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A Man Hard to Offend

John was not offended. John was forever blessed!

Meteoric fame and unquenchable gospel boldness took him from the freedom of the open wilderness to the darkness of the dungeon. Just three decades into his life and only months into his career, suddenly the booming voice was silenced. Being too busy to sit in on the “Friendship Evangelism” seminar and not a fan of “Seeker Sensitive” outreach, John found the slammer by calling it what it is. He could have been more politically correct with terms such as, “Its an affair,” or “In an inappropriate relationship,” or even the latest, “Consciously Coupling!” But no…he called it “incest,” “A-D-U-L-T-E-R-Y.” And when you attached ugly words to ugly behaviors, ugly things happen!

So, lounging on the rock, wasting away in his dungeon, John wonders if his retirement has come too soon. He contemplates whether his voice has prematurely been silenced. “Are you the one? Or shall we seek another?”—Luke 7

Interesting to note:
• Jesus made no jail visit
• Jesus did not secure a reputable and influential lawyer (He knew several!)
• Jesus did not initiate a fund drive
• Jesus did not send John a publishing agent
• Jesus did not even start a prayer chain

“Tell John that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news preached to them!”—Luke 7:22

And when John died, Jesus did not raise him from the dead (even though King Herod THOUGHT He had!). Why?!?

Perhaps because dying is hard and because heaven is real (God says so…Jesus says so…the Bible says so…you can skip the movie!) His short life left an eternal mark. His mission was successfully fulfilled. To be raised would have meant he’d have to face dying all over again. Because he had been born twice, he only needed to fear dying the once. His spiritual eyes saw clearly
• His spiritual limp became a smooth gait
• His spiritual defilement was fully cleansed
• His spiritual deafness was now brilliant clarity
• His spiritual poverty, now eternal prosperity
• His spiritual soul, once dead, had been raised to forever life

John’s death became the very beginning of his truly living!

“Blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.”

John was not offended. John was forever blessed!

See you Sunday, Church!

Pastor Tom