3 wrong views of Jesus

And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

John 7:12-13

Early in Jesus’ ministry story in the gospel of John, we see that Jesus is already a controversial figure. In Jerusalem at the Feast of Booths, there is an undercurrent of opinion swirling around Jesus. These opinions are not accurate. Jesus was judged. Jesus was misunderstood. These two verses show us three incorrect views of Jesus, still around today.

Jesus is a good man. This opinion, though looking quite positive at first glance, has problems at two levels. First, there is no definition of “good” to settle on. If we default then to human standards than this opinion falls short of the holiness of God. Jesus is not a good man… He is THE holy God. Being a good human by human terms isn’t good enough. Secondly, this option says nothing about faith in the deity of Jesus. It is thus limited and insufficient. It isn’t enough to think Jesus was generally a pretty decent guy. Yet many people today are content granting that view of Jesus. They think themselves generous. But this view, though safe in social circles, is really unbelief.

Jesus is a con man. There were those in Jerusalem who questioned the motives of the rabbi from Galilee. They saw him as deliberately stirring trouble and as a problem. He was leading people astray. He was a threat to both the Jewish religion and the fragile political structure under Rome. This view saw Jesus as a problem to be eliminated or solved. And many in our world feel the same about Him and His Church at the moment… Jesus is a problem. This view is being promoted aggressively against the gospel and has been for the history of the Christian faith.

Jesus is a threat. The reason the crowds feared the Jewish religious leaders was that those leaders were threatened by Jesus pointing out the inconsistencies and sins in their religious system. His call to individuals, being the friend of sinners, helping them find relationship with their Father in Heaven would topple a legalistic monopoly controlled by the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. And that threat would be what they would try to silence in killing Him. It would fail, and Jesus and His message would blossom and flourish beyond their rejection of Him.