Jesus was blessing those not offended in him

JESUS WAS BLESSING THOSE NOT OFFENDED IN HIM
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
“And blessedis he, whosoevershall not be offended in
Me.” Matthew 11:6.
New InternationalVersion
Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of
me."
New Living Translation
And he added, “God blesses those who do not fall away
because of me.”
English Standard Version
And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Classes Christ Helped
Matthew 11:5
R. Tuck The point of the answer sent by our Lord to John is usually thought to be the proof he
was giving of his Divine power; he was opening the eyes of the blind; he was making the lame
walk; he was cleansing the lepers; he was unstopping the ears of the deaf; he was raising the

dead. Must he not, then, be the Messiah? Nicodemus properly argued, "Rabbi, we know that thou
art a Teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be
with him." And yet it may be that this was not our Lord's precise point. Indeed, John knew all
about these miracles, and it was because he could not make up his mind about them that he sent
the inquiry. It may be that our Lord fixed the attention of the messengers on the kinds of persons
for whom he was working, and the character of the work he was doing for them. And we can see
that just this would be the most suggestive and helpful answer for John. It would show him that
Jesus was Messiah in a spiritual sense. "It might seem, at first sight, as if the thing that would
make fitting impression on John was the display of Divine power in these miracles of healing
and restoration. It would seem as if John would be bound to argue that he must be Divine who
could do such mighty works. But that is only the surface-teaching of the miracles. The prominent
thing in our Lord's response is his pointing out who it is gets the benefit of his work; it is as if he
had said, "See all you can, but be sure to notice and to tell John this - it is the blind who are being
blessed; it is the lame, it is the lepers, it is the deaf, who are being blessed; it is the poor who are
being savingly blessed." It is as if the Lord had said, "Be sure and point out to John the character
of my work; that will be an all-sufficient answer to his question." Jesus worked for those who
were sufferers because of sin. He came to be "God saving men from their sins." Jesus did not
touch national disabilities, social struggles, class weaknesses, or political contentions; these
things formed no sphere for him. Where sin had been, there he went. Where sin was, there he
came. What sin had done, that he strove to remedy. So the suffering made for him a sphere. The
ignorant, the poor, the perishing, were ready for his gospel. - R.T.
Biblical Illustrator
And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me.
Matthew 11:6
The prejudices against Christianity considered
J. Tillotson, D. D.I. THOSE PREJUDICES AND OBJECTIONS WHICH THE WORLD HAD
AGAINST THE SAVIOUR AND HIS RELIGION AT THEIR FIRST APPEARANCE; also to
inquire into those which men at this day insist upon; and to show the unreasonableness of them.
1. That Christianity was a great innovation, and contrary to the received institutions of the world.
2. They objected against the plainness and simplicity of the doctrine.
3. That it wanted demonstration.
4. That the low and suffering condition of our Saviour was unsuitable to one that pretended to be
the Son of God.

II. To consider THE PREJUDICES AND OBJECTIONS WHICH MEN AT THIS DAY INSIST
UPON AGAINST OUR SAVIOUR AND HIS RELIGION.
1. Some that relate to the incarnation of our Saviour.
2. To the time of His appearance. Why did He not come sooner?
3. That we have not now sufficient evidence of the truth of Christianity.
4. That the terms of it seem very hard, and to lay too great restraints upon human nature.
5. That it is apt to despoil men, and to break the vigour and courage of their minds.
6. The divisions and factions that are among Christians.
7. The wicked lives of the greatest part of the professors of Christianity.
III. HOW HAPPY A THING IT IS TO ESCAPE THE COMMON PREJUDICES MEN ARE
APT TO ENTERTAIN AGAINST RELIGION — "Blessed is he," etc. This will appear if we
consider —
1. That prejudice does many times sway and bias men against the plainest truths.
2. Prejudice will bias men in matters of the greatest concernment, in things that concern the
honour of God and the good of others and our own welfare.
3. The consequences of men's prejudices in these things prove many times fatal and destructive.
4. There are few in comparison who have the happiness to escape and overcome the. common
prejudices which men are apt to entertain against religion.
(J. Tillotson, D. D.)
Taking offence at the gospel
T. Sherlock, D. D.I. WHAT ARE THE OFFENCES WHICH ARE GENERALLY TAKEN AT
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST?
1. The poverty and meanness in which our Saviour appeared was the earliest objection to the
gospel. This prejudice arises from a false conception of the power and majesty of God, as if the
success of His purposes depended upon the visible fitness of the instruments He made choice of;
or as if the majesty of God wants the little supports of outward pomp as that of man does. But
would the advantages with respect to men have been greater had Christ appeared in greater
splendour? The majesty of God must be veiled to be seen by the human eye. But did not Christ
give sight to the blind, and triumph over death? Do princes and greatest men perform such
works? Do these not manifest Divine power?
2. The next offence is that men do not find the wisdom they seek after in the gospel.(1) But this
objection must rise to our creation, with God for not making us wiser than we are.(2) This
objection does not affect the practice of religion.(3) That the gospel has given us the greatest
evidence for the certainty of those things that can be desired.
3. The last offence is that the gospel contains mysterious truths.(1) This objection does not reach
the gospel use of the word, nor can affect the mysteries contained in the gospel.(2) That the use
of the word, which is liable to this objection, does not in any way belong to the gospel; nor are
there any such mysteries in the gospel as may justify the complaint made against them.
(T. Sherlock, D. D.)

Offended with Christ
C. H. Spurgeon., The Pulpit.I. THERE ARE SOME WHO ARE SO OFFENDED IN CHRIST
THAT THEY NEVER, TRUST HIM AT ALL OR ACCEPT HIM AS THEIR SAVIOUR.
1. Some in His own day were offended with Him because of the humbleness of His appearance.
They said, "He is the sun of a carpenter."
2. There are others who reject Him because of the fewness of His followers.
3. Some are offended with Christ because of the grandeur of His claims. He claims to be God.
4. Some are offended with our Lord because of His atonement.
5. Some are offended because of the graciousness of the gospel. They prefer works.
6. Some are offended because of the holiness of His precepts. They like liberty to sin.
II. THERE ARE SOME WHO JOIN THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST WHO AFTER A
TIME ARE OFFENDED.
1. Because the novelty wears off.
2. Because they thought that they were always going to be happy.
3. Because they have met an opposition they did not expect from their enemies.
4. Because they began to find that religion entailed more self-denial than they had reckoned
upon.
5. Because of the hard speeches of those who ought to have encouraged them.
6. Because of the ill conduct of professors.
7. Through trials of providence.
III. THERE ARE SOME WHO ARE NOT OFFENDED IN CHRIST, AND THEY ARE
DECLARED TO BE BLESSED.
1. Apart from anything else it is a blessed thing to have grace enough given you to hold fast to
Christ under all circumstances.
2. Then you shall find a blessedness growing out of your fidelity,
3. But what blessedness awaits you.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
I. WHO ARE THE PERSONS THAT ARE OFFENDED AT CHRIST?
1. Those who discredit the authenticity of His Word.
2. Who deny the Divinity of His Person.
3. Who reject the efficacy of His atonement.
4. Wide despise the influences of His Spirit.
5. Who backslide from the profession of His name.
II. THE THINGS AT WHICH THEY ARE OFFENDED.
1. The meanness of His birth.
2. The sufferings of His life.

3. The simplicity of His doctrines,
4. The poverty of His followers.
5. The ignominy of His death.
III. THE BLESSEDNESS OF THOSE WHO ARE NOT OFFENDED AT CHRIST.
1. Divine peace (Psalm 119.).
2. Divine comforts (Psalm 89:16).
3. Divine care (1 Peter 5:7).
4. Divine honours (1 Samuel 2:30).
5. Eternal reward,
6. To be offended at Christ displays the greatest ignorance.
(The Pulpit.)
The offence of Christ
E. Thompson, M. A.I. WITH REGARD TO THOSE THINGS WHICH RENDER THE
REDEEMER AN OFFENCE TO THE WORLD.
1. The mysterious constitution of His nature.
2. The humbling tendency of the doctrines.
3. The exclusive character of His religion.
II. THE BLESSEDNESS OF THOSE WHO ARE NOT OFFENDED IN THE SAVIOUR. HOW
is it that some embrace the Saviour, and others are offended at Him? The reception of Him is the
result of Divine illumination.
III. THE BEST MEANS OF ATTAINING THIS BLESSEDNESS.
1. Earnest Prayer.
2. Seek God in His Word.
3. A holy life.
(E. Thompson, M. A.)
Offences against Christianity no just grounds for infidel
S. Jenner, B. A.ity: —
1. The objections grounded on the nature of the religion, and what it has effected.
2. On the controversies about it.
3. On the conduct of its professors.
(S. Jenner, B. A.)
Offended in Christ
Zachary Pearce.The fact that our Lord directed His reply to John himself, for his personal
satisfaction. John knew that Jesus was Messiah, but he did not know that His kingdom was to be
a spiritual, not a temporal one. Two objections were taken against Christ of old. Jews pretended
that His condition of life was too low and mean for what their prophets had taught them to

expect; and the Gentiles objected to His doctrine, as not displaying enough of what they called
wisdom. He should have come as a philosopher, or as a temporal king. But He did come,
unassisted by human power, or dignity, or wisdom, and thus He was —
I. Enabled to be the pattern of all virtue.
II. The spread of His kingdom in so short a time, the more fully displays the hand of God.
III. His miracles acquire a greater degree of evidence, and —
IV. What He taught is now not liable to be charged with those suspicions, which royalty and
conquest would justly have raised.
(Zachary Pearce.)
Offences taken at Christianity
John Hodge.I. It is not to be expected that a religion, though truly Divine, should be entirely
exempt from everything of difficulty, or liable to no manner of objection.
II. Not a few of the offences taken at religion, at that of Jesus in particular, may, they do in fact,
arise entirely from men themselves, rather than from any real occasion that religion gives for
them.
III. Many of the particular occasions of offence taken at the Saviour had been themselves
actually predicted.
IV. No objections brought against Christianity should be considered alone; they, and the
evidence it produces in its favour, should be considered together. The chief objections are —
(1)The needlessness of any supernatural revelation;
(2)the want of universality in Christianity;
(3)the weakness of the evidence produced in its favour;
(4)the difficulties found in some of the peculiar and sublime doctrines of the gospel;
(5)the disagreements among those who profess the gospel;
(6)the stress which Christianity lays upon faith;
(7)the difficulties of its precepts;
(8)the inconsistencies of professors.
(John Hodge.)
Message of Christ to one beginning to be offended
Bishop W. C. Magee.John, in prison, hears of the great progress of the kingdom he has heralded,
and cannot understand why he is left unaided, seemingly unpitied, to perish. Not for want of
power, surely; the hand that healed the sick could open the prison. If for want of will, can this be
the real King? Why does the axe not smite the overshadowing tree of wickedness; why does the
fan not winnow the evil from the good? So he sends his message of remonstrance and
indignation. To this Christ gives a twofold answer. He bids John's disciples tell their master of
His works and of His word, of His miracles and of His teaching.
I. MIRACLES, i.e., not merely things to wonder at, but signs that the supernatural kingdom of
righteousness wrought by a power, a will, a voice outside of and acting on nature; telling us that

this order of nature may yet be completely changed for a higher and better, in which it shall be as
unnatural for man to suffer, sorrow, and die, as it is now natural. But the exercise of this power
was limited. Only some of the sick were healed and dead raised. To assure us that eventually all
shall be, we need, besides the evidence of Christ's works, the declaration of His —
II. WORD — "to the poor the gospel is preached." Why is this significant? Because poverty is
only another word for human imperfection and weakness. The life of humanity on earth is a life
of struggle with nature. In proportion as man subdues the earth, progress, civilization, and wealth
increase. But all are not equally fitted for this struggle; hence, while the strong frame, keen
intellect, resolute will, conquer circumstances, the weak suffer and hunger. But in the kingdom
of heaven there is a gospel for the poor. God has another world, in which to redress the
inequalities of this, where the poor shall hunger and thirst no more, and where God shall wipe
away the tears from all eyes. This gospel for the poor is no myth or mirage begotten of the
fevered thirst of man's soul. Deeprooted in historic fact lie the reasons of this promise. The city
of God that is to come down from heaven has had its foundation-stone laid already upon earth.
The gospel for the poor is the gospel of the resurrection. He who preaches it, stands beside an
open grave. Moreover, the glory to come is linked with present suffering as its result and fruit.
The law of the heavenly kingdom requires that the sin which hinders our happiness should be
burnt out by sorrow, and that we should bear the chastening cross in this life. While the rich man
is told that if he would walk heavenward he must be ready to part with riches and become poor at
Christ's bidding, the poor man is comforted with the knowledge that weariness, sorrow, toil,
suffering, and disappointment, if taken up as a cross, if lifted as a burden the Saviour has
appointed, will bear rich fruit in heaven. Thus, out of suffering comes joy; out of sorrow, eternal
peace; and so the trials of the poor man in this world are made his spiritual wealth in the world to
come.
(Bishop W. C. Magee.)
Offended by faithful preachingMr. Dodd, having preached against the profanation of the
Sabbath, which much prevailed in his parish, and especially among the more wealthy inhabitants,
the servant of a nobleman, who was one of them, came to him and said, "Sir, you have offended
my lord to-day." Mr. Dodd replied, "I should not have offended your lord, except he had been
conscious to himself that he had first offended my Lord; and if your lord will offend my Lord, let
him be offended."
The ready way to blessedness
T. Manton, D. D.I. WHAT IT IS TO BE OFFENDED IN CHRIST.
1. It supposes some offer and revelation made to us, that grace is brought home to us and
salvation offered to us.
2. It implieth such an offence that either they are kept off from Christ, or else drawn away from
Him.
II. UPON WHAT OCCASIONS MEN WERE OFFENDED IN CHRIST.
1. They were displeased with His Person.
2. They were offended at His doctrine.
3. The great stumbling-block of all was His sufferings.
III. WAS IT NOT PROPER TO THAT AGE ONLY? There is danger still: —

1. Because, though the name of Christ be had in honour, yet the stricter profession of godliness is
under reproach.
2. It may happen that the stricter sort of Christians are the poorer, and so may be despised of
men.
3. Though men be not distasted against Christianity as a whole, yet in part, at some of its ways.
4. There is no man but if he run up his refusal of Christ to its proper principle he will find it to be
some dislike, either from the inward constitution of his own mind, or the external state of
religion in the world.What is likely to offend since Christ's exaltation into heaven?
1. The many calamities which attend the profession of religion.
2. They may take offence at Christ's doctrine, at the purity, self-denial, the simplicity, the
mysteriousness of it.
IV. THE KINDS OF THIS SIN OF BEING OFFENDED IN CHRIST.
1. There is an offence with contempt, and an offence with discouragement.
2. There is an offence of ignorance, and an offence of malice and opposition.
3. There is a total, and there is a partial, offence.
V. How is IT TRUE THAT THOSE THAT ESCAPE THIS SIN ARE IN THE READY WAY
TO SALVATION?
1. He that is not offended but evangelized, hath the power and virtue of the gospel stamped upon
his heart.
2. The esteem produceth uniform obedience.
3. We are better fortified against temptations to apostasy — errors, scandals, and persecutions.
VI. MAKE USE OF THIS CAUTION. Take heed of being offended in Christ.
1. Who are in danger of it.
2. The heinousness of it.
(1)It is unreasonable.
(2).Natural.
(3)Dangerous.
3. What shall we do to avoid it?
(1)Get a clear understanding;
(2)a mortified heart;
(3)a fervent love.
(T. Manton, D. D.)

COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(6) Blessed is he.—The words at once confirm the
view that the question which the messengers had brought came from the Baptist himself, and
show how tenderly our Lord dealt with the impatience which it implied. A warning was needed,
but it was given in the form of a beatitude which it was still open to him to claim and make his
own. Not to find a stumbling-block in the manner in which the Christ had actually come, that
was the condition of entering fully into the blessedness of His kingdom.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary11:2-6 Some think that John sent this inquiry for his own
satisfaction. Where there is true faith, yet there may be a mixture of unbelief. The remaining
unbelief of good men may sometimes, in an hour of temptation; call in question the most
important truths. But we hope that John's faith did not fail in this matter, and that he only desired
to have it strengthened and confirmed. Others think that John sent his disciples to Christ for their
satisfaction. Christ points them to what they heard and saw. Christ's gracious condescensions and
compassions to the poor, show that it was he that should bring to the world the tender mercies of
our God. Those things which men see and hear, if compared with the Scriptures, direct in what
way salvation is to be found. It is difficult to conquer prejudices, and dangerous not to conquer
them; but those who believe in Christ, their faith will be found so much the more to praise, and
honour, and glory.
Barnes' Notes on the BibleAnd blessed is he ... - The word "offence" means a "stumbling-block."
See the notes at Matthew 5:29. This verse might be rendered, "Happy is he to whom I shall not
prove a stumbling-block." That is, happy is he who shall not take offence at my poverty and
lowliness of life, so as to reject me and my doctrine. Happy is the one who can, notwithstanding
that poverty and obscurity, see the evidence that I am the Messiah, and follow me. It is not
improbable that John wished Jesus publicly to proclaim himself as the Christ, instead of seeking
retirement. Jesus replied that he gave sufficient evidence of that by his works; that a man might
discover it if he chose; and that he was blessed or happy who should appreciate that evidence and
embrace him as the Christ, in spite of his humble manner of life.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary2. Now when John had heard in the prison—For the
account of this imprisonment, see on [1261]Mr 6:17-20.
the works of Christ, he sent, &c.—On the whole passage, see on [1262]Lu 7:18-35.
Matthew Poole's CommentaryVer. 4-6. We must imagine these disciples of John to have stayed
with Christ some time, and to have seen him work some of these miracles, and to have heard him
preach, and seen the great success of his ministry, and then to have left him with this answer.
Luke therefore addeth, Luke 7:21, And in the same hour he cured many of their infirmities and
plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. Then he repeateth the
answer which we have here, in which our Saviour refereth unto his works as sufficiently
testifying of him, John 5:36,37 10:25,37,38. We read not that these disciples saw any dead
person raised while they were with Christ, but it appeareth from Luke 7:18, &c. that the report of
such a miracle was the occasion of their coming to Christ.

The question is, how the sight of these things done by our Saviour could be a sufficient argument
to confirm to them that he was the Messias, especially considering that his apostles did the same
things?
Answer: First, it was prophesied by Isaiah, Isaiah 35:4-6, that when God should come to save
them, the eyes of the blind should be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the
lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: and Isaiah 61:1, that the Messiah
should preach good tidings to the meek, that is, the poor, Luke 4:18, which Christ, Luke 4:21,
applied to himself. So that the fulfilling of these promises argued that the Messias was come, and
no other was to be looked for, whether these things were done by him or by his disciples.
Secondly, the disciples as yet had done no such things, so as his doing of them plainly evidenced
his Divine power; the others did them but as his disciples, by his power and authority.
Thirdly, it is more than probable, that when the disciples did them, they used some such form as
Peter used, Acts 3:6, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. We find Peter,
Acts 3:12, very wary that the people should not mistake in thinking they did it by their own
power or holiness.
And the poor have the gospel preached unto them. Gr. ptwcoi euaggelizontai, which may be
translated, the poor preach the gospel, in an active sense, as the word is used Luke 2:10; or, the
poor are gospelized, taking the word in a passive sense, as Hebrews 4:2 1 Peter 1:25 4:6. In the
passive sense it may be understood either of a more external reception of the gospel upon
preaching, or of a more internal reception of the gospel by faith. In all senses it was true of the
times of the Messiah,
1. The poor preached the gospel; nor was this a mean evidence that the Messiah was come, to see
a few poor fishermen at his call leaving their nets and their friends, and following one calling
them to preach a new doctrine to the new world.
2. The poor had the gospel preached to them; nor was this a less evidence of Christ to be the
Messiah, considering the prophecy, Isaiah 61:1, and the contempt of the poor amongst the Jews,
John 7:49.
But that the poor, who commonly are the more ignorant and rude sort of people, should
vouchsafe to hear the gospel, and be turned into the likeness of the gospel upon Christ’s
preaching to them, this was yet a higher evidence. Many by poor understand the poor in spirit.
The binding up of broken hearts, and bringing glad tidings to souls sadden on spiritual accounts
is a great effect of the Divine power. It followeth, And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be
offended in me. It is not improbable that our Saviour here reflects on the disciples of John, who
out of a great honour for their master took many occasions to be offended at Christ. One while
because he and his disciples did not first so often as they and the Pharisees, as Matthew 9:14;
another while because so many followed him, John 3:26. But the words spoken have a further
reference than to John’s disciples. The Lord Jesus and his doctrine are to many a stone of
stumbling and a rock of offence, according to the prophecy, Isaiah 8:14 Isaiah 28:16 Luke 2:34
Romans 9:33 1 Corinthians 1:23 1 Peter 2:6. The Jews stumbled at the meanness of his person

and parentage, and the meanness of his followers. The Gentiles, not at these things only, but his
ignominious death. At this day many stumble at the sublimeness and strictness of his doctrine,
&c. Christ speaks here with reference to all, and pronounces that man a blessed man, who shall
so take offence at nothing, whether respecting his person, his life, or his death, his doctrine, or
his followers, as to deter or discourage him from embracing him, and believing in him as the
Saviour of lost sinners, that shall by faith receive him.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me.
The Jews were offended at Christ's parentage and birth, at the poverty of his parents, and at the
manner of his birth, by a virgin; and at the place of his birth, which they thought to be Galilee; at
his education, because he had not learnt letters, and was brought up to a mechanical
employment; at his mean appearance in his public ministry, in his own person, and in his
attendants: his company and audience being the poorer sort, the more ignorant, and who had
been loose and scandalous persons, publicans and sinners; at the doctrines he preached,
particularly, which respected his own deity and eternity, the distinguished grace of God, and
living by faith upon his flesh and blood. The disciples of John also were offended in him,
because he and his disciples did not fast, and lead such an austere life as they and their master
did; because of the meanness and obscurity of Christ's kingdom; the imprisonment of John, and
the many reproaches, afflictions, and persecutions, which did, and were likely to attend a
profession of Christ: this our Lord knew, and had a peculiar respect to them in these words; but
happy are those persons, who, notwithstanding all these difficulties and discouragements, are so
far from stumbling at Christ, and falling from him, that they heartily receive him and believe in
him, make a profession of him, and hold it fast; greatly love, highly value, and esteem him, and
are willing to part with all, and bear all for his sake: these are blessed, notwithstanding all their
sufferings for him even now; they have spiritual peace, joy, and comfort in their souls, and shall
be happy in the full enjoyment of him to all eternity.
Geneva Study BibleAnd blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Expositor's Greek TestamentHYPERLINK "/matthew/11-6.htm"Matthew 11:6. μακάριος (vide
Matthew 5:3), possessed of rare felicity. The word implies that those who, on some ground or
other, did not stumble over Jesus were very few. Even John not among them! On σκανδαλίζω
vide ad. Matthew 5:29. ἐν ἐμοί, in anything relating to my public ministry, as appearing
inconsistent with my Messianic vocation.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges6. And blessed is he] Blessed are all who see that
these works of mine are truly the works of the Messiah. Some had thought only of an avenging
and triumphant Christ.
blessed] A term that denotes spiritual insight and advance in the true life.
Bengel's GnomenHYPERLINK "/matthew/11-6.htm"Matthew 11:6. Μακάριος, blessed) A rare
felicity. That very circumstance, that many should be offended in Him, was foretold as a sign of
the Messiah.[514] He loaded others with benefits; He Himself was weak, poor, despised.—ὃς
ἐὰν, whosoever) especially of the disciples of John, who saw the difference between his mode of
living and that of our Lord. See Matthew 11:18-19.

[514] Isaiah 52:14. That very fact was an argument likely to be easily appreciated, especially by
the disciples of John. See Matthew 11:18, with which comp. Matthew 11:19.—V. g.
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 6. - And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended (Matthew 5:29,
note) in me; shall find none occasion of stumbling in me (Revised Version). But exhibits perfect
trust under delay and disappointment (James 1:12).
Vincent's Word StudiesBe offended (σκανδαλιοθῇ)
See on Matthew 5:29. Rev., shall find none occasion of stumbling. Compare Wyc., shall not be
slandered.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
"When Jesus Disappoints Us"
Matthew 11:1-6
Theme: Jesus is a Savior who disappoints our expectations, but does more than we
expected.
(Delivered Sunday, March 12, 2006 atBethanyBibleChurch. All Scripture quotes,
unless otherwise indicated, are from the New King James Version.)
This morning, we come to a turning point in our study of the Gospelof Matthew,
and of the story it tells us of Jesus' earthly ministry.
Prior to this point, Jesus' earthly ministry was - for the most part - warmly
received. Many marveled at His teaching, and wondered at the miracles He
performed. But when we come to Chapter 11, we find that Jesus began to
experience opposition. We find that the people to whom He came did not receive
Him. The Pharisees and the religious leaders began to bring accusations against
Him. Even members of His own family began to turn against Him; and the people
of His own hometown rejected Him. We find that His teaching became more and
more controversial in the minds of those who heard it. His authority became
increasingly challenged. His actions became increasingly viewed as a threat to the
religious culture of the day. The opposition against Him grew and grew; until,
eventually, He was betrayed into the hands of wicked men, and He died alone upon
a despised cross - with His few remaining followers having abandoned Him.

If I may put it this way - with the utmost reverence - Jesus, at the end of His
earthly ministry, proved to be a great disappointment to those who followed Him
and expected so much from Him.
But then, three days later, He rose from the dead - just as He promised; and now
ever lives as our Savior!
He always exceeds expectations!
* * * * * * * * * *
Before we begin our look at Matthew 11, let me share another story with you. Do
you remember the story of the two disciples as they walked along the road to
Emmaus, shortly after Jesus had been crucified? It's found in Luke 24. As I read
that story, I can't help but notice the "disappointment" they felt over Jesus.
Without their knowing it, Jesus had risen from the dead in victory; but their eyes
were restrained, and they didn't know that He had come along side the road bodily
and walked with them. They were mourning His death; and as they strolled along,
this fellow traveler - Jesus Himself - asked them why they were so sad. And they
were astonished at the question: "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have
You not known the things which happened there in these days?" And when He
asked what things they spoke of, they said,
"The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and
word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers
delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping
that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Yes, and certain women of our
company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. When they did not find His
body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He is
alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as
the women had said; but Him they did not see" (Luke 24:19-24).
Now think of the disappointment they expressed. They said, "But we were hoping
that it was He who was going to redeem Israel." They - like so many of that day -
were expecting Jesus to be the conquering, victorious Messiah that the Jewish
people were hoping for and had long been expecting. They were looking for Him
to be a mighty military and political leader - one who would overthrow the Roman
govermnent, and bring a victorious end to their occupation of the land; and who
would then take up His rightful upon the throne of King David, and restore the
earthly kingdom of Israel to its former glory and majesty.
Instead, what happened? Jesus - the One upon whom they had pinned their hopes -
was crucified on a humiliating Roman cross like a common criminal; and all their

expectations of Him were abruptly cut short. Clearly, they still loved Him; but just
as clearly, they were disappointed in their hopes of Him.
And yet - ironically - there He was alive, walking along and chatting with them!
And as we read on, we find that He even rebukes them for misunderstanding the
situation as it really was. He says,
"O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?"
And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the
Scriptures the things concerning Himself (vv. 25-27).
They were disappointed with Jesus, you see, becauseHe hadn't fulfilled the
expectations that they had for Him. And yet, He rebuked them for not having the
right expectations, and for not believing what the Scriptures had said WOULD
happen to Him! And so, He began speaking to them from the writings of Moses -
and on throughout the rest of the Scriptures. Point-by-point He proved to them that,
in dying on the cross, He actually fulfilled everything that the Scriptures promised
concerning the Messiah.
I would have loved to have heard that sermon; wouldn't you? The Bible tells us
that their hearts burned within them as He opened the Scriptures to them. I believe
that they began to see that the problem wasn't with Him - but with them! They had
not believed what the Scriptures had said concerning Him; and so they had come to
expect Him to do things that He had never promised He would do. And naturally,
when He didn't do what they expected Him to do, they were disappointed with
Him.
What humility of heart they must have experienced when they finally came to
understand this, and to repent of their misunderstanding! And what joy must have
been theirs when He revealed Himself to them, and they realized that He truly had
done what He had promised - and more! And what even greater joy still - and what
glorious hope! - must have been theirs when they realized that He truly WILL
fulfill all the promises about Him that were yet to be accomplished!
* * * * * * * * * *
Now; let's be honest this morning. Have you ever been disappointed with Jesus?
Did you ever approachHim with a set of expectations, and find that He did not
fulfill them? Have you ever felt as if Jesus had let you down?
I'll never forget a conversation I had with a woman once, many years ago. She used
to work in a place where I worked; and when she found out that I was a Christian,
she walked up to me and really let me have it. "I was in to that 'Christianity' stuff
once," she said; "but turned away from it, and I'll never return to it again. I want

nothing to do with the kind of God you Christians worship. He let me down when I
needed Him most."
I was shocked;but I had the presence of mind to ask her what she meant. She told
me that she had a sister that she loved very much. They were best friends. But she
came home one day to the horrible sight of her sister in her room - hanging by the
neck at the end of a rope. "If there's a God in heaven," she said - in some of the
most bitter tones I think I've ever heard - "then why did He let my sister commit
suicide? Why didn't He stop her? If that's your God, then I want nothing to do with
Him."
I wish I could make a really happy ending out of this story; but I'm afraid I can't. I
was still very young in the faith; and I didn't know what to say to this poorwoman.
But if I could go back in time, I certainly would listen to her pain for a while and
weep with her over her loss. I'd ask about her sister's life, and let her share with me
what she loved about her. But then - after a whole lot of tender and sympathetic
listening; and after affirming her pain and frustration over her loss - I think I'd want
to gently let her know that she was mad at Jesus for failing to keep a promise that
He never made. She had an unfair expectation of Him. She had expected Him to
violate the will of one of her loved ones and to prevent her from ever doing
anything harmful to herself. And so, when He didn't do what she apparently
expected that He had a duty to do, she became disappointed with Him, grew to
resent Him, and finally came to rejected Him.
That was just one incident. But since then, I have encountered many people who
became offended at Jesus in much the same sort of way - that is, because He didn't
do what they expected Him to do. Some folks expected that, if they asked, He
would get them out of some particular situation or problem they had gotten into;
and when He didn't, they became disappointed in Him. There are many people
sitting in a prison cell somewhere - very disappointed and bitter toward Jesus for
that very reason.
Others have expected that, if they pray and ask Him, Jesus is obligated to take
away their illness - or the illness of some loved one. But many people have sat in a
funeral director's office somewhere - very disillusioned and disappointed with
Jesus for not fulfilling that expectation.
Others have heard from a preacher on television - or have read in a book
somewhere - that if you turn to Jesus and follow Him, He will most certainly bless
you with material prosperity and riches. They were even promised that if they gave
generously to some particular ministry, the Lord Jesus was guaranteed to bless
them a hundred times over. And yet, as a result, many people have found

themselves broke - and very disappointed with Jesus for not fulfilling their
expectation.
I've heard many such stories. Many times, in one way or another, I've been told,
"I've tried trusting Jesus; and I found that He didn't help me. It doesn'twork to trust
Him." Thosekind of stories break my heart. But I have say this with love; the
problem is never with Jesus when He disappoints our expectations. The problem is
always with us and our expectations of Him. We expected Him to do something
that He never said He would do. We expect Him to fulfill our expectations on call.
And yet, the plain fact is that He isn't obligated to fulfill the expectations we place
on Him.
But on the other hand, the more I've gotten to know Him, the more He surprises
me. As I have gotten to know Him better, I have found that He isn't always what I
expected Him to be. But I have always found that He does everything that He
promises to do in a way that exceeds my feeble expectations of Him!
* * * * * * * * * *
I'm so glad, then, that the Lord has seen fit to include this morning's story in the
Scriptures. At first glance, it seems like a very bad piece of P.R. to have in the
Bible! After all, it tells us of how the man who was appointed by God to be the
greatest advocate for Jesus in His earthly ministry - a man who, in fact, had been
prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures as the 'forerunner' and 'herald' of our
Lord's earthly ministry - expressed a growing sense of disappointment in Him.
And yet, the Lord took his doubts seriously; and answered them. And what the
Lord told Him in this passage gives encouragement to the rest of us who have
those times of doubt - those times when Jesus seems to disappoint us.
First, notice . . .
I. THE PROBLEM: JESUS DOES NOT ALWAYS FULFILL THE
EXPECTATIONS THAT WE PLACE ON HIM (vv. 1-3).
The setting of this particular story was the completion of Jesus' commission to His
twelve disciples. He was sending them out with orders to preach about Him to the
cities of "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 10:6). Jesus gives them
many instructions and warnings throughout Chapter 10; and then we read,
Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that
He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities (Matthew 11:1).
I believe that the Holy Spirit intentionally included this particular story at the
beginning of Jesus' preaching ministry throughout these cities of Israel. As we read
on, we find that the people of Israel didn't receive Him or repent at His preaching.

In fact, we're even told - in verses 20-24, after His preaching ministry was
completed -
Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been
done, becausethey did not repent: "Woeto you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And
you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if
the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have
remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land
of Sodomin the day of judgment than for you" (Matthew 11:20-24).
You would have expected, on a strictly human level, that the Messiah would have
been warmly received by those who were waiting for Him. But the fact is that you
would have had a wrong expectation. And the Bible prophesied long ago that such
would be the case. Isaiah wrote - in one of the clearest Messianic prophecies in all
of Scripture:
Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beautythat we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him (Isaiah 53:1-3).
No one, then, should have expected the Messiah to be well-received by His own
people at His first coming. The Scriptures never promised He would be. In fact,
they promised the very opposite.
* * * * * * * * * *
Matthew then goes on to suggest to us what was happening within the mind of
John the Baptist during this time.
John had been thrown into prison (Matthew 4:12); and may have been in prison for
quite some time. He had served faithfully as God'sprophet;and had even
confronted open sin in the life of the king. He had confronted Herod Antipas -
tetrarch of Galilee - because Herod had married the wife of his own brother in
disobedience to the Scriptures (Matthew 14:4; Leviticus 18:16). Luke, in his

Gospel, puts it this way: "But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning
Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also
added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison" (Luke 3:19-20).
Try to think with me what might have been going on in John's mind, as he sat in
prison for being a faithful prophetof God. He knew that he had indeed been sent
by God as "[t]he voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the
LORD, Make His paths straight"' (Matthew 3:3; see also Isaiah 40:3). He knew
that it was given by God for him to announce the coming of the Messiah (John
1:26-27; 3:28) - and to point Jesus out to the people and declare, "Behold! The
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (v. 29).
And what's more, He knew that this Coming One would be a conquering and
victorious Messiah. He told the people who came to be baptized by him;
"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me
is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will
thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but
He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire" (Matthew 3:11-12).
And yet, here he was languishing away in prison; and he couldn't help but notice
that the mighty 'conquest' does notseem to have happened yet. His disciples had
apparently told him what Jesus was doing (Luke 7:18); but it wasn't going the way
he thought it was supposedto go. Where's the winnowing fan? Where's the
unquenchable fire? The things Jesus was doing where certainly wonderful. He was
healing people. But they are not at all what John was expecting. He expected Jesus
to be riding into Israel on a white stallion. Instead, it seemed as if He were strolling
across the land with a first-aid kit!
In fact, I would suggest to you that Jesus often surprised John. John apparently
couldn't tell that Jesus was the Sonof God just by looking. It took an act of the
Holy Spirit to identify Him to John (John 1:33-34; see also Isaiah 53:2). And then,
when Jesus came to John to be baptized by him, John clearly didn't expect it. "I
need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?" he said (Matthew 3:14).
In fact, Jesus didn't even act how John thought the Messiah should act. John's
disciples once came to Jesus and asked, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often,
but Your disciples do not fast?" (Matthew 9:14).
And now, John sits in prison and sees that Jesus was not even behaving like the
conquering Messiah that he - and all of Israel - expected the Messiah to be.
Perhaps, then, you can relate to John's doubts and growing disappointment when
you read,

And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his
disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"
(Matthew 11:2-3).
* * * * * * * * * *
So; there's the problem. We have expectations about Jesus; but He doesn'talways
fulfill the expectations we place on Him. It seems to me, as I read the Bible more
and more, that we should get used to the fact that Jesus often surprises us. Just
when we think we know Him, we find that He is quite a bit different from what we
thought He was. He always proves to be more than we thought He was; and He
will always prove to be greater than our expectations of Him were. He will always
exceed our understanding.
Now, John was right about the things that He expected Jesus to do. He was right to
expect Jesus to be the "conquering Messiah" that He believed Him to be. But the
error of the Jewish people to whom He came - and the error also of John, who was
the greatest and the best of the Jewish people - was in thinking that that was all
Jesus was - a conquering Messiah. It's true that He would eventually be the
'Conquering King' that the Scriptures promised He would be; but first, He came to
this earth to be the 'Suffering Sacrifice' that the Scriptures ALSO promised Him to
be.
This leads us then to acknowledge something that we, ourselves, should always
remember when Jesus disappoints our expectations . . .
II. THE FACT:JESUS KEEPS HIS PROMISES IN GREATER WAYS THAN
WE EXPECTED (vv. 4-5).
Luke, in his Gospelaccount of this story, tells us that the disciples that John had
sent actually spent time with Jesus when they came with this question. Luke tells
us that they were with Jesus "the very hour" that "He cured many infirmities,
afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind gave sight" (Luke 7:21). I even
secretly wonder if they watched for a while; and then had Jesus turn to them and
say, "Now, boys;you had some kind of question for me from John. What was it?"
How would it have been at such a time to say, "Lord, our master sent us to You
with doubts in his heart. He sent us to ask, 'Are You the Coming One, or do we
look for another?' But now that we have seen for ourselves, how could we ever ask
such a thing?"
I greatly appreciate how Jesus deals with John's doubts. He loved John and
respected his sincere question. Our Lord didn't rebuke John for asking; but He did
give him the answer he needed. We read;

Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and
see . . ." (v. 4).
And if I may just offer a quick aside? Perhaps there's a lesson for us in this.
Sometimes, our doubts and disappointments are alleviated through the experience
of another brother or sister Jesus sends to us. Perhaps there are times when doubts
about Jesus are meant to be taken away through the eye-witness accounts of friends
or loved ones who can testify - from personal experience - that Jesus truly is the
Son of God;and that He powerfully changes the lives of those who trust Him.
He may not fulfill our own fallible expectations of Him; but if we listen to others
who love Him, we may well be reminded that He does so much more than we
expect!
* * * * * * * * * *
Jesus then goes on to pass on His messianic credentials to John. He tells the
disciples of John to tell him what they both see and hear - both what they have
watched with their own eyes, and what they have heard through the testimony of
others with their own ears:
". . . 'The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear;
the dead are raised up and the poorhave the gospelpreached to them'" (v. 5).
These, of course, were all things that Jesus had done. The disciples of John saw
some of it with their own eyes; and they heard the testimony of much of it from
others. And I remind you that you and I have the same testimony recorded for us in
the Scriptures; so that we, too, might believe in Him.
But there's more. The report of these things would have been tremendously
significant to any Jewish man or woman who knew the Old Testament promises
about the Messiah. Every Jewish personwho was truly paying attention, and who
knew the Scriptures, would have remembered such passages as Isaiah 29:17-18
and its promise of the glorious days of the coming of the Messiah;
Is it not yet a very little while
Till Lebanon shallbe turned into a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?
In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book,
And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness
(Isaiah 29:17-18).
Or perhaps they'd remember Isaiah 35:4-6;
"Say to those who are fearful-hearted,
'Be strong, do not fear!
Behold, your God will come with vengeance,

With the recompense of God;
He will come and save you.'
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then the lameshall leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the dumb sing.
For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness,
And streams in the desert" (Isaiah 35:4-6).
Or Isaiah 61:1-2; where the Messiah Himself prophetically speaks - words that
Jesus once even clearly attributed to Himself during His earthly ministry;
"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD hasanointed Me
To preach good tidingsto the poor;
He has sent Me to healthe brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD"
(Isaiah 61:1-2a;see also Luke 4:18-19).
I believe that when the disciples of John went back and told John these things that
they heard and saw, John remembered these promises; and his heart was
encouraged that this - indeed - was the Messiah that he and his people had been
waiting for. Jesus was truly doing what the Scriptures promised that the Messiah
would do.
* * * * * * * * * *
And then - although we're not told this - I believe that John even remembered
more. I believe that the connection that he would have made in his mind to the
promises in the Book of Isaiah would have also reminded him of another set of
promises made there concerning the Messiah's suffering. Perhaps John's mind
would have gone back to Isaiah 53; where it says this about the Coming One:
Surely He hasborne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;

We haveturned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD haslaid on Him the iniquityof us all.
He was oppressed and He wasafflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
And they madeHis grave with the wicked -
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor wasany deceit in His mouth.
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shallprosper in His hand.
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And madeintercession for the transgressors (Isaiah 53:4-12).
We're not told this of course - I'm only speculating. But I suspectthat John
reflected on what was told him about the works of Jesus; and that he began to
realize that this "Conquering Messiah" was so much more than what he had
expected. His expectations of Jesus were biblical - but (if I may put it this way) not
biblical enough. He now knew Jesus will prove to be the conquering King of kings;
but that Jesus must first come to serve as the suffering Sacrifice for sinners - and
truly be the Lamb of God.
I believe our doubts and disappointments with Jesus begin to disappear, when we
realize that He is so much greater than our expectations! He fulfills all His

promises; but always does so in ways that are greater than we could possibly
imagine.
* * * * * * * * * *
And I have to pause at this point and ask. Are you disappointed with Jesus? Has He
failed in some way to fulfill your expectations? Perhaps it's because you have not
really expected enough of Him! Perhaps you've only looked to Him to provide
something for you that you "want"; but didn't realize that He first comes to provide
something that you "need". Perhaps you have not yet trusted Him as what He first
came to be - the Lamb of God, who sacrificed Himself for our sins on the cross.
This leads us to one final thing. It's a word that Jesus spoketo John; but I believe it
is intended to be an encouragement to all who have doubts and disappointments
about Jesus:
III. THE ENCOURAGEMENT: BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO IS NOT
OFFENDED BECAUSE OF HIM (v. 6).
To John - and to all who have mistaken expectations of Jesus that He does not
fulfill - He says,
"And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me" (Matthew 11:6).
The word that is used here is the Greek word skandalizõ; and it means "to be
caused to stumble" or to "beoffended". The New International Version translates
it, "Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." And I believe
that truly captures the spirit of Jesus' word of encouragement in this verse.
When Jesus disappoints someone's illegitimate expectations of Him, it's easy for
them to turn away from Him. It's easy for them to think that He has let them down;
and so, they want nothing more to do with Him. Many, as you know, have said just
that. It was the attitude that even John the Baptist was being tempted by. But here,
Jesus encourages that man or woman not to give up.
It's always dangerous to put words in the Lord's mouth; but I believe that it really is
as if He says to the disappointed man or woman, "Hang in there, dear suffering
one. I know I haven't been what you expected Me to be. I know you think that I've
let you down somehow. But the problem is not Me. The problem is the
expectations you have laid upon Me. Realize that I am much greater than the little
box you put Me into. Remember that I am not yours to command. Repent of your
expectations. Believe what the Scriptures say about Me. Trust Me to do - not what
you want Me to do - but what I have pledged Myself in the Scriptures to do for
you. And if you trust Me in that way, I will never disappoint you. You will find
that I will have accomplished everything I said I would do, and more! You will

find that I am far more than you ever thought I could be; and that you will - in due
time - be eternally satisfied in Me."
* * * * * * * * * *
Did you come here this morning in some way "disappointed" with Jesus? Do you
struggle with doubts aboutHim because He hasn't done what you have wanted
Him to do? Has He, in some deeply personal and painful way, grieved you by
fallen short of your expectations? Then please know you are not alone. In fact, you
are in good company. Even the great John the Baptist struggled in the same way.
If that's your experience this morning, then please know that Jesus loves you. And
please allow me to offer you some counsel from this morning's passage.
I recommend that, first, you step back and examine your expectations of Him.
Have you been expecting Him to do something for you, or be something to you,
that He never promised in the Scriptures? Remember - the disappointment never
comes from Him. It comes from our wrong and unbiblical expectations about Him.
Perhaps you have some "expectations" of Him that you have created in your own
mind, or that you have been taught from those who misrepresented Jesus to you.
Perhaps you have come here today with some expectations of Jesus that you need
to repent of and let go.
But second, I would urge you to go to the Scriptures and get to know Him better.
Find out what He is really like. Learn what He has truly promised to do. He always
surprises those who get to know Him. He is always greater than our expectations;
and He always does far more exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask
or think. His word assures us that He always fulfills His own promises; and will
always do so in ways that far exceed our greatest expectations of Him.
And third, remember His word of encouragement: "[B]lessed is he who is not
offended because of Me." Hang in there. Don't give up. Hold on to Him and never
let go. Admit that you don'talways understand Him, but that by faith you will cling
to Him.
If you embrace Him with all your heart as the Suffering Savior who died on the
cross foryou, then you can rest assured that He will never prove to be a
disappointment to you.
Missed a message? Check the Archives!
Copyright© 2006 BethanyBibleChurch, All RightsReserved

OFFENDED WITHCHRIST NO. 1398
A SERMON DELIVERED BYC. H. SPURGEON,AT THE
METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
“And blessedis he, whosoevershallnot be offended in Me.” Matthew 11:6.
THE connectionof the passageassistsus in feeling its force. Johnhad sent his
disciples to ask the MasterwhetherHe was, indeed, the Messiah. The Savior,
after giving abundant proof that He was the sent one who had long been
promised, then adds, “And blessedis he, whosoevershallnot be offended in
Me.” Had John begun to suspecta stumbling block in reference to the
Nazarene? Didhe question if so lowly a Personcould, indeed, be the promised
Christ? Had he expectedMessiahto be a glorious prince with an earthly
kingdom? Was he staggeredto find himself in prison under Herod’s power?
Was John, himself in doubt and did the Savior, therefore, say, “Blessedis he
who is not made to stumble concerning anything about Me”? There have been
many suggestions as to why John sent his disciples and, perhaps, we shall
never know, seeing it did not please Godto leave it on record. Some have said
he sent the messengers forhis own sake, for he was then under a fainting fit of
unbelief. I hardly think so and yet, it is possible, for John was an Elijah-like
man—a man of stern iron mold, and such men are apt to have occasional
sinking of a terrible sort. With most of the children of God, their weaknessis
most seenwhere their strength lies. Elijah failed in courage thoughhe was one
of the most courageous ofmen. After he had slain the priests of Baal, he was
afraid of a woman—afraidof Jezebel, and fled to hide himself. He said, “Let
me die. I am no better than my fathers.” It seems to be a law of nature that
the strongestmen should have the worstfits of weakness.Martin Luther’s life
is remarkable as illustrating this. He fainted as few men ever fainted—his
despair, on some occasions,was almostequal to his confidence at other times.
So it is possible that John, being of that class ofmen, after having boldly

confronted Herod and declaring, “It is not lawful for you to have your
brother’s wife,” may have fainted in spirit when he found himself shut up in
prison with no known and manifest token of Messiah’s kingdomcoming.
Prison may have been a severe trial to the Baptist. We are all affectedby the
atmosphere in which we dwell. Today has been a very heavy day to many a
spirit because the atmosphere has been loaded with damp and smoke. I
believe that there is more than a little truth in the rhyme— “Heaviestthe
heart is In a heavy air, Every wind that rises Blows awaydespair.” Now
John the Baptist, after living in the wilderness in the open air by the riverside,
must have felt a strange difference when he was shut up in the close,
oppressive dungeon of Herod, and the body may have helped to act upon the
soul. And so the mind, after its extraordinary tension in the greatservice to
which John was called, may have been draggeddown by the half-stifled body
till faith began to tremble. And so it may be that John, for his own
satisfaction, found it necessaryto ask, “Are You He that should come, or do
we look for another?” If so, the Savior well said, “Blessedis he that is not
offended in Me,” for, after all, notwithstanding his severe trial and deep
depression, John was not really offended in Christ. He was not actually
scandalizedbecause ofthe Lord whose forerunner he had been, but he held on
to his testimony and sealedit with his death. Blessedis his memory as that of
one who was not offended in Christ. Others, however, think that John sent
these disciples not at all for his own sake, but for theirs. That strikes me as
being the more probable. He wished to transfer them from himself to his Lord
and he, therefore, bade them go and inquire for themselves. He felt that the
answerwhich Jesus would be sure to give would be the best means of
convincing them that they ought to follow the servant no longer, but castin
their lot with his Master. Our Lord, after showing that He was indeed, the
Messiah, by working
Offended With Christ. Sermon #1398
Tellsomeone today how much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 24
2
2

miracles in their presence and preaching the gospel, then saidto them, “And
blessedis he who is not offended in Me. You see Me here despised and
rejectedof men, notwithstanding that I work miracles. You see that I am
calledBeelzebub and treatedwith the utmost scorn. You shall be blessedif,
believing Me to be the Christ of God, you follow Me without being staggered
at anything you see, or annoyed at anything you are calledto bear for My
sake.”Whatevermay have been John’s motive, the text will, I trust, serve us
for a useful purpose. May we be among the number of those who are blessed
because we are not offended in Christ. And let us now look at various
characters thatwe may know to which class we belong. First, there are some
who are so offended with Christ that they never accept Him as their Savior at
all. Secondly, there is another class ofpersons who, after professing to accept
Him and apparently casting in their lot with Him, are, after all, scandalized.
They find stumbling blocks and go back and forsake the way which they
professedto tread. But then, thirdly, there are others who, by the grace of
God, take Christ as He is with all their hearts and are not offended in Him,
and these are they that are blessedin very deed, and shall enter into eternal
blessednessin heaven. I. First, then, I shall try to speak and God help me to
speak effectually, TO SOME WHO ARE SO OFFENDED IN CHRIST THAT
THEY NEVER TRUST HIM AT ALL, OR ACCEPT HIM AS THEIR
SAVIOR. Let us tell the reasons why some men do not receive Christ and are
offended in Him. O that the Spirit of God may drive these unreasonable
reasons from their souls and lead them to Jesus. Some in His own day were
offended with Him because ofthe humbleness of His appearance. Theysaid,
“He is the sonof a carpenter. His father and His mother we know and His
brothers, are they not all with us? When Messiahcomes, we know not from
where He is, but as for this man, we know from where He is.” He came among
them as a mere peasant. He wore the ordinary raiment of the people. A
garment without seam, wovenfrom the top throughout, served His purpose.
No soft raiment and gorgeous appareldecoratedanddistinguished Him. He
did not affectany dignity. He came with no chariotand horses and pomp of a
prince. He was meek and lowly. Even in the grandestday of His triumph, He
rode upon a colt, the foal of an ass, and therefore, they said, “Is this the Sonof
David? Is this the King, the glorious one of whom prophets spoke in ages long
gone by?” And so they were scandalizedand offended in Him because there

was a lack of that earthly glory and splendor for which they had looked. Men
feel the same today. There are some who would be Christians, but then
Christianity must be a very respectable thing. And if the truth is to be found
among poor people, well, then, the truth may be for them, for they will not go
with them to hear a plain preacher and mix with common people. If truth
walks the streets in silver slippers, then they do not mind acknowledging it
and walking with it, but if it toils in rags through the back streets and by miry
pathways, then they say, “I pray you have me excused.” The religionof Jesus
Christ never was, nor ever canbe, the religion of this present evil world. He
has chosena people out of the world who believe it, but the world itself has
always hated it. Did not our Lord tell us (John 14:17), concerning the Spirit of
truth, that the world cannotreceive Him because it sees Him not, neither
knows Him? Wheneveryou find a religion which unites itself with pomp,
show and worldly power, if there is any truth in it at all, it has, at any rate,
deterioratedfrom the standard of its purity and is not according to the mind
of Christ. But there are some who are so fond of everything that is
fashionable—everything that is greatand famous—that, if the Lord Jesus
Christ is despisedand rejectedof men, they despise and rejectHim too. Ah,
but I hope that I address some to whom the Lord has given a nobler spirit. I
hope some men and women are here tonight, who will never reject the truth
because it is unfashionable, or refuse to follow Christ because He is despised.
No, but the noble spirit says, “Is it right? Then I will espouse it. Is it true?
Then I will believe it in the name of God. Though it may mean poverty and
shame, yet that is the side on which I will enlist.” There is a nobler chivalry
than all the chivalry of war. It is the chivalry of the heart that dares be nailed
to the cross with Christ soonerthan turn aside to seek flowerypathways and
follow the trail of the serpent. Yet many rejectChrist because ofthe
humbleness of His exterior. Who is on the Lord’s side and will dare declare it
before a scoffing world? Again, there are others who rejectHim because of
the fewness ofHis followers. Theylike to go where many go and they say,
“Well, but there are so few that go that way, I do not wish to be singular.” Yet
every honest heart must admit that truth could never yet be decided by votes,
for, as a rule, it has
Sermon #1398 OffendedWith Christ.

Volume 24 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ.
3
3
been in the minority. If we are to count heads we must go to the Pope, or the
Sultan, or the Brahmin. For my part I think that a minority of one with Christ
is strongerthan a majority of fifty millions againstHim, for Christ, the Son of
God, in His own person, sums up a total greaterthan all the multitudes that
ever can be againstHim. There are some who quite forget that our Lord has
said, “Broadis the way that leads to destruction and many there are which go
in that way.” And again, “Straitis the gate and narrow is the way which leads
unto life, and few there are that find it.” The way that leads to eternal life,
though it is the King’s highway, is often, as little frequented as a country lane.
If you must be on the side of the majority, then you will certainly be on the
side of deadly error unless there should come some happier times, when the
Lord has more greatly increasedthe number of His people than at the
present. May you be sparedto see such days, but those days have not come as
yet. And if you will not go with the Lord until the multitudes are with Him,
you will perish in your sin. Do not, I pray, stumble at Him because ofthis.
Some are offended with Christ for quite another reason, namely, because of
the grandeur of His claims. He claims to be Godover all, blessedforever. He
counted it not robbery to be equal with God, though He made Himself of no
reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant. Now some spirits
quibble greatly at this. They did so in His day. They took up stones to stone
Him because He made Himself equal with God. Proud, carnally wise minds
cannot endure the doctrine that the Redeemeris coequaland co-eternalwith
the Father, very God of very God. To my mind it is a reasonwhy I accept
Him. If He were not God, how could He save me? The weightof my sins
would staggerall the angels and cherubim and seraphim if they should try to
lift it. I must have a God to save me, or savedI can never be. And to me it is
the greatestconsolationpossible that He who was the son of Mary is also the
Son of God. That though human even as we are human, sin excepted, He was
altogetherdivine. Oh do not, do not be offended with Him because of this, but
rather rejoice in Immanuel, God with us, and trust your soul in His hand. A

certain number of unconverted men are grievouslyoffended with our Lord
because ofHis atonement. This which to us is the very centerof all His
excellence—thatHe saves us by standing in our place and bearing the wrath
of God on our behalf—this is dreadfully kickedat by some. And I have heard
these fastidious people finding fault with ministers for talking too much of the
blood. They cannot endure the term, “the precious blood of Christ.” We shall
never listen to their fastidiousness,not for a single moment. But if we knew
such to be present, we would go out of our way on purpose, to shock them
because we think that no respectshould be shown to such a wickedtaste. If
the doctrine of the atonement is kickedat, the answerof Christ’s minister
should be to preach the atonement againand againand againin the plainest
possible terms, and declare with even greatervigor and frequency the glorious
substitutionary sacrifice ofour Lord Jesus Christ in the place of His people.
This is the very heart of the gospeland should be preachedin your hearing at
leastevery Lord’s Day. Leave that out? You have left out the life of the gospel,
for “the blood is the life thereof.” Without shedding of blood there is no
remissionand, therefore, as remission is the greatprivilege of the gospel, we
have no salvation to declare and we have no remission to preach unless the
blood— “From His riven side which flowed” is continually set forth before
you Oh, why should men quibble at that which is their salvation? If they ever
are redeemed, it must be, “not with corruptible things as silver and gold, but
with the precious blood of Christ.” If they ever are cleansedfrom all sin, it
must be because of that divine declaration, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son
cleansesus from all sin.” May we never stumble at Christ because ofHis
cross, forthat were to reject our only hope, that were to quarrel with our life,
that were to insist upon shutting the gates ofmercy upon our own souls, that
were to become enemies to our best friend and to ourselves. Godsave us from
such an infatuation as that! We have found a goodmany, also, who are
offended because ofChrist for a different reasonaltogether, namely, because
of the graciousnessofthe gospel. It has too much free grace in it for them.
They would like a mingle-mangle of grace and works. You will constantly
hear it said that the doctrine of justification by faith is very dangerous and
ought to be preachedwith greatcaution. Occasionallyour secularpapers,
which, as you know, understand a greatdeal about religion, will instruct us as
to what we

4
4
should preach. The moral virtues ought to be our main theme and
justification by faith should be so qualified as to be virtually denied. It is very
wrong, they say, to sing that hymn— “Nothing, either greator small,
Nothing, sinner, no! Jesus did it, did it all, Long, long ago.” And to tell the
sinner that until he believes in Jesus Christ— “Doing is a deadly thing: Doing
ends in death,” is regarded as a crime so manifest that it needs only to be
mentioned and every readerof the paper will be dreadfully shocked. And yet
the editor of the paper, or the writer, probably calls himself a Protestant, and
justification by faith is the one doctrine upon which all Protestantismturns.
Very likely the writer of the stinging article calls himself a churchman and yet
even the doctrine of the Church of England about that matter is as plain as
words could possibly make it. Yes, and then they suppose us to be some
modern sectof revivalists that have newly sprung up, although we are
preaching that which is and always was the gospel, the doctrine by which you
may test whether a church stands or falls—salvation, not by the works ofthe
law, but according to the grace of God. Crowds of people cannot endure
grace. And as to the term, “free grace,”they saythat it is a tautological
expression. It may be so, but it is a very expressive term and because they do
not like it, I always intend to use it. It will do them goodto be made to know
that we mean it and, therefore, use doubly strong language. It shall not only
be, “gratis,” whichis free, but, “free gratis.” And we will, one of these days,
put something else on to make it plainer still, if possible, and say, “Free,
gratis, for nothing.” Salvation through eternallove, salvationthrough mercy
alone, salvation, not of merit, salvation, not of the will of man, nor of blood,
nor of the flesh, but salvationby the eternal purpose of divine sovereignty.
Salvationby the will of God, who has said, “I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy, and I will have compassiononwhom I will have compassion”—
this we will, always preach. Grace free as the air, spontaneous, undeserved,

but given of God because He delights in mercy. Yes, they kick againstthis but,
if they knew themselves, they would know that nothing else will ever suit the
sinner but this. He who has brokenthe divine law is never in a right state of
heart till he feels salvationby himself to be hopeless till he is shut up in the
condemned cell and hears the sentence readagainsthim condemning him to
die and knows that nothing he can do can, by any possible means, reverse that
sentence, and then sees Jesus interposing in all the freeness ofHis love and
saying, “Now you have nothing to pay. I frankly forgive you all.” Grace is the
glory of the gospel. Do not be offended with it, I pray you, or you will be
offended with your own life Then, on the other hand, there is another class of
persons who are offended with our blessedLord and Masterbecause ofthe
holiness of His precepts. Alas that there should be traitors in the camp who
can geton very wellwith grace and free grace, but then, alas, they turn it into
licentiousness andtake liberty to sin because ofthe freeness of divine mercy.
If you begin to declare that, “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” If
you preach, as Jesus did, that he who forgives not his brother abides in death.
If you tell them that the omissionof these outward virtues will prove that the
inward life is absent. If you declare that the axe is laid to the root of the trees
and every tree that brings not forth goodfruit is cut down and castinto the
fire. If you go on to insist upon it that there must be the outward marks and
evidences of saintship or else the pretense of experience is a mere lie—then,
by-and-by, they are offended and exhibit a bitter spirit. Oh that none of us
may actso. The highest holiness is the delight of the true believer. If he could
be absolutely perfect, he would rejoice above measure. It will be his heaven to
be perfect, and the one thing he strives after here below is to get the mastery
over all sin. Not that he hopes to be saved by that, but because he is savedand,
being saved, out of love to Jesus Christ he desires to adorn the doctrine of God
His Saviorin all things. May we never be offended by the purity and
perfection of our Lord and His teaching. I might continue this long list of
things by which men have been offended with Christ—some because the
gospelis so mysterious, they say, and others because it is so very simple that it
is not deep enough for such greatintellects as theirs. Men, if they want to be
offended because ofChrist, will be sure to find something or other to quarrel
with. They stumble at this stumbling stone, “Whereunto also,”

5
5
says the Lord very solemnly, “they were appointed.” They put this stumbling
block in their ownway and God appoints that they shall fall. They fall upon it
now and are broken, and one of these days that stone will fall on them and
grind them to powder. My dear hearers, I cannotstay longer on this subject,
but if there are any of you that are offended with Christ, I pray the Lord will
make you feel your extreme folly and wickedness.Offendedwith the
Redeemer!What madness!May you go and confess this insult to your Savior,
and acceptHim at this very moment as your all in all. II. Now I want to speak
to professing Christians. THERE ARE SOME WHO JOIN THE CHURCH
OF JESUS CHRIST WHO, AFTER A TIME, ARE OFFENDED.Now, why is
it that some, who profess to know Him are offended with Christ? Well, with
some it is because the novelty wears off. Very earnestservices were held and
they were greatly affected. Theythought that they repented and believed, so
they joined the church. Now the goodmen who held the services are gone and
everything seems rather flat after such excitement. And so they have gone
back again. They jumped into religion like a man into a bath, and they have
jumped out again, put on their clothes and gone back to the world and to what
they were before. Persons ofthis sort are very plentiful just now. If they were
ever born againthey were born with a fever upon them. And if you do not
keepup the heat and let them live in an oven, they will die. We know that such
hothouse plants will never pay for the fuel used in forcing them. We are
grieved that it is so, but we have seenit so often that we do not wonderat it so
much as we used to do. Hot weatherbreeds flies and warm showers bring out
reptiles. There are not a few who professedto become Christians and who
thought that they were always going to be happy. The evidence that they gave
of being Christians was “that they felt so happy.” I do not know that mere
happiness is any evidence of being a Christian at all, for many are living far
from God and yet accountthemselves very happy, while some of those who

live near to God are groaning because theycannot get nearerstill. Yet a joyful
feeling is regardedby many as conclusive evidence of salvation. And they add
to this the notion that as soonas ever they believed in Jesus Christ the conflict
was all over and there remained nothing more to be done in the way of
resisting sin and denying the lusts of the flesh. They dreamed that they had
only to start on pilgrimage and get to the CelestialCity in a very short period
of time—only to draw the swordfrom the scabbardand all Canaanwas
conquered in an hour. Very soonthey find that it is not so. Their old
corruptions are alive. The flesh begins to pull a different way from that which
they profess to have chosen. The devil tempts them and they are so
disappointed by their new discoverythat they become offended with Christ
altogether. A sudden victory would suit them, but to carry a cross before
winning a crownis not to their mind. Others of them have met an opposition
they did not expect from their adversaries, while from their friends they have
not met with all the respectthat they think they ought to have. Their friends
and acquaintances have laughed at them. Their workmates in the shop have
jeeredat them. They did not count on this, they never counted the costand so
they are offended with Christ. Is it not a strange thing that we who begin our
religion at the cross, if we begin aright, should ever be astonishedthat the
cross keeps close to us, or should be surprised that the world treats us with
disdain? But so it is. Persecutionarises andmany are offended. It is not that
they burn them to death or put them in prison. No, no, they only make a joke
or two or they give them the cold shoulder and shut them out of society. But
the poor creatures are so thin-skinned that they cannotendure even these
light afflictions and so they are offended and miss the blessing. When they
joined the Christian church everybody was so glad to see them at first, as we
always are when there is a new-born child. But many more new converts have
come since then, and the former ones feelthat they are not pampered so much
as they were and so they become annoyed and under one pretense or another
slink away. BecauseChrist’s people do not carry them about as wonders and
cry, “Hosanna,” overthem all their days, they are ready to go back to the
world and complain that they have been disappointed with religion and with
Christians. Oh, but this is evil. This is a wrong spirit which must by no means
be displayed. Yet I fear it is to be seenin many places. This is an offense which
ought never to arise. We have known some who have become offended with

Christ, or were in greatdanger of it because they beganto find that religion
entailed more self-denial than they had reckonedupon. The precepts of
6
6
our blessedMastercome very close home to their consciencesandgall them
somewhat. He told them that the yoke was easyand that the burden was light,
and so it is to the meek and lowly in heart, but they are not changedin heart
and, therefore, they find the burden heavy and the yoke galling. I do not
wonder that it is so, for that which is the delight of the renewedheart is
bondage to the unregenerate spirit, and self-denials, which really are no
denials at all to the man who is born again, are an iron bondage to those who
still remain in their unregenerate state. Theyget offended and they go away
from the Masterwhom they professedto serve. I have knownsome goodsouls
almost offended at the Masterthrough the hard speechesofthose who ought
to have encouragedthem. I was speaking not long ago with a young lady who
had, for some, time been devoting herselfvery earnestly to the cause of Christ.
I do not know one who had done more than she had done in her own sphere,
but she was in greatdistress because the personwith whom she had worked
for many months had spokenvery bitterly of her. Though she had been his
best helper, he seemedto regard her as his worst enemy. And as she told me
what he had said, I was very sorry, but the worst part about it was the
temptation which the devil put in her way. The evil one whispered, “Never
take a prominent place again. Give up your work. You are said to be eagerto
help, now be quiet and do nothing.” Now, it will happen to all of us more or
less, that if we try to be zealous, in the Master’s cause, we shall be
misunderstood. Wetblanket factories are pretty numerous and some
benevolent brother is sure to bring one of these articles for our use. He thinks
that it will do us good, but it is mischievous to our spirits. Blessedis he who
cannot be offended in that way. It may encourage youto know that, generally,
those whom God largelyblesses have to go through a great fight at first, from

their own brothers and sisters. Look atDavid. He was to bring home giant
Goliath’s head, but those elder brothers of his all said, “Becauseofthe pride
and the naughtiness of your heart, you are come to see the battle.” They
recommended him to stay at home with his sheep, evenas they told us to keep
clearof a pulpit. But God did not mean that he should remain hidden. If the
Lord means to bless you, some of His very dear people will be for putting you
back among the sheep again. But do not be scandalizedat Christ on that
account. Stand firm as you have done. Press forward. Be not disgustedor
discouraged, but, on the contrary, remember that opposition is very often the
sign of coming success. Press forward, for, “Blessedis he that is not offended
in Me.” Moreover, many young Christians are greatlystaggeredby the ill
conduct of professors. Ithink that there is no worse trial to a babe in Christ
than to see elderly Christians walking inconsistently and living in a lukewarm
state, and even speaking as if they were antagonistic to all earnestattempts to
spread the kingdom of Christ. If you are one of God’s children you will not
die at their hands any more than Josephat the hands of his brothers. If the
Lord has, indeed, quickenedyou with spiritual life, you will press on and
work for the Masterand not be ashamed. It has frequently occurredto me to
deplore that some professors fallback through trials of providence. We
occasionallymiss members of the church because they were pretty well-to-do
when they joined with us, but things have gone badly with them, and they feel
as if they could not show themselves. They will even saythat they have not any
clothes fit to worship in. I have often told you that any clothes are fit to
worship in as long as you have paid for them. Clothing, be it fine or
threadbare, is nothing to me. As far as I am concerned, I really do not know
what people wear. It never strikes my eye. I am too busy looking at your faces,
when I can see you, to even notice what you may happen to wear. Come;oh
come, to the house of God, my suffering brothers and sisters. Neverlet the
devil prevail upon you to stay away. If your shoe leaks, if there is a hole in the
elbow of your coat, the Lord does not look at that, nor do we. You come along.
We shall be glad to see you, the most of us, and if there are some who will not
be glad, they are nobodies. Do not take any notice of them. But never stay
awayfrom the house of God because ofyour shabbiness. What can it matter?
When you begin to getlow in circumstances do not be proud and say, “I can’t
dress as I once did, or make such a dash as I did and so I shall not go.” Why,

you are still the same person. A man is a man notwithstanding the little or the
much which he possesses.And when earthly comforts are going, you ought to
seek heavenlycomforts all the more. And the pooreryou getin substance, the
richer you ought to seek to be in grace. “The poorhave the gospelpreached
unto them.” But I know that this is a temptation. I have heard it saidthat in
Jamaica in the Negro churches, whenwages are low, attendance at the means
of grace begins to decline. I know
7
7
that it is so, but so it ought not to be. Do not be offended with Christ. If He
choosesto let you be poor, be satisfiedto be poor. Yes, if you get to be as low
as Job who saton a dunghill, scraping himself with a piece of an old pot, yet
learn to say with the heroic Patriarch, “ThoughHe slay me, yet will I trust in
Him.” If He is not ashamed of me, I will not be ashamedof Him, or ashamed
to follow, even in rags, the standard of Him who hung upon the cross and
triumphed there for me. “Theyparted His garments among them, and for His
vesture did they castlots.” I cannotbe worse cladthan He. Be not ashamedof
Him, then. III. The last head is that THERE ARE SOME WHO ARE NOT
OFFENDED IN CHRIST AND THEY ARE DECLARED TO BE BLESSED.
They are so because if God had not blessedthem they would not be found
clinging to their Lord, but would have gone back like others. Apart from
anything else, it is a blessedthing to have grace enoughgiven you to hold fast
to Christ under all circumstances.If you were not one of those whom He has
chosenfrom before the foundations of the world, if you were not one of those
whom Christ speciallyredeemed with His blood, if you were not one of those
in whom the Holy Spirit has placed a new heart and a right spirit, you would
go back. But if you hold out to the end, you have in that the evidence that the
Lord has loved you with an everlasting love. Oh, you that are on and off with
Jesus, whata poor hope yours must be. You that can run with the hare and
hold with the hounds, you that try to serve God and Mammon—you have no

marks of being God’s children. But those of you who put your footdown for
Christ and cannot be moved, you who have said unto your souls, “By His
grace I will not depart from following the Lord”—you have, in that very fact,
the evidence of being blessed. And then you shall find a blessednessgrowing
out of your fidelity. I believe that persecutedones have more blessedness than
any other saints. There were never such sweetrevelations ofthe love of Christ
in Scotlandas when the Covenanters met in the mosses and on the hillside. No
sermons ever seemedto be as sweetas those which were preachedwhen
Claverhouse’s dragoonswere out and the minister read his text by the
lightning’s flash. The saints never sang so sweetlyas when they let loose those
wild bird notes among the heather. The flock of slaughter, the people of God
that were hunted down by the foe, these were they who saw the Lord. I
guarantee you that in Lambeth Palace there were happier hearts in the
Lollards’ dungeon than there were in the Archbishop’s Hall. Downthere
where men have lain to rot, as did Bunyan in Bedford Jail, there have been
more dreams of heaven and more visions of celestialthings than in the courts
of princes. The Lord Jesus loves to reveal Himself to those of His saints who
dare take the bleak side of the hill with Him. If you are willing to follow Him
when the wind blows in your teeth and the snow flakes come thickly till you
are almostblinded, and if you can say— “Through floods and flames, if Jesus
lead, I’ll follow where He goes,” youshall have such unveilings of His love to
your soul, as shall make you forgetthe sneers ofmen and the sufferings of the
flesh. God shall make you triumphant in all places. You know this already by
experience, do you not? You that are His people must know that whenever
you have had to suffer for Christ it has been a blessedthing for you.
Whenever anybody jeeredat you and you have felt it for the time, yet, if you
have been able to bear it well, it has brought many a sweetreflection
afterwards. Somebodypushed goodMr. Kilpin into the gutter and slapped
him at the same time and said, “Take that, John Bunyan.” Whereupon the
goodman took off his hat and said, “I would take 50 times as much as that to
have the honor to be calledJohn Bunyan.” Learn to look upon insults for
Christ in the same light and when they call you by an ill name reply, “I could
bear a thousand times as much as that for the pleasure of being associated
with Christ in the world’s derision.” But what blessednessawaitsyou if you
are not offended in Jesus. Youare blessedwhile you are waiting for Him, but

your best reward is to come. In that hereafter, when the morning breaks on
the everlasting shore, how will they be ashamedand disgusted with themselves
who soughttheir ownhonor and esteemand denied their Lord and Master!
Where will Demas be then, who chose the present world and forsook his
Lord? Where will that sonof perdition be who chose the 30 pieces of silver
and sold the Prince of Life? What shame will seize upon the coward, the
fearful, the unbelieving, the people who checkedconscience andstifled
conviction because a fool’s laugh was too much for them! Then they will
8
8
have to bear the Savior’s scornand the everlasting contempt of all holy
beings. But the men who stoodmeekly forward to confess their Lord—who
were willing to be set in the stocks ofscornfor Christ, ready to be spit upon
for Him, ready to be calledill names for His sake, readyto lose their
character, their substance, their liberty and their lives for Him—oh how
calmly will they awaitthe greatjudgment when loyalty shall receive honor
from the greatKing. How bright will be their faces whenHe that sits on the
throne will say, “TheyconfessedMe before men, and now will I confess them
before My Father which is in heaven. These are Mine, My Father,” He will
say, “They are Mine. They clung unto Me and now I own them as My jewels.”
These are they that followedthe Lamb where ever He went. They read the
word and what they found there they believed. They saw their Lord’s will in
the Scriptures and they labored to do it. They were faithful to conscienceand
to conviction, and the Spirit dwelt in them and guided their lives. They shall
be the Redeemer’s crownand the beloved of His Father. They were the poor
of this world. They were consideredto be mere idiots by some, and were
thought to have gone mad by others. But they are the Lord’s own elect. Jesus
will say, “Theywere with Me in My tribulation. They were with Me in the
midst of a crookedand perverse generationand now they are Mine, and they
shall be with Me on My throne. Come, you blessedof My Father, inherit the

kingdom prepared for you from before the foundations of the world.” Oh,
you are happy, you people of God who lose goodsituations because you
cannot do dishonestthings. You who cannot break the Sabbath and therefore
shut the shop and lose a large part of your incomes, you who, for Christ’s
sake, dare to be singular and are not ashamedto be called“puritanical” and
to be pointed out as hypocrites, you who bravely refuse to indulge in the
intoxicating cup and utterly turn aside from evil companions. You who will
not be found in the haunts of vice which men call pleasure, you, who, though
you may think a thing to be lawful will, nevertheless, denyyourselves because
it is not expedient and will avoid the appearance ofevil. You who try to put
your feet down in the footprints of Christ and follow Him in all things—you
are and shall be truly blessed. With all your faults and imperfections which
you mourn over, your Lord is not ashamedof you and He will confess youat
the last. Oh, may you all be true adherents of Jesus. I setup a standard
tonight and will try to act as recruiting officer. Who will be enlisted into the
army of Christ tonight? Is any young man ready to say, “I will”? Yes, but
count the cost. Are you prepared to be ridiculed? Are you prepared to suffer?
Are you willing to put up with the hatred of your own family soonerthan
forsake Godand His Christ and the truth? We will not have you if you won’t.
Christ will not own you if you won’t. It must be a thorough coming to Him.
“Come you out from among them and be you separate, says the Lord, and
touch not the unclean thing. And I will receive you and will be a Father unto
you, and you shall be My sons and daughters.” Who is on the Lord’s side?—
who? Let your hearts answer, for there shall come a day when that same word
shall thunder over all the earth, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Who?” Many
then will rue the day in which they were ashamedto confess a persecuted
Christ. May we be on His side tonight, first trusting Him, relying upon Him
alone, for salvation, and then surrendering ourselves to Him to be His forever.
Amen.
Matthew 11:1-6: “John The Baptist Sends His Disciples To See If Jesus Really Is The Christ”
by

Jim Bomkamp
Back Bible Studies Home Page
1. INTRO:
1.1. In this next sectionwe will begin to take a look at the man John the
Baptist, or as Jon Coursonrefers to him, ‘J The B’
1.1.1. In this first study we will look at him as a goodand righteous man,
really the best that everlived during the Old Testamenttimes, yet a man who
at a certain juncture in his life had real and honestdoubts about who Jesus
was
1.1.1.1.Having servedthe Lord faithfully for all of his life, and then during the
couple years of his ministry of proclaiming the need to repent and to be ready
for the coming of the Lord and His Kingdom, John had then found himself in
prison for condemning Herod Antipas for his adulterous relationship with
Herodias, and it was here in the isolationof months of time in a prison that he
beganto have doubts about whether or not Jesus truly was the Messiah
1.1.1.2.He servesas an encouragementfor us today since most goodpeople
experience doubts in certaintimes of their life
1.1.1.3.He also servesas anexample to us because whenhe had doubts he took
them to the Lord
2. VS 11:1 - “11:1 And it came about that when Jesus had finished giving
instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and
preach in their cities.” - Jesus departedfrom teaching His 12 disciples and
went to teachand preach in the synagoguesofGalilee

2.1. Jesus not only sought to instruct His disciples when the opportunity
presenteditself, He also soughtopportunities to preach the gospelof His
coming Kingdom to the common people
3. VS 11:2-6 - “2 Now when John in prison heard of the works of Christ, he
sent word by his disciples, 3 and said to Him, “Are You the ExpectedOne, or
shall we look for someone else?” 4 And Jesus answeredand said to them, “Go
and report to John what you hear and see:5 the blind receive sightand the
lame walk, the lepers are cleansedand the deaf hear, and the dead are raised
up, and the poor have the gospelpreachedto them. 6 “And blessedis he who
keeps from stumbling over Me.”” - John the Baptist sends his disciples to
determine if Jesus reallyis the Christ or just a great prophet
3.1. The question that we have here regarding these verses is whether or not
John the Baptistis really having serious doubt about whether or not Jesus was
the Messiah?Was he wondering if he had been reading things wrong all
along?
3.1.1. There are those who teachthat John was such a greatman of faith that
he couldn’t have been having serious doubts at this time, therefore he senthis
disciples with this question to Jesus for their sake, nothis
3.1.2. I personallybelieve that John was having honest doubts about Jesus
3.1.2.1.Johnsurely had never really understood many of the concepts ofJesus’
first coming, for he like everyone else had probably thought that Jesus would
sooncome to power and conquer the nations as Israel’s king and establishHis
reign upon earth, yet it was seeming obvious by this time to John that Jesus
had no such plans in mind
3.1.2.1.1.Jesus’firstcoming was to be the suffering Messiahto die on the cross
for the sins of the world, yet had John really come to understand this and all
its implications? Probably not.
3.1.2.2.John, the wandering free spirit who had lived his life out among nature
had been sitting as a captive in a dinjy horrible prison now for many months,
and this prolongedsuffering causedJohn to have his faith tested
3.1.2.3.There is a poem called, ‘How Often’, that deals with Christians and
our doubting:

Jesus was blessing those not offended in him

Jesus was blessing those not offended in him

Recommandé

Recommandé

Contenu connexe

Tendances

Tendances (20)

Similaire à Jesus was blessing those not offended in him

Similaire à Jesus was blessing those not offended in him (20)

Plus de GLENN PEASE

Plus de GLENN PEASE (20)

Dernier

Dernier (20)

Jesus was blessing those not offended in him