccupied with the Kingdom; it was His top priority, His heavenly mandate. Those to whom He came first, the Jews, misunderstood Jesus and saw Him as a rebel, a misfit, and a fanatic. In their minds He was, at best, a misguided rabbinical teacher spreading heresies that contaminated the  teachings  and laws of Moses  and  Judaism. In truth,  they had reduced  the message of Moses to a sophisticated religion where strict observance of the laws became more important  than  the original purpose  for those laws. And they expected Jesus to do the same. The original intent of God's mandate to Moses was not to establish a religion but a nation  of people who would love,  serve,  and  honor  God—a  "royal priesthood and a  holy nation" (see 1 Pet. 2:9).

     The Muslim misunderstands Him as simply another  in a line of prophets who was a great teacher, a good man, and a great prophet, but who fell short and failed to deliver the finished work of redemption to mankind. The Hindu misunderstands Him as a good teacher, a good man, and just another  deity to add to their list of gods to provide a serv- ice in their need for spiritual security. The atheist, agnostic, and humanist  see him as a mere man, an historical figure, whom a group of misguided men transformed into a god and an object of worship. They acknowledge that Jesus exist- ed but deny any of His miracles as well as His claim to divinity. The media, scientists, and secularists see Him as fair game for investigation and criticism. They acknowledge Him as an interesting subject for arguments, theories, discussion, and debates while ignoring His divine claims and  questioning  His validity, integrity,  and sometimes, His very existence.

     Christians have misunderstood Him as the founder of a religion and have transformed His teachings and His methods into customs and His activities into rituals. Many even have reduced His message to nothing more than an escapist plan for getting to heaven and His promises as a mere fire insurance policy for escaping the pains of a tormenting hell. And yet a simple study and review of His message and priority reveals that Jesus had only one message, one mandate, and one mission—the return  of the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. From the very beginning, Jesus made it clear that the principal need of the human race, and the only solution to mankind's dilemma, was the Kingdom of Heaven. His first public statements  reveal this Kingdom priority, Jesus first announcement was the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven. 

 

From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matthew 4:17).

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3).

Just some interesting study!