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The scandal actually
began before Jesus was born. A young woman became pregnant before the
wedding. We can detect the sting of the offense later in Jesus' life
when the mocking crowd says "Isn't this Mary's son...? In Jesus'
day children were identified as being their father's sons - unless there
was no father.
Upon
the occasion of the birth the scandal only got worse. The long-awaited
Messiah born in a stable, not a palace; wrapped in rags, not in silk;
asleep in a feeding trough, not an ivory crib.
The
scandal fanned into flame when the ministry of Jesus began. Now everyone
who came into contact with Jesus, it seems, stumbled because of Him.
The priests, who we might have expected to recognize and glory in the
coming of the Messiah, were offended by Him. Twice, Jesus destroyed
their temple marketplace...
...Both
priests and Pharisees (religious leaders), as well as the other "religious"
people of Jesus' day were offended by the company that He kept. The
outcasts of Jewish society, the "sinners," the "people
of the land," as the Pharisees called them. Tax collectors, prostitutes,
and lepers were frequently gathered around Jesus. His forgiving stance
toward them was more than the "religious" people could bear.
He went so far as to pronounce their forgiveness, something the scribes
and Pharisees knew only God Himself had the authority to do. And of
course, they were right.
Jesus'
own disciples stumbled because of Him. Jesus spoke (recorded in John's
chapter 6) of eating His flesh and drinking His blood. John tells us
that upon hearing this many of His disciples were offended and left.
From Michael Card's, "Immanuel, Reflections of the Life of Christ."
Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN. Copyright 1990.
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