Luke 7:23 Are You?

Luke 7:23 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

There are some people that just seem to be offensive. Just about everything they do rubs you the wrong way. They can’t seem to get anything done without stepping on other’s toes or insulting them in some way. Do you know someone like this?

But what happens when you do the right thing the right way from the right heart and people are still offended? Should we stop doing the right thing? Should we change to fit in with the culture or group?

Jesus faced this in His ministry. In our text we learn about the character of those who oppose Jesus. He has been curing people of diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, even giving sight to the blind. These are good things, aren’t they! How could anyone oppose this!

John the Baptist is in prison and sends messengers to Jesus in order to confirm or deny Jesus’ identity as the promised Messiah. Jesus tells these messengers to look at the things He is doing. Draw a conclusion from the actions and words.

There were many things swirling around during this time. Many different opinions about who Jesus was and His role in history. The official religious position was a mixed bag. There were some, a small minority of the Jewish community, that accepted what Jesus said about Himself. They followed Him, or were part of the first Jews to believe following His resurrection.

But there were many others who saw Jesus as a threat to their position. They even went so far as to think killing Him was the “right” thing to do. Think about that for a moment. Killing someone could be a right thing!?! I’m not sure I want have to make that decision.

Even Dietrich Bonhoeffer was part of the plot to assassinate Hitler. He wrestled with killing him and saving thousands of other lives. That is a hard math problem to calculate.

The United States had to make a similar calculation when they dropped the atomic bombs on Japan. They looked at the tenacity of the Japanese soldiers, their willingness to die for the Emperor, and they determined the deaths from the atomic bombs would be far less than those on both sides from an invasion. These costs were less.

John’s disciples, and John himself, had to calculate the costs of accepting the testimonies they had heard about Jesus life and ministry, His words and actions. But the difficulty was in Jesus message. His message was one of non-confrontation with the powers of this world. He would not fight as they had expected the Messiah to fight.

That is a rub. When they thought about the mission of the Messiah, they viewed His mission as one of a conquering hero, fighting with the weapons of this world. They envisioned a battle that would overthrow the established order and set up a different order, but using worldly power and might to accomplish this goal.

But Jesus was turning this whole thing on its head. Jesus would not fight this kind of battle. He would willingly not use the power He possessed to stand against the powers that be. He instead would yield Himself to their powers and allow the enemy, death, to overtake Him.

And in doing so, Jesus would defeat the powers, all without firing a shot. He defeated all armies without a single round of ammunition. He defeated them with love.

No wonder John questioned His earlier appraisal of Jesus. Jesus didn’t fit his Messiah mold. And so he sent messenger to find out.

And Jesus reassures them that He is Messiah. And he assures them that they can stay true in their assessment and faith. They shouldn’t fall away. They should stick with their course of faith in Jesus.

Some did stumble at Jesus’ message. And some still stumble today at Jesus’ radical message of non-earthly power winning the battle. He doesn’t need us to fight. He needs us to love to the same extent that He loved.

And when we do this, He is winning and so are we!