Misunderstanding Jesus

Text: John 7:12

When Jesus came to earth, many did not understand who He was or why He was here. Many also do not understand Jesus today. Several misunderstandings about Jesus are found in John 7. Most of them were partially right, but missed the whole truth about Jesus. We are going to consider how people misunderstood Jesus in John 7 and see what we can learn from it.

“He is a good man” (v. 12)

Controversy over Jesus began during the Feast of Booths in Jerusalem (v. 2) – discreet at first (v. 13); two opposing ideas that He was a “good man” or that He “leads the people astray”
Partially true – He was a good man; never committed even one sin (1 Peter 2:22; cf. John 19:4)
Whole truth – He was more than a good man; He was God in the flesh (Colossians 2:9); they did not see this yet

“He leads the people astray” (v. 12)

Some saw Him as a “good man” – others believed that He was leading the people astray; they saw Him as a deceiver (cf. Matthew 27:63)
Partially true – He did not lead them away from the Father, but from the corrupt religious elites (Matthew 5:20)
Whole truth – His mission was to bring “many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10); He was the only way to the Father (John 14:6)

He had “never been educated” (v. 15)

They were astonished at His teaching (how could He teach like this without a formal education?) – His teaching was different from what they were used to (v. 45-46; cf. Matthew 7:28-29)
Partially true – no formal education; no human teacher; but He did not need one (John 1:1)
Whole truth – His message was from God in heaven (v. 16; Hebrews 1:2)

He had “a demon” (v. 20)

Jesus said some sought to kill Him (v. 19, 1) – this was because He healed a man on the Sabbath (John 5:18); yet they ignored or were unaware of this, so they charged Him with having a demon
NOT true – Jesus later said that Satan had “nothing in Me” (John 14:30)
Whole truth – Jesus came to “destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8; cf. Genesis 3:15)

He could not be the Christ (v. 27, 41-42)

Some claimed this because He came from Galilee (v. 41-42) – the Christ was to come from Bethlehem
Partially true – the Christ would come from Bethlehem (Micah 5:2); but they wrongly assumed He was not from there
Whole truth – He was born in Bethlehem (Luke 2:4-7), which was a fulfillment of prophecy; He fulfilled all prophecies about the Christ (Luke 24:44)

He was “the Prophet” (v. 40)

“The Prophet” was the one who would be like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15) – but the Jews did not believe this was the same as “the Christ”; they thought they were two different people
Partially true – Jesus was the prophet who would be raised up like Moses (Acts 3:22)
Whole truth – Jesus was “the Prophet” and “the Christ” (Acts 3:20; 2:36)

Conclusion