“So they were offended at Him.” Matthew 13:57 NKJV
It’s almost sad there aren’t more verses like this found in
the New Testament. So blatant and in our
face that we can’t ignore it. They were
offended at Him – at Jesus! This was his
hometown, he grew up here, they knew him…and yet, they were offended.
Why?
More
importantly, how could anyone have found Jesus offensive?
It’s hard
for us to imagine today, but it certainly was the case then. Of all the things Jesus was, we often forget
– or maybe we didn’t know – but he was also offensive. Very offensive. So offensive – he was put to death.
The Gospels
are full of Jesus being offensive – yet, we don’t always see it.
Perhaps it
was this offensiveness alone that grabbed the attention of the religious elite
and powerful of that day. After all, if
Jesus were just another “nice guy” saying “nice things” though oddly equating
himself with God, why bother with him?
He might have attracted a small following, but like those before him He
would most likely have faded away after some point; perhaps when a new, nicer, flashier
“prophet” came along.
But not
Jesus.
Jesus
sustained.
Jesus got people’s attention. Jesus
got everyone’s attention. Sure he
brought a message of hope, reconciliation, restoration, rest, peace, a new
kingdom, any and all the Christian buzzwords we use when it comes to Christ,
but he also came with a message truly offensive, if not the most offensive: his
message of love.
It’s easy
to think of Jesus loving us, and he does to be sure, but Jesus’ love knows no
bound. Jesus loved the unlovable, the
undeserving, the “other people.” The
Pharisees and Sadducees of his day were not just upset at some “rules” that Jesus
was breaking, but they were offended at who he was loving – after all, they
figured, if he truly was the son of God, THEY would be the loved ones, not the
sinners and reprobates that Jesus was hanging out with and choosing to be his
disciples.
And in a
way, if we are honest with ourselves, don’t we have a list of who Jesus would
or wouldn’t love?
Are we not,
at times – more often than we would admit – offended by whom Jesus loves?
The rapist?
The murderer? The child molester? Are
they too far fallen for Jesus to love?
No one can
be too far from his love. His love knows
no bounds and never runs out.
And it’s
this love that we are called to and called to share. Oh how great it is to receive it. But they how can we be so selfish not to give
it?
We act as
if this love will run out; it won’t. If
we run out of love, all we need to do is go back to the source: Jesus.
So why are
we so reluctant to love like him?
Jesus tells
us exactly why: we will lose our life if we do.
We will
lose friends, family, status, respect, comfort, and more if we love like
Him. We too, will offend. For a servant is no greater than his
master. If Jesus offended, how much will
we offend? How much will we suffer for
this offense?
And we will
suffer for this offense, do not doubt.
There will be pain, Jesus promises us this – for he knows how the world
reacts to this love – but this isn’t a pain we should run from…but to!
For how
else will we know where we lack in love if we are not caused pain by it? If I find myself offended at someone else’s
love, then I become aware of where I lack.
And for this I should be thankful as I have been shown where I can grow.
But let’s
not be confused and set out to offend.
Love does
no such thing.
The mere
act of loving as he loves alone will cause offense. No further action from us is needed. No marching, no protesting, no slandering,
mocking, or cherry picking of scripture.
Just
simple, unbounded, unleashed love.
Let us
remember the three love commands Jesus gave us: God, our neighbor, and our
enemy.
No one is
excluded from this list.
No one.
And that’s what
is truly offensive about it.
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