daily java

Daily Java:

Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?” Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.” (Matthew 15:12-14)

The old catchphrase was WWJD. What would Jesus do? What would he do if someone was offended?

It is very easy to offend someone when you are a preacher. You say something that happens to hit home to someone and they are mad. “You were preaching to me!” they whine.

And you were, of course. You didn’t know it, but the Spirit did. And the Spirit connected with their spirit and they made a connection. But instead of hearing it and recognizing the need to change, they tried to shoot the messenger.

Many a preacher has had his ministry cut short because he said something that offended someone. They got mad, went to the elders, or council, or board or each other and talked about it, built it up. Then, in revenge and retribution at the preacher’s utter gall in preaching about things they needed to hear, they have him fired.

The Pharisees (the conservative Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ day) got mad because Jesus didn’t do something that they had decided centuries ago was a necessary tradition. It was ceremonial handwashing, a small thing, but as far as they were concerned, on a par with the Ten Commandments. After all,, they had decided to do it and now it was enshrined in the annals of tradition. “We have always done it that way.”

They confronted Jesus with his “sin,” or his lack of obeisance to their traditions. Jesus said, in essence, “So what?”

Then he went so far as to tell them that their traditions didn’t matter and that they were giving God false worship: that of lipservice with no heart behind it.

They got deeply offended. The apostles felt themselves trapped between the man on one side that they knew was from God and their own traditions and authority figures on the other. It scared them and they told Jesus.

His response? Ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.

In other words, they do not know what they are talking about and anybody who listens to them will not know what God wants either. As leaders they are worthless, Jesus said.

Strong words. And if Jesus had been the pastor of a church, he would have been fired.

Someone has a complaint that is foolish. You know it is foolish and everyone else does too. But this person is an influential member of the church. They are important. They give a lot, they are charter members, they have a big position in the community that is such that their displeasure will reflect badly on the church.

In other words, they are mad and will hurt the church rather than admit they were wrong.

This is not talking about someone who is confused and earnestly seeking the word and will of God. This is talking about someone who is used to having his or her way and suddenly some preacher tells them they are wrong.

WWJD? He would ignore them. Hard words and a hard thing to do for a preacher, but true nonetheless. He never gave in to people who were just trying to get their way. He came to do the will of the Father who sent him (John 5:30).

I have had an otherwise good work destroyed because an old woman got mad at me for something I said that she disagreed with. I did what Jesus did, but I had to recognize that I also suffered as Jesus did.

When he did this, they killed me. When I did it, they killed my ministry there at that church.

So if we do what Jesus did, we have to be ready to suffer the consequences just as he did.