Offended by Jesus

"...someone said to Him, 'Lord, I will follow You wherever You go'" (Luke 9:57)

"Our Lord's attitude toward this man was one of severe discouragement, "for He knew what was in man" (John 2:25). We would have said, "I can't imagine why He lost the opportunity of winning that man! Imagine being so cold to him and turning him away so discouraged!" Never apologize for your Lord. The words of the Lord hurt and offend until there is nothing left to be hurt or offended. Jesus Christ had no tenderness whatsoever toward anything that was ultimately going to ruin a person in his service to God. Our Lord's answers were not based on some whim or impulsive thought, but on the knowledge of "what was in man." If the Spirit of God brings to your mind a word of the Lord that hurts you, you can be sure that there is something in you that he wants to hurt to the point of death." (First paragraph from My Utmost to His Highest by Oswald Chambers)

Remember the story of the rich young man who approached Jesus and asked what he must do to inherit eternal life? (Mark 10:17-22) Jesus didn't say, "If you want eternal life and because I love you, you must pray, Accept me as Lord and Savior, Believe in me, and Confess your sins to me." Jesus didn't also immediately say the ABCs. Jesus did love the man (v.21) but said, "Follow the commandments. Go, sell everything you have." But the man went away sad and feeling offended, "Selling everything I have? This I cannot do. Couldn't there be another way to inherit enternal life than giving away what was meaningful to me? Being rich is my life. I can't throw that life away..."

Whenever we evangelize a person, do we not open the concern about the person than showing him directly the promises of God? Do we not have to catch the heart and mind of the person, his sins, his misery, and his shortcomings, before we open the matter that our sins can be forgiven and that we can have a peace of mind through Jesus Christ?

An offense is open rebuke. It is to cause displeasure in the heart and mind of the person.

"All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord." (Prov. 16:2)

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." (Prov. 14:12)

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." (Prov. 19:21)

"A man's own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the Lord." (Prov. 19:3)

"He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise. "(Prov. 15:31)

"Listen to advice and accept instruction and in the end you will be wise." (Prov. 19:20)

"He who obeys instructions guards his life, but he who is contemptuous of his ways will die." (Prov. 19:16)

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." (Prov. 27:17)

"Better is open rebuke than hidden love." (Prov. 27:5)

Take an offense from God or from a righteous person God sends as discipline from God. (Heb. 12:1-14)

Take heed!

"A rebuke impresses a man of discernment...Better to meet a bear (a rebuke) robbed of her cubs (our guts, our ways, our hearts, our minds) than a fool in his folly (to continue living like the rich young man)." (Prov. 17:10, 12)