Friday Thoughts – Be Offensive
During my “Re-Advent” reading this week, I came across Luke 7:18-23. This passage deals with John the Baptist sending messengers to ask Jesus if he really is the Messiah. What is hanging over this entire text is that John faces persecution and arrest, which will ultimately lead to his death. John has given his entire life to be the forerunner for Jesus; to prepare people for the Messiah. Needless to say, John wants to be sure that Jesus is really the Messiah. Christ responds to John’s concerns by quoting from Old Testament prophecy that said that the Messiah would do many miraculous signs – and Jesus had fulfilled these Scriptures.
What most spoke to me was the end of Jesus’ response in vs. 23: “And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” The word offended can be translated as snare or stumbling block, but the question that I had was simply this: why would Jesus say this? The answer is simple, but the application is complex. Jesus is stating that those who understand that God’s plan and His way of doing things may be different that what one may expect, will be blessed. The problem with me is that although I recognize that His ways are not my own – I allow His plan to be a stumbling block because I want it “my way – right a way.”
After reflecting on this verse and seeing how this applies to my life – I wrote a few thoughts in my journal – and I wanted to share them today:
- I have expect to see Him (God) work more in specific ways, but when He doesn’t or hasn’t – I tend to stumble over the sovereignty of God.
- My humanity, though intending to do good because of the righteousness of Christ, sometimes is disenchanted with life and how God operates.
These are deep reflects from a heart that wants to see God works and experience His majesty. How do we (I) reconcile this? I think the answer is this: we embrace the “offensive.” The cross is offensive, the gospel is a stumbling block and God’s plan can be very different from our own – but to reap the joy of living upward instead of horizontal can be boiled down to our willingness to embrace the offensive and cast away the egocentric normalacy of life.
May we not only embrace the offensive, but become offensive by clinging to what causes the flesh to stumble. Glory to God – and may we bow down at the manger and picture the empty cross (and tomb) this Christmas.