Don’t Be Offended By Jesus
Text: Luke 7:22-23
John, the Baptist, sent two of his disciples to Jesus (while John was in prison, Matthew 11:2) to inquire whether Jesus was the Messiah or whether they should expect another. Jesus’s response was for them to report His miraculous workings and work among the poor to John (which fulfilled prophecy). Further, He stated that the one who isn’t offended by Him is blessed – as there were many in Jesus’s life who were offended by the fact that Jesus was the Messiah. Many who were offended by Jesus as the Messiah were offended because He did not meet their expectations for the Messiah. Namely, many believed Jesus was going to be an earthly king who would rule over an earthly kingdom.
Many can also be offended by Jesus today because He does not meet our societal or personal standards and expectations for who we want Jesus to be. Various societies have set a wide variety of expectations for Jesus today. For example, some are offended by Jesus whenever they find out that He is not accepting of every choice they make or any other number of reasons. Because of this, many chose to fall away from faith in Christ rather than embracing Him as King and submitting to Him.
Today’s response to hearing God’s word is this: Don’t be offended by Jesus. No matter what your personal or societal expectations are for Jesus, embrace who Jesus actually was when He was on the earth and who He continues to be. Rather than changing Jesus to meet your own concept of Him, change your concepts to meet who the Bible reveals Him to be! This is the only way to be truly blessed in the sight of God. Any other approach will result in stumbling over Jesus rather than finding eternal life through Him.