Blessed is any person who does not take offense at Me.

Matthew 15 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ² “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” ³ And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves also break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” ⁶ he is not to honor his father or mother.’ And by this you have invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you, by saying:

⁸ ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.
⁹ And in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

¹⁰ After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand! ¹¹ It is not what enters the mouth that defiles the person, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles the person.”

¹² Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” ¹³ But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Leave them alone; they are blind guides of blind people. And if a person who is blind guides another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.”

¹⁵ Peter said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.” ¹⁶ Jesus said, “Are you also still lacking in understanding? ¹⁷ Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and those things defile the person. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, acts of adultery, other immoral sexual acts, thefts, false testimonies, and slanderous statements. ²⁰ These are the things that defile the person; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the person.”

²¹ Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²² And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely demon-possessed.” ²³ But He did not answer her with even a word. And His disciples came up and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us!” ²⁴ But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵ But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” ²⁶ Yet He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷ And she said, “Yes, Lord; but please help, for even the dogs feed on the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed at once.

John 11:2-6 says:  Now while in prison, John heard about the works of Christ, and he sent word by his disciples, and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or are we to look for someone else?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: those who are blind receive sight and those who limp walk, those with leprosy are cleansed and those who are deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is any person who does not take offense at Me.”  Many did and many do take offense at Christ. It was not and is not for the miracles and the healing that they are offended. Rather, it is that He speaks the truth. It is said that truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth. Perhaps that’s why Jesus says in John 15:25: ‘THEY HATED ME FOR NO REASON.’

In today’s text we see an account of a woman who was blessed because she took no offense at Jesus.  A Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely demon-possessed.” But He did not answer her with even a word. And His disciples came up and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us!” But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” Yet He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord; but please help, for even the dogs feed on the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed at once.  Rather than take offense at the truth of what Jesus said, the woman answered His truth, not with protest or indignation, not by being offended. Rather, she answered His truth, with additional truth. She understood that she was not worthy. That’s why she asked for mercy. She knew that all she needed was to be touched by the crumbs of the kingdom of heaven, to be blessed; not offended by the truth.

We each, in the same way, need to choose whether we will be blessed or offended by the truth. In John 3:16-21 Jesus says: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed as having been performed in God.” We need to choose whether we will believe and receive the truth and be blessed, or take offense, choosing darkness rather than light.

The world, our culture and society, says that truth is relative, that each person can have their own truth. Jesus says: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)   Some are offended to hear that Jesus is the only way to the Father. They believe their own truth, which is really a lie. Like the woman in today’s text, based on our own heritage, we are not worthy of the blessings of Christ. Psalm 53:1-3 says: The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; There is no one who does good. God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of mankind To see if there is anyone who understands, Who seeks after God. Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.  In spite of that, Romans 5:8 says: God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Like the woman, all we need are just the crumbs from the kingdom of heaven. Jesus though does not give us just crumbs. By His mercy and grace, through believing, we receive all that the kingdom of heaven has to offer. Ephesians 1:3 says: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. In Christ we are blessed with all that we need. It is not only in heaven though that we have those blessings. In John 10:10 Jesus says: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.”  In Christ we have been given the abundance of the kingdom of heaven here and now.

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.
Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.