OFFENDED BY THE WORD

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Memory Verse

Matthew 11:6 (KJV)

⁶ And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

OCTOBER 20, 2018

MATTHEW 15: 1 -20;

JOHN 6: 27 - 71

Introduction:

What does offend mean?

The Oxford dictionary defines the word 'offend' as 'to cause to feel upset, annoyed, or resentful'

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as 'to cause (a person or group) to feel hurt, angry, or upset by something said or done'

Have you experienced being offended? Many of us would say yes but the great thing is we still here. How about being offended by men, leaders, and pastors of the church? I had an experience wherein a pastor was assigned to be the speaker and people were blessed with the sermon. After the worship service, few leaders, pastors had the chance to have a short talk. I heard the speaker talked about his preaching. He said he was not really cried in the sermon, he had a cold and pretended to cry. I was offended not because some members went forward to surrender but because the sermon is a serious matter that needs more focus and prayer to the Lord; it’s a time to share God’s message through you. This kind of offense is different from our topic today; Offended by the Word is quite serious and needs spiritual discernment from the Lord.

Have you thought about being offended by the Lord Jesus Christ?

I’ll give some situations from the Bible and try to personalize them:

a)       A rich young ruler liked Jesus and agreed with what He taught ("Good Teacher") and clearly wanted confirmation that his good behavior would result in eternal life. But Jesus' response offends his own sense of worth, and he walks away from Jesus saddened, and unchanged.

b)      ²¹ Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.

²² And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

²³ But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.

²⁴ But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

²⁵ Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.

²⁶ But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.” (Matthew 15:21-26) [emphasis mine] The Jews regarded Gentiles as 'dogs' - a deeply offensive term in their culture (Matthew 7:6) And Jesus has just publicly referred to her daughter as a dog!  How offensive was that? But listen to her reply. “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” (v.27) Now listen to the response from Jesus. “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” (v.28) And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

                        Matthew Henry's commentary on this event.

Many methods of Christ's providence, especially of His grace, in dealing with His people, which are dark and perplexing, may be explained by this story, which teaches us that there may be love in Christ's heart while there are frowns on His face; and it encourages us, though He seems ready to slay us, yet to trust in Him. Those whom Christ intends most to honour, He humbles to feel their own unworthiness. A proud, unhumbled heart would not have borne this.

c)       He was speaking the truth from 1 Kings chapter 12 and 2 Kings chapter 5, but the people in the synagogue were so offended by the implications of His words they threw Him out of the the synagogue, out of the city and then tried to throw Him off a cliff.

So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way. (Luke 4:28)

d)      Imagine you are in the temple when Jesus arrives with a whip of cords (John 2:13-16). If that happened at our church would we be offended by His behavior?

e)       For instance how many of us have heard these challenging and potentially offensive words of Jesus preached to us?

"If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. You should lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right-hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. You should lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. Matthew 5:29-30

Then another of His disciples said to Him "Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father" But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me; and let the dead bury their dead" Matthew 8:21-22

“If any come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:26.

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing. If a man abideth not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (John 15:5-6)

So then, because of thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth. Revelation 3:16

These are just some of the situations wherein the sayings of our Lord are offensive. Now let’s study the lesson titled “OFFENDED BY THE WORD.”

LESSON POINTS:

   1)   THEY’RE OFFENDED POSSIBLE BECAUSE THEY NEVER TRUST CHRIST AT ALL, OR ACCEPT HIM AS THEIR SAVIOR (JOHN 6:42).

-      What comes to your mind with our first point? (let few people answer)

-      Proofs that they were not accepted Christ as Saviour:

a)   Looking for Jesus for the wrong reasons (6:26)

b)   The Work of God—Believe (6:28-29)

c)    Requiring another miraculous sign (6:30-31)

d)   The True Bread from heaven (6:32-34)

    2)   SOME JOIN THE CHURCH WHO, AFTER TIME, ARE OFFENDED (PROFESSING CHRISTIANS) (John 6: 66-67)

Now, why is it that some, who profess to know Him are offended with Christ?  Well, with some it is because the novelty wears off. Very earnest services were held and they were greatly affected. They thought that they repented and believed, so they joined the church. Now the good men who held the services are gone and everything seems rather flat after such excitement. And so, they have gone back again. They jumped into religion like a man into a bath, and they have jumped out again, put on their clothes and gone back to the world and to what they were before.

When we visited the USA a few months ago, we noticed that we hadn’t seen any lizard in my sister’s place. We just ignored it until one time, a blogger sited an example to his sermon about lizards then I started to search about them. The explanation about lizards was answered:

(explanations are taken from http://lizardsandfriends.org/?p=596

In spring and summer in Texas, we see lizards everywhere we look.  They’re climbing on the trees, crawling on the ground, and running around the walls of our houses.  If you watch a lizard for a few minutes in the summer, you’ll probably see it catching an insect to eat, or chasing another lizard out of its territory, or sitting in the shade to stay cool.

But in the fall and winter when the temperature drops, we don’t see many lizards anymore.  What are they doing when the cold wind and rain come?  The answer is, they’re not doing very much!  Lizards are a type of animal called ectotherms, which means that their body temperature is the same as the environment around them.  So when the air outside is cold, lizards are cold too.  On the other hand, humans (along with other mammals and birds) are endotherms, which means that our internal functions keep our bodies at a warm temperature no matter what the weather is outside.

When lizards are cold, they don’t need to eat very much to stay alive, so they don’t need to be active.  Instead, they try to find a warm place to hide.  They might burrow under leaves, or dig a hole in the soil, or find a hole in a tree trunk.  In general, lizards will sit very still in these safe places and wait for warmer weather, when they will come out and sit in the sun to warm themselves.  Once they’re warm, they’ll start running after food and chasing other lizards again!

Not any of the twelve apostles, for they are distinguished from these in the next verse; nor any of the seventy disciples, but some of the a multitude of the disciples, who followed Christ, heard him and professed to believe in him, and were baptized in his name, but were not true disciples,

    3)  SOME WHO WERE OFFENDED BY THE TRUTH BUT DID NOT WALK AWAY (JOHN 6: 36 – 71)

-      What were the lessons mentioned:

a)    I Am the Bread of Life (6:35-36)

b)    A Passage of Promise (6:37-40)

c)    No-one Can Come Unless the Father draws Him (6:41-47)

d)    The Bread of Life that Comes Down from Heaven (6:48-51a) Now Jesus repeats His claim that He is the Bread of Life (6:33,35).

e)    Eat My Flesh (6:51b-52

f)     Flesh Given for the Life of the World (6:51b)

-      The earliest New Testament believers were 'messianic Jews'. Men and women who were raised in the Jewish religion, the Jewish traditions and Jewish culture.

Scripture states that 'life is in the blood' (Lev. 3:17 & 17:11) and so eating blood was (and still is) a deeply offensive thing to a Jew. Hence their ritual slaughtering of animals which allows the blood to be drained from the meat.

When gentiles - who knew little of the Jewish culture - began to flood into the Kingdom some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees wanted them to be circumcised, and this issue, in particular, brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute with them. (Acts 15:1-3)

Eventually the apostles and elders met at Jerusalem to decide what wise stipulations they should lay upon the rapidly increasing numbers of gentile believers. After much debate, James - the step-brother of Jesus - stood up and addressed the council saying,

“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead, we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from the blood. Acts 15:19-20 [emphasis mine]

Thus the 'original Christians' from within the Jewish culture were agreeable to drop the issue of circumcision, and didn't mention Sabbath-keeping, but asked them to abstain from food offered to idols, sexual immorality, meat from strangled animals and blood. Why these four stipulations?

One commentary on these verses said,

Circumcision was not required but four stipulations were laid down. These were in areas where the gentiles had particular weaknesses and where the Jews were particularly repulsed by gentile violations. It would help both the individual and the relationship between Gentile and Jew if these requirements were observed. (The NIV Bible Study) [emphasis mine]

So with this background information it is not hard to understand how deeply offensive the idea of flesh being eaten with the blood still in it would be, even to a messianic Jew.

We get that.

Jesus was Jewish, raised in a Jewish home, in a Jewish land with Jewish traditions and a robust Jewish culture. He knew flesh with blood was offensive.

With that understanding, listen to Jesus addressing Jewish listeners in the synagogue in Capernaum.

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Jesus said unto them, “Verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed". (John 6:51-55)  [emphasis mine]

What offense! And the crowd was offended. Very offended. So were His disciples.

With great understatement many of His disciples said,

“This is a hard saying; who can hear it? (“This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”) (Luke 6:60)

To which Jesus replied,

“Doth this offend you?” (or “Does this offend you?)  (John 6:61)

So the offensive was His words that we read,

From that time many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, “Will ye also go away?”  (John 6: 66-67)

Simon Peter answered him on behalf of them all,

“Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.”(John 6: 68-69) [emphasis mine]

In other words, the disciples who did not walk away - were definitely offended by 'the truth' but did not walk away as others did because they had truly come to believe and to know that He was indeed, the Christ, the Son of the living God.