Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Luke 7 before reading the devotional below.
Jesus was socially inappropriate. Politically incorrect. Rule breaker in sometimes horrifying ways. This chapter is full of cultural faux pas as Jesus offers healing and kindness to a solider of the regime oppressing the Jewish people, disrupts a funeral procession, publicly calls out the religious elites, praises a well-known prostitute after she won’t stop kissing his feet, and asserts the power to forgive sins (which only God could claim to do). It’s like he’s looking for ways to offend people. And I think he was.
Contrast that with today’s churches. Many churches are making their services flashier, their flyers cooler, and their sermons snazzier to appeal to the masses and give them more of what they want. Now, let’s not swing in the other direction (which many Christians have been known to do) and take Jesus’ ministry as a license to be obnoxious people. Don’t needlessly offend people, and when you do offend people make sure it’s the right people.
Those who were most offended by Jesus were those who thought they were closest to God. He was calling out the ones who would consider themselves to be the most devout. He was offering hope to people who thought they were counted out of society. There was no way they could ever claim to be religious, that’s for sure. Here’s your freedom for today: offend people with your kindness to those who least expect it. Show mercy to those who don’t deserve it. Offend people’s religious propriety by moving with the Spirit and displaying the heart of God for all to see. You just might get to see some people’s lives changed.