And you think people don't understand you
By Dedrick Minor

Has God ever asked you to do something that you absolutely knew he was telling you to do? When you told other people about it, did they question why on earth you would want to do whatever it is? For a long time I have felt gifted for ministry. Many people do not understand why I behave the way do as I prepare myself for ministry, or are even convinced that ministry is my true calling from God.

I am convinced that when other people question the things that we have heard from God, it makes us question them as well. These feelings of not being understood can cause individuals to give up on their own gifts and dreams. The Gospel of John shows us that we are not alone. Jesus dealt with the same thing.

Unquestionably, we see a different perspective of Jesus in John's Gospel than in the first three gospels, otherwise known as the Synoptics. John's primary concern for the reader is getting a correct perception of Christ. He goes about this by placing an emphasis on the deity of Christ more than in the Synoptics.

Just look at the bookends of the Gospel: It begins with the declaration, "and the Word was God" (1:1), and concludes with doubting Thomas' expression of faith, "My Lord and my God" (20:28). Unlike the Synoptics, which reveal Jesus inductively (from the ground up), John reveals Jesus deductively (from heaven down).

Toward the end of the Synoptics, events transpire that were seemingly beyond Jesus' control. In the book of John, Jesus is always in control of his surroundings and his destiny. In fact, John's passionate narrative shows Jesus as not really suffering death but choosing it-not as the passive victim but as the active conqueror.

It should also be noted that John's gospel has often been called the "Gospel of Misunderstanding." To misunderstand means to not grasp the significance or importance of a person. It also means to interpret incorrectly or to not appreciate a person.

Being called by God, but misunderstood by others inevitably puts the children of God in a difficult situation. On one hand, God has revealed that in eternity past He has called them to do specific things. On the other hand, they are constantly confronted by people who, by not recognizing the calling, are denying that it even exists. This leaves believers wondering whether or not they are truly called by God. So a great contradiction in the minds of believers occurs every time someone communicates anything contrary to what God has already revealed to them.

Let me illustrate it like this. Have you ever tried pursuing a person of the opposite sex who kept giving you the cold shoulder? Have you ever tried pursing someone who (if they truly knew you) would want to be with you? Your response to them would sound something like: "If they only knew." Your perplexity and frustration increases every time you go out of your way to persuade that individual that you should get together.

The awesome wonder about this is that we have a Savior who can identify. John shows that Jesus is misunderstood by all of the social groups around him. For example, in John 4:1-26, Jesus asks a Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well, "Will you give me a drink?" She told him that the Jews did not associate with the Samaritans. Jesus answered her, "If you only knew the gift of God and who I am, you would have asked me to give you living water."

She misunderstood him and said that he had nothing to draw with and the well was deep. "Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob?" Jesus then answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst."

Also, in John 3:1-21, Jesus said to Nicodemus, a Pharisee who came to Jesus at night, "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." "How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born?" asked Nicodemus. Jesus replied, "The reason you must be born again is because flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." Nicodemus responded, "How can this be?" Jesus answered, "Because you are only Israel's teacher, you don't understand these things."

In John 2:1-11, at the Canaan wedding, Jesus' mother told Jesus that there was no more wine. Jesus then said, "Dear woman, why do you involve me? My time has not yet come." Jesus then changed water into wine in what is called his first sign.

In John 6:53-58, Jesus said to his disciples, "Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." On hearing this, many of his disciples started grumbling and left from following Jesus. Then the writer says that Jesus knew from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.

Jesus was misunderstood by sinners, he was misunderstood by the Pharisees, he was misunderstood by his parents and he was misunderstood by his disciples, YET he still went to the cross. The question then has to be: Why did Jesus do it? Admittedly, there is no way I would have gotten myself thrown on a cross if no one understood why I was dying. I would figure, if I were going to let myself be killed, at least someone had better understand the reason!

So here Jesus is on the cross, and He says, "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they are doing." In other words, they know that they are killing me but they do not know that they will live by my death. Jesus knew that when He would ascend after His death the gift of the Holy Spirit would descend. And on the day of Pentecost, they all understood why He died.

Jesus lived his life for the glory of God and for His will. He did not concern himself with what the Pharisees, Jews, or Disciples thought of him. In the same way, we as Christians must remember to continually follow the path God has set for us regardless of what other people do or say.

Finals Schedule