Offense

“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon?  Are not His sisters here with us?  And they took offense at Him.”  Mark 6:3

Offense –  Sometimes we come across a Greek word that gives us deeper insight into our thought processes.  That is usually because our language reflects much more subtle patterns than just a collection of letters.  Language is in some senses a picture of how we interpret the world.  Consider how many words we have for “automobile”.  There are literally hundreds of different words for cars.  But we have only one word for snow.  Eskimos have more than 40 different words for “snow”.  Does this give you some insight into what is truly important in these two cultures?

The Greek word translated “offense” is skandalizo.  It comes from a word that means, “a trap”.  We don’t think of “offense” or “scandal” as a trap, but maybe we should.  What happens when we are offended?  Don’t we feel wounded?  Aren’t our feelings hurt?  Why?  Is it because our assessment of our own importance is questioned?  Is our pride injured?  Perhaps an offense has more to do with the “trap” of our own ego than it does with the action of another?

There is still a deeper level.  This Greek word also means, “to stumble, to cause to fall.”  Did you notice that the reason these people were upset is that they had a pre-conceived idea about who Jesus was and they didn’t like the fact that he wasn’t acting according to their expectations?  Jesus offended them because of who he was!  The tragedy here is that he spoke the truth but they were trapped by their own opinions.  They stumbled and fell because they were not willing to change their minds.

Jesus offends many.  It will always be that way.  He will always cause those who refuse to see the truth to stumble.  Jesus is quite literally a trap.  He catches us when we decide that we are right and he is wrong.  His life baits us to investigate and when we refuse to acknowledge his authority, we are caught in God’s judgment.   Jesus is the scandal of all history:  a man who is God, a God who dies, a claim that allows no compromise.  Offensive?  Yes!  True.  Absolutely.  It is the scandal of God’s intolerance to our pride.