The Offensive Christ

Song: O To Be Like Thee

Scripture: Matthew 15:1-14

Scribes and Pharisees came from Jerusalem to the land of Gennesaret to ask Jesus a question and make an observation. Jesus' response was not quite politically correct. Even the twelve were taken aback by Jesus' response and came to Him in hope that He might consider the negative effect His words have had on the recipients of them: "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?" (Matthew 15:12; NKJV).

The word "offended" possesses a number of definitions. Three seem to be implied in the disciples' question. The word means "to put a stumbling-block or impediment in the way, upon which another may trip and fall; to be a stumbling-block" (Thayer's). Sometimes it means "to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey" (Thayer's). The word also means "to cause one to feel displeasure at a thing; to make indignant" (Thayer's).

Jesus was a stumbling block to the Pharisees. Because of His words they began to distrust Him, desert Him, and ultimately they participated in His death. His response to their question left them feeling displeasure and indignant.

Not everyone who heard His sayings stumbled. Some trusted, stayed, and proclaimed Him after His resurrection. Those who answered His call to repent were filled with joy and peace.

What about me? Will I be offended by the Son and "uprooted" by the Father (Matthew 15:13)? Or, will I receive the words I need to hear and be "grounded" in Him (Colossians 2:6-7)? My prayer for myself: Father, give me the strength through your Son and Holy Spirit to "lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save" my soul.