Luke 7:23
ESV - 23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.
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When John the Baptist was thrown in prison by the king Herod, he was held there for sometime till he was beheaded (Mark 6:17-18). In between, it had cast doubt in him about the person of Jesus. He had expected Jesus to come to his rescue immediately. But when it took sometime with no such mission, he (John) sent his disciples to confirm if Jesus was the Christ. Yet John himself had baptized Jesus and according to what is scripted in the Bible, he (John) had been well aware of the person of Jesus (Matthew 3:13-17). As that, John had not doubted the person of Jesus per Se, but his (John's) expectations had differed from those of Jesus. Equally so, many people to date go on to hold Christ in doubt because their expectations differ from those of Jesus. When Jesus received the message from John, how He answered back was clear implication He is the Christ; by virtue of Himself and by virtue of what He was doing (Matthew 11:2-5). But remarkably, He went on to say this; "And blessed is he whomsoever shall not be offended in me" (Luke 7:23). What though did Jesus mean by this? The answer to this question is only to help us understand better. What though is it? Why Jesus said; "...blessed is he whomsoever is not offended in me". For Jesus knew who He is, He only loved it that we equally get to hold the same view of Him. Well, who is Jesus? What does scripture say about Him? Well, let us search the scriptures like the Berean Jews did (Acts 17:11). According to scripture, the following is the true person of Jesus: Jesus the Son of God Jesus the Christ Jesus the true sacrifice and the Savior Jesus the good Shepherd and the door Jesus the Ancient of days Jesus the Son of God. Does scripture prove Jesus is the Son of God? Yes, scripture does indeed prove Jesus is the Son of God (Psalms 2:7), (John 5:26), (John 1:14), (Mark 1:11), (Matthew 3:17), (Matthew 17:5), (John 14:13), (Matt 27:54). Jesus equally referred to Himself as so (Matt 26:63-64). Jesus the Christ Christ means the anointed one. Is Jesus the Christ? Yes indeed, according to scripture, Jesus is the Christ. He had been solely anointed for the purpose of the remission of the human sin and to set man free from the bondage of sin. For nobody else could have ever done this job besides Jesus the Christ (Luke 4:18), (Acts 10:38). Jesus the true sacrifice and the Savior According to scripture, Jesus is the true sacrifice for the sins of mankind and thereby the Savior (Matt 1:21), (Acts 4:21), (Luke 2:11), (1Timothy 1:15), (Titus 2:13), (Acts 13:23), (Luke 19:10). Jesus the good Shepherd and the door Jesus is the good shepherd. Who is a good shepherd though? A good shepherd is always there for the sheep and identifies with them. He protects them when they are attacked. He offers His life in their place of condemnation (John 10:11). He does not discriminate against them. He does not look to benefit from them but Himself to benefit the sheep (John 10:12-14). Does Jesus qualify for this? Yes He indeed does when He offered Himself to die a shameful death on the cross for the salvation of the human race (Luke 23:33), (Matt 27:35). Jesus the Ancient of days Is Jesus the Ancient of days? Yes indeed He is the Ancient of days and indeed He is God. Daniel prophesies that he saw one like the Son of Man (Daniel 7:13). Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man (Matthew 20:28), (Mark 14:62). This further confirms Jesus is the Ancient of days being spoken of in Daniel (Daniel 7:9), (Daniel 7:22). In light of all the above, for John to have gone on to cast doubt on the person of Jesus because of the challenges he had been facing had been a grave mistake. For to doubt Jesus on such grounds had implied Jesus could have been an imposter and was therefore not the Christ, the good shepherd, the Savior, the Son of God as scripture lays it. John had said so not knowing he wouldn't have been if Jesus had not been. Equally so, we should never doubt God on any grounds. He remains God in any situation.
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