The wonderful offense of the gospel

I was in the small confines of a doctor's office examination room. My physician was not a Christian but was familiar with the Old Testament. At every visit, he showed a genuine interest in my work and often asked questions to try and understand what I did. His primary reference point in understanding Christian worship and faith was a well-known pastor with a national television audience. This celebrity pastor had written several books with mass appeal that had elevated him to prominence and fame. Unfortunately, he does not preach God's word faithfully and is a poor model for the true gospel. However, for better or worse, he was the starting reference point for my physician friend.

That day in his office, he was especially interested in understanding how I conducted services and what I preached. He began the conversation by asking if what I did was the same as what he had witnessed from the celebrity pastor. The way he asked was more in the form of a statement saying: "I guess you do the same things as he does." He did not know it, and I did all I could to conceal it but to be compared to this false preacher was not a compliment. I wanted to respond vociferously, but I knew he was searching for something he was familiar with. So I took a breath and calmly said, "No. That pastor does not preach the gospel of the Bible." This confused him, and I wanted to explain the difference between me and the celebrity.

I knew he was familiar with the Old Testament, so I asked if he had ever read something in the Old Testament that offended him. He said there was, and we discussed some things God said and did in the Old Testament that were difficult to understand and accept. I then pointed out that the celebrity pastor is well-received because he never says anything offensive or confrontational. He never speaks of sin or our need to repent before a holy God. Unlike the Old Testament, the celebrity pastor never says anything that offends or makes his hearers uncomfortable.

And yet, anyone who faithfully preaches God's word will be offensive to sinners. Our sinfulness is unavoidably exposed whenever we draw near to God's word. God's word proclaims God's holiness and man's wickedness. By definition, this is offensive. The gospel does not ignore sin but confronts sin with the good news that Jesus died for our sins, satisfying God's wrath, and was raised again, defeating death. A faithful preacher of the gospel cannot speak only of how to enjoy the comforts of this world but must and will confront sin, warn of the terrible wrath of God, and plead for wicked, rebellious sinners to repent, believe in faith in Jesus, and be saved.

This Sunday is Palm Sunday, the day we remember the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The crowd excitedly welcomed Him because they hoped He was a king like the rulers of man. But Jesus was not coming to Jerusalem to topple Rome; He was coming to destroy death. He was not arriving to respond to political grievances but to satisfy the wrath of God. He was not coming to comfort us with platitudes but to confront our sin on the cross with His own body and blood.

The celebrity preacher who attempts to associate with Jesus without acknowledging sin or the need for redemption is part of a long history of those who want to have Jesus without acknowledging their sin. They want to have some form of religion without the power of God. They want a god who helps but not the God who is holy. They want "morals" and "truth" without law and judgment. In US history, the most striking example of this is the "bible" that Thomas Jefferson put together.

Jefferson called it the "Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth." It was unknown to many until Jefferson's great-granddaughter sold the manuscript to the Smithsonian Institute in 1895. A few years later, in 1904, the United States Congress issued a special edition of the "bible." In October of 1813, Jefferson wrote to John Adams about his process used to create the "bible":

"we must reduce our volume to the simple evangelists, and select, even from them, the very words only of Jesus ... there will be found remaining the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man. I have performed this operation for my own use by cutting verse by verse out of the printed book and arranging the matter which is evidently his and which is as easily distinguishable as diamonds in a dunghill. the result is an 8vo of 46. pages of pure and unsophisticated doctrines."

Jefferson decided that the only text of the New Testament that had value was the moral and ethical teachings of Jesus, and what should be discarded were the testimonies of His divinity and power. Regardless of Jefferson's hubristic confidence in creating a document that held the diamonds of "pure and unsophisticated doctrines," he, in fact, denied the very hope of salvation.

The final page of Thomas Jefferson’s Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth.

In his effort to separate the moral teachings of Jesus from the miracles, he was forced to conclude his "bible" at the tomb. The last words of his "bible" are, "There laid they Jesus, and rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher, and departed." If those were indeed the final testimony of Jesus, we would have no hope.

Without the empty tomb, there is no hope. Without the empty tomb, there is no forgiveness of sins. Without the empty tomb, there is no life eternal with God in heaven.

By the mercy of God, these are not the last words. Jesus entered Jerusalem to die but would not remain in the grave. Jesus entered Jerusalem as a sacrificial lamb but will return as the Lion of Judah. Jesus taught His disciples the lessons of the New Covenant but sealed it with His own blood.

As we approach Resurrection Sunday, let us be mindful that the hope of the resurrection is not in the excusing or ignoring of our sin but the confronting and atoning of sin. The cross and the tomb are unpleasant reminders of our wickedness, rebellion, and sin. And yet we rejoice in them because with these three words, "He has risen," there is hope, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life in heaven for those who believe.

---

Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me

Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy riven side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save me from its guilt and power.

Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All could never sin erase,
Thou must save, and save by grace.

Nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress,
Helpless, look to Thee for grace:
Foul, I to the fountain fly,
Wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyes shall close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.