Why Hasn't Jesus Offended You?
Preaching
Lions And Cows Dining Together
And 111 Other Sermon Ideas
Object:
Purpose Statement: Do we understand and agree with all of Jesus' teachings?
How could anyone possibly want to see Jesus killed? He did only good, revealed God's will, brought the good news, and healed and cared for people. It was a select group -- the religious leaders of his day -- that clamored for his death, and no doubt it was they who incited the crowd to ask for his crucifixion (Luke 19:45-48; 22:2; 23:18-23).
a. Why he offended them (for an expanded discussion of this point see sermon Y-9, "What Did He Do That Was So Bad?"). Jesus, by unmasking the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of his day, discredited their authority, sincerity, and dedication to the truth and goodness. He threatened the Jewish Law and seemed to undermine its accuracy. In the fifth chapter of Matthew, he quotes the Old Testament Law several times and clearly changes its meaning. Finally he claimed religious supremacy for himself. To accept the role of Messiah or the relationship with God he claimed was blasphemy. And, to make their case with Roman authorities, the Jews accused Jesus of saying they didn't need to pay their taxes to Rome (Luke 23:1-5).
b. Why he should offend us. While there may be parallels between how Jesus upset the religious leaders of his day and how he might offend us, there are additional reasons why Jesus would disturb us today. While the priests, Pharisees, and the like felt their livelihood threatened, Jesus may upset our whole lifestyle. He challenges us to give more of our time and possessions away, to take perceived risks (such as giving up our arms and the use of violent force), to shed harmful lifestyles (harmful to ourselves and others), to accept some tasks that are not enjoyable, and to literally change who we are. Knowing this makes us uncomfortable and frightened, instead of angry as the people of Jesus' day became. Being more sophisticated today, we would not try to execute Jesus. Our method of choice is to ignore or misinterpret his teachings.
c. Why hasn't he offended us? One reason we might give for not being offended is that we say we agree with and accept all that Jesus taught. Possibly the real reason we are not offended is that many of us choose to ignore or misunderstand Jesus. If we don't like what we think Jesus might be saying, the easiest ways of dealing with it is to either pretend it doesn't exist and skip over those passages, or interpret the ideas to say something else less objectionable. If Jesus thinks we should not be so materialistic, we excuse our extravagance by saying we are not really rich, just middle income. We need to have a nest egg for security. We don't really have enough for ourselves yet, but when we are wealthier we will give more. If Jesus thinks that physical force and violence is wrong, we interpret it to mean with regard to our next-door neighbor or a family member, and not intended to include other nations. After all those folks are not only enemies, but enemies are also not quite human. They are deranged and can never be trusted.
There is no place for negotiation since they wouldn't respond to reason, love, or peaceful gestures. Or, perhaps, the safest way to deal with potentially uncomfortable teachings of Jesus is to not read or think about those portions of our Bible. If we feel threatened or challenged with certain ideas of Jesus, we should at least be honest and simply say, "I am not ready for that kind of commitment yet. I am still struggling with those issues."
How could anyone possibly want to see Jesus killed? He did only good, revealed God's will, brought the good news, and healed and cared for people. It was a select group -- the religious leaders of his day -- that clamored for his death, and no doubt it was they who incited the crowd to ask for his crucifixion (Luke 19:45-48; 22:2; 23:18-23).
a. Why he offended them (for an expanded discussion of this point see sermon Y-9, "What Did He Do That Was So Bad?"). Jesus, by unmasking the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of his day, discredited their authority, sincerity, and dedication to the truth and goodness. He threatened the Jewish Law and seemed to undermine its accuracy. In the fifth chapter of Matthew, he quotes the Old Testament Law several times and clearly changes its meaning. Finally he claimed religious supremacy for himself. To accept the role of Messiah or the relationship with God he claimed was blasphemy. And, to make their case with Roman authorities, the Jews accused Jesus of saying they didn't need to pay their taxes to Rome (Luke 23:1-5).
b. Why he should offend us. While there may be parallels between how Jesus upset the religious leaders of his day and how he might offend us, there are additional reasons why Jesus would disturb us today. While the priests, Pharisees, and the like felt their livelihood threatened, Jesus may upset our whole lifestyle. He challenges us to give more of our time and possessions away, to take perceived risks (such as giving up our arms and the use of violent force), to shed harmful lifestyles (harmful to ourselves and others), to accept some tasks that are not enjoyable, and to literally change who we are. Knowing this makes us uncomfortable and frightened, instead of angry as the people of Jesus' day became. Being more sophisticated today, we would not try to execute Jesus. Our method of choice is to ignore or misinterpret his teachings.
c. Why hasn't he offended us? One reason we might give for not being offended is that we say we agree with and accept all that Jesus taught. Possibly the real reason we are not offended is that many of us choose to ignore or misunderstand Jesus. If we don't like what we think Jesus might be saying, the easiest ways of dealing with it is to either pretend it doesn't exist and skip over those passages, or interpret the ideas to say something else less objectionable. If Jesus thinks we should not be so materialistic, we excuse our extravagance by saying we are not really rich, just middle income. We need to have a nest egg for security. We don't really have enough for ourselves yet, but when we are wealthier we will give more. If Jesus thinks that physical force and violence is wrong, we interpret it to mean with regard to our next-door neighbor or a family member, and not intended to include other nations. After all those folks are not only enemies, but enemies are also not quite human. They are deranged and can never be trusted.
There is no place for negotiation since they wouldn't respond to reason, love, or peaceful gestures. Or, perhaps, the safest way to deal with potentially uncomfortable teachings of Jesus is to not read or think about those portions of our Bible. If we feel threatened or challenged with certain ideas of Jesus, we should at least be honest and simply say, "I am not ready for that kind of commitment yet. I am still struggling with those issues."
