Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today we will seek clarity on a couple of misunderstandings about Jesus.

John 4:9-10 (NLT) shares the Samaritan woman’s misunderstanding of Jesus…
The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?” Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”

And John 11:22‭-‬26 (NLT) shares Lazarus’ sister Martha’s misunderstanding of Jesus…
Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”

Lastly, Luke 5:30‭-‬32 (NLT) shares the Pharisee’s misunderstanding of Jesus…
But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with such scum?” Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.”

Consider…
Disclaimer, this post is not an attempt to share all of the misunderstandings of Jesus. Rather, the goal is to show that just because we’re interacting with Jesus, it doesn’t mean we necessarily know Him. Spoiler alert, Jesus has been my Lord and Savior for decades and I still discover new things about Him every day.

Let’s get to it.

In our first scripture we see a Samaritan woman that initially saw a Jew and judged him based on the cultural history between the Samaritans and the Jews. She almost missed her blessing based on how other Jews had treated her and her forefathers. She initially judged a book by it’s cover, instead of taking the time to open the book for herself. Unfortunately, there are people today that may miss out on discovering who Jesus is because His people, Christians, leave bad impressions on them. I encourage you to be mindful that your interactions with others can influence their willingness to interact with Jesus. It’s important that we, as believers, understand Titus 2:14 (NLT)…
He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.

Commit to doing things to lift Jesus up rather than bring others down.

In our second scripture we see Martha misunderstanding Jesus’ timing with His caring and ability. Because Jesus didn’t immediately respond and heal Lazarus, when He first heard that he was deathly ill, and he died, Martha greeted Jesus with disappointment. She also responded with hedges belief, saying, “But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask”, and “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” Some of us have similar responses to Jesus when things don’t happen when we want or how we expect. The Holy Spirit wants us to know and trust who God is, and His care for us, even when we don’t understand when and how He does what He does.

We’re encouraged to remember Hebrews 4:14‭-‬16 (NLT), when God’s timing and method is different than our expectations…
So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Finally, our last scripture reveals religious folks misunderstanding who Jesus came for. They expected the Messiah to advance their agenda and restore their prominence to what their forefathers had under King David. After all, the Messiah was an heir to the throne. However, they were focused on a temporal kingdom here on earth, whereas Jesus was building His eternal Kingdom. You see, they thought important people should be with their kind and should not associate with people beneath them. Unfortunately, many churches still act that way today. However, they would be shocked and miss Jesus because He still hangs with scum. But here’s the true misunderstanding, we’re all scum.

So the next time you’re tempted to look down on who Jesus loves, remember Romans 3:23 (NLT)…
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

And let me add, as you’re looking down your nose, that Galatians 6:3 (NLT) admonishes…
If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.

So make sure you don’t, or cause others to, miss Jesus because of:

• Misrepresenting Christians
• His timing and methods that differ from your expectations
• The scum He loves and hangs with. Rather, remember that scum includes you.

Jesus was and is countercultural, and one of a kind. Indeed, there’s nobody like Jesus.

Today’s song is…
There’s Nobody Like Jesus
https://youtu.be/_PF-Z0Pew04?si=u8O__J6zmSjr41wx

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)