Are you offended? Earlier this year, I told someone I am trying to be unoffendable. Then I heard there is a book by that title. Of course, many things in our world could offend us. But we do not want to live in a constant state of offense, angry at the world.
What offended Paul’s opponents? Why were they so angry at him? Paul’s problem turned out to be his unquenchable hopefulness. The Jewish people knew Paul had served God since his birth in Tarsus and youth in Jerusalem. They all knew he was a Pharisee. So why were those who knew him best so angry at him. Paul had become, well, so incredibly hopeful. More specifically, he believed that Jesus had come as the Messiah to fulfill all the prophecies of the scriptures.
Where exactly did Paul find this hope? Well it had been promised to their ancestors. The Jews were hopeful also serving God day and night. He faced the accusations of those who were offended by his hope in Jesus as the Christ. More specifically, since the Pharisees knew Jesus had been crucified, they were offended by the thought that Jesus had risen from the dead.
It all comes back to the resurrection. This distinguishes Christianity. Every person who has ever lived and died needs the power of resurrection. Only Jesus fulfilled the promise. If we are going to hope in a life after this death, we must exclusively put our trust in the one who has already conquered death. When Jesus woke up early on the first Resurrection Sunday morning, the whole world changed. Today, if hope in Christ, the risen Lord will change us. This may offend others who don’t want us to believe. Let this be our one offense: our hopefulness. This is the offense of the gospel. We cannot control whether it offends others. But we do not want to offend Christ by rejecting him.
