Offenses Will Come

Offenses Will Come
By Larry Ollison

Jesus made a statement regarding the poor in Matthew 26 that we can parallel with an attitude of offense. When the disciples questioned the woman for pouring expensive perfume on Jesus' feet, they said, "Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor" (v. 8-9). Do you really suppose the disciples had a legitimate concern for the poor? I don't think so. They were more concerned about the profit they could have made from selling the perfume.

But notice how Jesus answered them: "For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always" (v. 11). What exactly did Jesus mean by this statement? Was He indicating that He had created a certain number of poor people to balance out society? No, that's not what He meant. Instead, He meant that there would always be an element of society that would not accept Him as their Lord. Even a fragment of those who did accept Him would not walk in the fullness of their inheritance.

There will always be a certain group of people who will not live in prosperity because they think it's wrong. And there will be some who won't receive divine healing because they either don't believe healing is for everyone, or they believe divine healing passed away with the apostles. Jesus could just as easily have said, "Not only will we always have the poor with us, but also the sick, the lost, the defeated, and the depressed."

Just because there are Christians who suffer doesn't mean that it is God's will. Second Peter 3:9 makes that very clear: "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."

It's not God's will that anyone should perish, be poor, be sick, or be offended. However, there will always be those people who miss the perfect will of God.

Jesus was not making a bad confession when He said, "Offenses must come" (Matt. 18:7). No, He was stating a fact. Jesus was simply making the point that as long as you are in the world, you will be surrounded by offensive situations; however, you don't have to become offended by them. Whether you believe it or not, you can, as a born-again believer, let offensive words roll off your back like water rolls off a duck's back. You do not have to become offended!
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