Being Offended by Jesus Christ

I can’t get away from the thought of being offended. I am consumed with thoughts of  people in the Bible that were offended by Jesus. It is so hard to imagine being in His presence and being offended by His words but it happened! Truthfully it continues to  happen in our world today. Folks don’t want to see and hear the Words of Jesus Christ. They are highly offended! 

Throughout the Old Testament it was prophesied that the Messiah would come. Isaiah 7:14, Daniel 9:24-27 and the list goes on and on. In the New Testament, when Jesus was born, a star shown in the night to show where the baby lay and angels came to  where He was. This was the first time that Jesus offended someone. He offended a King! King Herod thought Jesus was coming for his throne. The reaction of the King was to attempt to kill baby Jesus but the angels came and instructed Joseph to move his family out of the city to protect Jesus from harm. 

As a child, Jesus taught in the synagogue among men who had studied their whole lives to become spiritual rulers of the hour. It had taken many years to become learned in the Word of God and this Jesus,as a 9 year old boy, was teaching them the deep things of the Word! How could this be? 

This was their first encounter with Jesus. Their offense begin in their confusion! They didn’t believe that the King, they expected to come and sit on a throne, could have been born in a manger and was now teaching them!! How?

They watched Jesus grow up and when Jesus started His ministry they were there in the front row. These were religious rulers of biblical times. They believed in the Law of God but couldn’t comprehend the ways of Jesus. These religious leaders were known as the Sadducees and Pharisees and they were ministers and priests, over the common people. They enforced biblical law to a fault, being so “Holy” they had no compassion, absolutely no love for the people, only a love for themselves. Jesus called them whited sepulchers, hypocrites!  Matthew 23:27 (KJV) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead [men's] bones, and of all uncleanness.

Google says: The Sadducee was a member of a Jewish sect or party of the time of Jesus Christ that denied the resurrection of the dead, the existence of spirits, and the obligation of oral tradition, emphasizing acceptance of the written Law alone.

Google says: The Pharisee was a member of an ancient Jewish sect, distinguished by strict observance of the traditional and written law, and commonly held to have pretensions to superior sanctity.

When Jesus began His ministry it went completely against their “Religion”. When Jesus taught about the “Good Samaritan” (Luke 10) He was calling them out. They weren’t willing to get their hands dirty with common people, especially on the Sabbath! They were offended by the words of Jesus.

When Jesus delivered the “Sermon on the mount” (Matthew 5) message. It infuriated them! They were offended by the very Word of God! In reality, they were feeling the Holy Ghost telling them that they needed to change but just couldn’t  humble themselves and turn their lives around. They were the rulers of the Synagogue! They were the church! 

Many times, I have found myself being offended by the scriptures. I have gotten lost in life and found myself needing to make changes but have been unwilling to repent (turn away from doing wrong things). Moments like these were layered with many distractions, which is the way the enemy of our soul works. It hard to focus when life gets busy. Even in ministry,It’s easy to get too busy to pray and read the word. 

God knows how to get my attention and if I will allow Him to refine me, as gold in the fire, I will be better for it. I have to back up and look at the whole picture. I have to realize the fire is what’s best for me but, as we all know, when we are in the fire it is painful. Removing the bad things, such as anger, bitterness, hate, lust, pride, etc., isn’t fun. It causes me embarrassment. I become angry because I don’t want to change, then the tears come. And I hate to cry! But the truth is, it is Jesus wanting to make me more like Him. He is calling me to come up a little higher.

Romans 6 

1 ¶ What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

5 ¶ For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

12 ¶ Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

15 ¶ What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

When I feel the need to repent, rather than fighting it, I have to recognize Jesus is making me”dead” to sin. It’s not by accident when  Jesus calls you to repentance. It’s is His love for you. He is calling you to a higher place in His Kingdom. I’ve had being “dead in Christ” described to me as someone taking a super long hat pin and shoving it into a dead body. We know the body is dead so it won’t react. And that is how we should be! When the desire to do things that we know is not pleasing to God, comes, we can be over-comers in Christ.

People say nobody can go a day without sinning. Ask yourself, can you go a second without sinning? Can you go a minute without sinning? Then you can go an hour, 2 hours and then before you know it you have gone a whole day! The trick is to be “IN CHRIST”! 

To be “In Christ” means we must obey the Living Word of God! The Word is called Living because it speaks to us about things that only we know about ourselves. It relates to us in real time, not as in olden days but today! It touches us in ways no one can touch us! So in that moment the Word speaks to you. In that moment that the Word divides your very bone from your marrow, is the moment we have to choose to not be offended in the Word! It is calling you to repentance. (Luke 5:32)  It’s just a closer walk with you, Jesus, is what I need!  We can’t allow ourselves to shut out the voice of God because we think we already have all the Jesus we need! We ALL need more Jesus every single day! 

I want to share my experience with you. I was at worship practice playing the piano and singing trying to get ready for the service. Someone in the band spoke up and said to me “You’re not singing the song correctly.” Honestly my first thought was “How dare you tell me what I’m doing wrong! I am the worship leader!” Instead I took a step back and ask the question, What am I doing wrong? And how can I fix it?” I have learned from years of doing the wrong thing over and over, to not be offended,  instead to stop and evaluate myself. I’ve come to the realization it’s not all about me but the team. Am I perfect? Nope, I still make mistakes but I’m definitely better for not becoming offended. 

The enemy of your soul wants you to focus on what you can’t have, what you can’t do. Jesus wants us to become servants in the kingdom of God. He wants us to humble ourselves and let go of the carnal (fleshly) things and take on the spiritual things. Matthew 16:24 (KJV) Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. The cross is death to self, the cross is shameful. The cross isn’t a fashion statement instead it is a declaration that I am not my own! I belong to Jesus! He is the one that directs my path everyday. I want to walk, talk and think like Jesus!

Psalm 37:23 (KJV) The steps of a [good] man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. And to be quite honest, when we carry the cross, there are some places it can’t go. There are some doors the cross won’t fit in. We must not take offense to the cross!  

Our flesh wants us to think the cross is a burden. It’s too heavy! We don’t want to be told what to do and when to do. And certainly don’t tell me that I can’t do something! The entire world says I can have anything I want, my way! This way of thinking is contrary to Jesus Christ! 

It’s really hard to fathom that there is freedom in the cross. When we are “In Christ” the sins of our past are washed away and we have freedom to do what pleases the Creator! 

Take up the cross! Obey the Word of God! When you find you are offended by the Words of Jesus Christ, and we all will, stop and take inventory of your current status. Ask yourself what is it that the Word is asking me to do? Don’t be offended but be reminded that the Creator of the ends of the earth is paying attention to you and wants to be closer to you! He is the potter and has placed us on His wheel to make a beautiful vessel of honor out of us. We are clay with potential. However, In order for us to become the honorable vessel we must be pliable, workable in His hands. We must allow Him to extract the lumps, smooth out the wrinkles and when we fall, let Him put us back on the wheel. The old song says: He’s still working on me to make me what I ought to be. Make me in Your image, Jesus!

I feel to tell this Bible story: In Deuteronomy 15:17 the slave elects to live forever committed to his master instead of being set free. To further solidify his choice, He is led to the doorpost of the house and the owner would use an awl and pierce the lobe of the ear. This was a willing act proving his love and loyalty to the master. As we take up the cross, we are forever marked as a follower of Jesus Christ! I want to be marked telling my world that I am committed to the cause of Christ!

Lord, draw me close to you! Put your hands on me! Show me the truth in Your Word! Give me courage to be obedient to Your Word. Let me be brought low that You might be lifted up! In Jesus name I pray! Amen!