offended

August 16 – 1:52 pm

Off topic from the previous post, but still relevant to my life right now, is that the Lord is beginning to show me – very gently – that HE is supreme, HE is sovereign, HE is holy and righteous. He showed me through a Bible study that I’m doing while I’m here that I’ve been offended by Him. How audacious am I?

The Scripture reference is Matthew 11:6 – Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me. (NIV) The KJV says it this way – Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. The original Greek word here for ‘offended’ is ‘skandalizo’ and Strong’s defines it this way – 1) to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way, upon which another may trip and fall, metaph. To offend 1a) to entice to sin 1b) to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey 1b1) to cause to fall away 1b2) to be offended in one, i.e. to see in another what I disapprove of and what hinders me from acknowledging his authority 1b3) to cause one to judge unfavourably or unjustly of another 1c) since one who stumbles or whose foot gets entangled feels annoyed 1c1) to cause one displeasure at a thing 1c2) to make indignant 1c3) to be displeased, indignant. (emphasis mine)

To see this in context, the story is Matthew 11:1-19, when Jesus is responding to John the Baptist’s disciples question as to whether or not He is the Christ. John is sitting in jail and needs to know if He is Who John believes Him to be. Admittedly, I am not a scholar, so I would encourage you to read it yourself, but this is what I believe is going on here: John was about to die. His life had been spent entirely submitted to God – preparing the way for the One. John knew that He could save him. I believe that he knew that his role in the story was complete. Jesus was telling him – reassuring him – that He was the One, and that his life had not been spent in vain. He was also telling him that his place in the story was fulfilled, and that John’s continued faith and trust was pleasing in God’s sight. In telling John not to be offended, He is telling him to accept His divine supremacy and plan. Wow.

I am pretty blatantly ripping this straight from Believing God: experiencing a fresh EXPLOSION of faith by Beth Moore. Some of the conclusions are my own, but the idea and the Scripture references come from pages 68-72 of the study. Beth points to Daniel 3:16-18 and Colossians 1:15-17 to further reinforce His supremacy and our call to accept, nay, embrace, our role in the larger story that God is telling.

I think that in our quest for intimacy with Christ, we can easily get away from His total “otherness”, His sovereignty and His authority over our lives – that our lives are not our own. That my life is not about me… We want Him to be our friend, but that takes away from Who He really is. Yes, we are called to walk closely beside Him, we are to trust Him, we are to obey Him and to submit to His calling on our lives. Yes, He wants to restore our hearts so that we may live fully in Him, through Him and for Him. The big ‘but’ here is that in reducing Him to ‘friend’ we lose sight of Who He really is and what He’s up to. We get caught up in our stories instead of His story.

Lord, give us eyes to see and ears to hear, so that we may take our rightful place in Your story, acknowledging fully and joyfully that You are the Author, and that participating in Your story is an invitation, a privilege and the goal of our lives. Praise You, Jesus.