I read a story about a man whose wife asked him what he wanted for Christmas. He didn’t want to come right out and say it, so he dropped a hint: “Honey, I want something in the driveway on Christmas morning that will go from zero to three hundred in six seconds.” His wife smiled and said, “I think that can be arranged.” On Christmas morning, the man woke up excited, convinced a brand-new muscle car was waiting for him. He ran outside and sitting in the driveway was a small square box. He thought, “Well, it’s not a car, but maybe it’s the keys or the paperwork.” He took the box inside, opened it up, and pulled out a brand-new bathroom scale. He asked for something that would go from zero to three hundred in six seconds, and he got it. Needless to say, he was a little offended. He got the message his wife was sending
We all know what it’s like to be offended by something someone has said or done. We live in a society that seems to be easily offended. When Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth and revealed who He truly was, Mark 6:3 says, “And they took offense at him.” These were people who knew Him well. They had watched Him grow up, benefited from His work as a carpenter, and knew His family. Yet they were offended by Him and ultimately rejected Him.
What about us? Are we ever offended by Jesus? The reality is, sometimes Jesus and His message will offend people. Even if we are familiar with Him, like those in Nazareth, we can still take offense. But when that happens, whose fault is it? In those moments, we must have the humility to look in the mirror. If I am offended by Jesus, that is not His fault; it’s mine. If I take offense at Him, I should really be taking offense at myself, because I am the one in the wrong.
When we are offended by Jesus, we must replace anger with reflection. The people of Nazareth became angry, but what if they had stopped to think? Anger is often our first reaction, but what if we paused and asked why we feel offended? Honest reflection would reveal where we’ve gone wrong. Instead of being angry at Jesus, we would find ourselves convicted and even grieved over our own sin.
When we are offended by Jesus, we must replace resentment with repentance. Nazareth resented Him, but they should have repented. When Jesus’ words confront us, the temptation is to resent Him, the church, the Bible, or whoever is teaching it. We want to “kill the messenger.” But when we get to that point, it’s time to repent. It is time to change our thinking so that our lives can change as well.
When we are offended by Jesus, we must replace pride with humility. At the root of offense is wounded pride. If we are offended by Jesus, we must be willing to swallow that pride. We must humbly admit that Jesus is always right, and if we stand in contradiction to Him, we are always wrong.
If the people of Nazareth had done those three things, the story would have ended very differently. But they didn’t. So the question is: will we be like Nazareth, or will we respond rightly to Jesus? As Jesus says in Matthew 11:6, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
-Tyler Alverson