“Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.” Matthew 11:6
How many of us have put Jesus in prison? We don’t like the demands He makes and the changes HE calls for so we throw him in prison, lock the door and toss the key away hoping that we will never have to see him again. He offends the way we want to run our lives so we incarcerate him so he cannot get back out at us. This is all a silly notion because we all know Jesus can walk through walls.
Which of the following 2 statements describes your fundamental stance towards Jesus: “Get your laws off my body.” (from a bumper sticker) or when King David says in Psalm 1:1-2, “Happy the one who delights in the law of the Lord.” ?
I think many of us spend a lot of time just trying to keep Jesus at bay. We don’t even give him a chance to be offensive to us. He’s got his life and I got mine and let us keep it that way. Why would I give up control of my life to his radical, counter-cultural life to lead who knows where?
But is Jesus really offensive? To me, he is the least offensive person I have ever met. He is a God who is for me and not against me. He is on the offense for me and is gravely offended by anything that offends who I am. As a matter of fact, that is why he cam to earth at Christmas. No more was he going to allow his children to die in their offenses. He would put an end to all of that on Calvary.
Let us pray: “Jesus, have I put you in prison and thrown the key away because I somehow believe that your life offends mine? If you are who you say you are, if you are the least offensive person who takes all my offenses away, then why don’t I give you full welcome? Jesus, I am going to let you out of that prison and back into my heart. With King David I will believe that, ‘Happy is the one who delights in the law of the Lord.’ Amen.”
