Taking Offense
Jesus spoke, "And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me," Matthew 11:6. Taking offense is man's choice. When Jesus spoke Matthew 11:6, He knew one day that 58 out of the original 70 disciples would fall away because of their own chosen offense at the spoken living yet hard words of God, John 6. Falling away from Christ is a choice and God gives us over to our choices:
and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. Ephesians 4:19Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. Romans 1:24
Jesus spoke Matthew 11:6 to people who were following the son of a High Priest, Luke 1, but Jesus was the son of a carpenter, Matthew 13:55. It was Jesus who cleansed people from the demons which caused the people's afflictions, Ephesians 4:27, by forgiving their sins, Matthew 9:2-6, and pronouncing them clean, Luke 5:13. This was one of the very functions of priests and the people knew it. They also knew John the Baptist never performed any miracles but the son of a carpenter did. Could this have been a source of offense due to jealousy that produced a degree of hardness in the hearts of the priests?
Our choice to be offended opens doors to affliction by the enemy, Genesis 4:7; Ephesians 4:27, by separating us from the Father, Isaiah 59:2. Hence: blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.
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