They took offense at Him

Mark 6:1-13 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him. ² When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? ³ Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him. ⁴ Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.” ⁵ And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ And He wondered at their unbelief. And He was going around the villages teaching.

⁷ And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits; ⁸ and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belt— ⁹ but to wear sandals; and He added, “Do not put on two tunics.” ¹⁰ And He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town. ¹¹ Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.” ¹² They went out and preached that men should repent. ¹³ And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

“Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? The people of Jesus hometown acknowledged the wisdom of Jesus teaching, they knew of the miracles He performed yet, “they took offense at Him.” Jesus did nothing to deserve their disrespect or disdain. Jesus humility is well documented. Still they were offended. What was it which was at the root of their offense? Were they jealous that this person, who they knew as a young man and whose family still lived among them had risen up and become successful? We’re not told what the true motivation and root of their offense was. But, we are told what the result was.     Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.” ⁵ And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ And He wondered at their unbelief.    How many people may have missed their blessing, their healing and their encounter with Jesus, their Savior, because of offense?

What things are we offended by? Even in the church we are offended when someone prays differently than we pray. We are offended when the music isn’t the style we prefer. We take offense that the teaching is too harsh, too soft, too long. How many people miss their encounter with the living Christ because of offense? Do we miss the miraculous, healing and deliverance, because of offense? There are two ways that offense can work to hinder Christ within the body. The first is obvious, as individuals we miss what God is doing, we miss the flow of the Spirit by judging the flesh and taking offense at what we see or hear. 2 Corinthians 5:14-20 says:     For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; ¹⁵ and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

¹⁶ Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. ¹⁸ Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.       If we are believers, followers of Christ, then: the love of Christ controls us… we recognize no one according to the flesh…We should look to see the “new creature in Christ” and seek to be reconciled to that new creature and the Christ in them rather than be offended by the flesh.

The second way that offense works to hinder Christ within the body is that often, like the people of Jesus hometown, we would rather remain with what is familiar. Even though we hear the wisdom and see the evidence of the miracles, we prefer to remain with what we know. We missing the blessing of God, we miss an encounter with Christ because we would rather stay with what we have come to know, we focus on Jesus the man, we prefer our human programs and agenda over the leading and the power of the Holy Spirit. In order to ensure that nothing offensive happens we control the Spirit rather than giving the Spirit control. We may have a good service and hear a good message but still, because of fear of offense, we miss the power and the presence of Christ. Like in Jesus hometown: And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ And He wondered at their unbelief.

To be clear though, our setting aside of offense, being offended by things of the flesh, seeking to be reconciled to the Christ in people rather than the appearance of their flesh, does not mean that we become reconciled to sin. It doesn’t mean that we are no longer offended by sin. When Jesus sent out the twelve, He:   gave them authority over the unclean spirits… And He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town. ¹¹ Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.”        The disciples then:  went out and preached that men should repent. ¹³ And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.    There message was like Jesus message, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. We need to find the balance that only Christ through the Holy Spirit can give us, the balance that causes us, like Jesus, to love sinners while we hate sin. We are not to judge or regard others according to the flesh. Judgment is not ours. James 4:12 says:    There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?  Conviction is not ours either. John 16:8-12 says:   when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; ⁹ concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; ¹¹ and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

We should not be offended by the things of the flesh. As we have been reconciled to God, through Christ, so too should we seek to call others to that same reconciliation. In 1 Corinthians 2: 1-5 Paul says:    And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. ² For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. ³ I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, ⁴ and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.           The results, the judgment and conviction are not up to us. If we will preach Jesus Christ, and Him crucified the power of the Spirit will follow. If they take offense at Jesus and the cross, that also is not our concern.

In Mark 16:15-18, Jesus says:   “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. ¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Thank You Lord Jesus Christ, my redeemer and Savior. You were not offended by my sin but rather bore the offense of all sin on the cross so that I and others could be reconciled to the Father. Thank You for the privilege You have given us to join You in this ministry of reconciliation. Holy Spirit, just as You were the one who convicted me regarding sin and righteousness, may I yield to You, allowing You to do the same for others. Guide me and give me the ability, like Christ, to love sinners yet hate sin. May my words and my life point others to the cross and may the power of the Holy Spirit be demonstrated in and through my life.  Amen.