Don’t Be Offended

Luke 7:18–23 — John’s Question and Jesus’ Messianic Works

Well, good morning, church. Will you please turn your Bibles to Luke chapter 7, this morning. We'll be examining verses 18 to 35. Luke chapter 7, starting verse 18, when you have that, please do stand for the reading of God's Word.

Again, Luke chapter 7, starting verse 18, says this, "'The disciples of John reported to all these things to him, and John, calling to his disciples, to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?

When the men had come to him, they said, John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight.

He answered them, Go and tell John what you have seen and heard. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them, and blessed is the one who is not offended by me.

Christ, the Offense of Holiness, and the Rock of Stumbling

When John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. "'What did you go out into the wilderness to see, a reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see, a man dressed in soft clothing?

Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in king's courts. What then did you go out to see, a prophet? Yes, I tell you, more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written.

Behold, I send my messengers before your face who have prepared your way before you. I tell you, among those born of women, none is greater than John, yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.'.

When all the people heard this, the tax collectors too, they declared God just. Having been baptized with the baptism of John, but the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him, to what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?

They're like children sitting in the marketplace and then calling to one another. We played the flute for you, and you did not dance. We sang dirge, and you did not weep. For John the Baptist has come eating no bread, drinking no wine, and you say, he has a demon.

The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, look at him, a glutton, a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners, yet wisdom is justified by all her children. This is the Word of the Lord.

You may be seated. Let us pray. Bountiful Lord Jesus, we do come before you, thankful for the Word that you've bestowed and put before us. We pray, God, that you, by means of the eternal Spirit, lead us now into all truth, to edify us, to build us up in our most holy and precious faith, that we would all come together in the unity of the faith in Jesus Christ, to whom be glory both now and forevermore.

And we receive this Word of thanksgiving, and also to take heed of the warning, lest we become offended and fall into Satan's trap. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Every week as we examine Luke's gospel, we learn more and more about the narrative, the circumstances surrounding Christ's life and ministry.

Here in this junction of Luke's gospel, we see that he's preached this great sermon of the mount. He's now began the acts and works of deliverance, of healing the sick, opening the eyes of the blind, raising the dead even.

And with all these reports surrounding Jesus, people are becoming anxious and they're asking, who really is this man? Just like in today's world, Jesus is no stranger to the people of this nation. He's no stranger to the people of this world.

In fact, all great religions and faiths say something of Christ, whether you speak to those who are Muslims, who we will soon in this place of worship maybe even have some Muslims here during one of the Areopagus forums, who believe and esteem Jesus to be a great teacher, to be even the Messiah according to their own theology.

You have also the Jews who may some even accept that He was a teacher of the law, a rabbi of sorts. You have those in the Hindu religion who may even say, yes, Jesus was indeed one who was sent from God.

Maybe indeed He was even a God, one of many. You have in all great religions of the world, some who have ideas, notions of Christ, but when it comes down to it, who really is this Jesus who does the miraculous, who touches the dead and they rise, who touches the eyes of the blind and they see?

Who is this Christ? Well, this is the same question that even those of great report had in relation to Jesus. In verse 18, it again says, the disciples of John, this is John the Baptist, reported all these things to him, and John calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord saying, are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another?

This is a fascinating set of circumstances here. John the Baptist, the man who's related to Christ, the man who baptized Christ, asking the question, are you the guy? Are you the one that we're looking for?

Are you the one that we're waiting for? Is it you or shall we look, anticipate another? Jesus, indeed, then goes on to demonstrate that he is the one that was promised. But what comes as a great question for myself is this, what was lacking in John's understanding?

Did he not know that he was the one who baptized them? I mean, when he saw Jesus in the wilderness coming to him, approaching him to be baptized, he confessed these great words, behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world.

How then can he go then and ask the question, is it really you? Are you the guy? I don't think I have a clear answer to that. But what it makes me think is that even men of great rapport, such as John the Baptist, may at times, because of the circumstances of life, begin to doubt, begin to question.

Understand that John was under immense pressure, under immense political pressure by his opponents. He will later go on, as we will soon read, to be murdered by his political opponent, by Herod. And even under such great stress, though he saw the Lamb of God, though he baptized the man of righteousness, yet he asked the question, is it you?

Are we sure we've got the guy? And Jesus answers in verse 20, the Lord says in verse 20, John the Baptist has sent us to you saying, are you the one who has succumbed or shall we look for another? In verse 21, in that hour, he, that is Christ, healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind, he bestowed sight.

What evidence did Jesus give that he was the promised one? I want you to write this in your notes if you're following along. He healed and cast out demons. Even more impressively, as we will later go on to read in verse 22, which says this, he answered them and said to them, go and tell John what you have seen and heard.

The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. Not only does Jesus heal the sick, not only does he open the eyes of the blind, not only does he raise the dead, showing that he has authority, mastery over the elements of this world, he also cast out demons, demonstrating that he has authority even over the spiritual realm, and he preached the good news of salvation.

He is fulfilling every metric necessary to demonstrate that he is truly the Messiah. As we learned last week, one of the great things that we learned in the earthly life and ministry of Jesus is that all that he is doing in relation to his healing efforts, raising the dead, opening the eyes of the blind, casting out demons, is a microcosm of what he will eventually do on a grand scale.

Yes, these are all things that he actually did in space and time, in history, but he will eventually do it all to the ends of the earth, brothers and sisters. We have an eschatological expectation in our Christ in that he shall return, he shall come again in glory, and in his coming again, he shall put an end to all sickness.

As it is prophesied in Isaiah 34, that no resident will say, I am sick. There'll be no more sickness in this new world. There'll be no more diseases, blindness, lameness, skin conditions, conditions of all sorts, of all kinds, all things marked and mired by the fall shall be done away with through Christ at his glorious coming.

He will then completely demolish all of his opponents, the spiritual opponents, the demons that contrive against God's people and the kingdom of God. He shall put an end to Satan and his dominion. He shall put an end to the wickedness of man.

He'll usher in a new heavens and a new earth. These are all things that Christ will do, but he's accomplishing it through the preaching of the good news. You see, the good news is the architect. It's the high chief of all things concerning the earthly ministry of Jesus.

Jesus is preaching this good news. It's holding all these things together. So if he just healed the sick, that wouldn't be sufficient, because what must he do to fulfill all righteousness according to Isaiah 40?

He'll preach good news to the poor. He'll declare glad tithings to the people of God. So not only must he heal the sick, he must also cast out demons, he must also raise the dead, but even more gloriously, he must preach the good news of the kingdom of God.

This gospel, this good news that Jesus preached is the same good news that we preach onto you today, and it is because of this that Jesus can say that he is indeed the promised one. You see, again, John the Baptist expresses doubt as to whether Jesus was this promised one to come.

As godly and as spiritual as John was, even he had wrong expectations about what the Messiah would accomplish in his first advent. Our expectations, beloved, must be biblical. Let us beware not to put expectations upon Christ that are foreign to Scripture, as even in the times of Jesus, many had expectations that went unrealized.

For instance, later on, even after the glorious resurrection of Christ, they ask him in Acts 1, the resurrected Christ, will you now restore the kingdom to Israel? That was their expectation. Their expectation is, okay, Christ is risen from the dead, now we take over the world.

And Jesus says, yes, that's what we're going to do, but not the way you think. We're going to take over the world, not by military might, not by power, nor by strength of man, but by his Spirit. And then comes the outpouring of the Holy Ghost upon the people of God in Pentecost.

And that's how the Christians end up turning the world upside down, is through the ministry of the Spirit. You see, they had wrong expectations, similarly as John may have had wrong expectations in regard to the Messiah, because he saw the Messiah, he baptized the Messiah, he heard of the Messiah, and yet he asked the question, are you the guy?

Indeed, Jesus was the guy. He was the man to whom we were to look forward to. And he demonstrates it by his miraculous works, but he does so also by the preaching of the good news. Again, our expectations must be biblical.

You see, Jesus doesn't give a straight yes or no answer to John's question. Rather, he demonstrates by his actions that he was operating in the Spirit of God and performing the kingdom blessings foretold in the Old Testament.

Again, all the things that Jesus was accomplishing was a microcosm of the world to come. But even in this saying, Jesus closes his thought by, in verse 23, by saying these words, and blessed is the one who is not offended by me.

What an interesting statement. Why is it so interesting? Well, beloved, do we not believe and confess that Jesus was the most perfect person to ever live, without sin, without blemish, in every way perfect?

And as a result of his perfected person and work, he has the moral authority to call sinners to repentance. And the Bible says and teaches this about Christ, that he shall stand on that last day as the judge of all the earth.

And that is precisely why he is so offensive, is because he's perfect and we're not. Is because he is truly God and we're not. Jesus said, blessed is the one who is not offended. I want you to write this in your notes, please.

Jesus said, blessed is the one who is not offended by him. Today's message is, don't be offended. Now, in today's culture, in today's modern world, being offended is like an Olympic sport. Everybody wants to get in on it.

Everybody wants to be offended by something because offense stirs up in the heart a sense of indignation and righteousness. How dare you not do X, Y, Z? How dare you not call me by my personal pronouns?

How dare you not do this for me? Because we feel this right, this indignation to call other people out even though we're not perfect. You see, Jesus, unlike us, unlike anyone who's ever lived, is truly perfect, amen?

He's perfect in every way, without sin, without blemish. The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And yet, He warns John's disciples by saying, blessed is the one who is not offended by me.

Jesus recognizes by what He is accomplishing, by raising the dead, healing the sick, opening the eyes of the blind, and even attacking the powers and principalities of this wicked age, that people will be offended.

It's just a natural outcome. Sinners are often offended by holiness. Sinners are often offended by a call to righteousness. It is man's natural state and inclination, which is again why precisely Jesus is so offensive.

Of this Jesus, the Apostle Peter and 1 Peter, if you want to turn there for a moment, write something astonishing of great value concerning this Christ in 1 Peter chapter 2, quoting from the Old Testament, in 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 6, Peter writes this, for it stands in Scripture, behold, I am laying Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.

So this stone, this precious stone from Zion, this cornerstone is a person, and whoever believes in Him shall not be put to shame. So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, notice what it says, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.

They stumble, Peter says, because they disobeyed the Word as they were destined to do. This marvelous cornerstone, this rock of offense is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He is indeed a rock, I want you to write this in your notes.

He is the rock of offense and a stumbling block. Satan will use this rock of offense to bait you to resent Jesus and the things of God. Satan will often expose your wrong expectations that you have in order to make you feel that God either doesn't love you or He doesn't care for you.

Jesus is indeed that rock of offense, and what is so interesting about this rock of offense is that there's a blessing for those who believe. Jesus says, blessed is the one who is not offended. Why? Because to those who are not offended, it says they who believe in Him will not be put to shame.

Shame is a powerful human emotion. Shame is a powerful emotion that exists. We often feel shamed when we do wrong. We often feel shame when we do not meet an expectation. We often feel shame when we don't measure up.

And yet, the Word from our Savior is that should we believe upon this precious stone from Zion, we who believe in Him will not be put to shame. And this is referring to the ultimate shame, because there is a shame that is eternal.

There is an eternal contempt that the Scriptures speak of, which is hell. This is a place of eternal contempt, of eternal shame, where that fire, that shame is never quenched. It continues on and on. But those who believe in Christ will not be put to that eternal shame.

Rather, they shall be fulfilled and be given a life of purpose, of meaning, even on to eternal life. But there's also, it says, so the honor is for you who believe. Instead of shame, the opposite of shame is honor.

And there's an honor for the people of God. There's an honor for those who put their faith in Jesus and do not fall upon Him as the rock of offense and the stumbling block, because Jesus is indeed offensive.

He's offensive. Now, how do I know that as a preacher? I've preached in pretty hostile territories. I've preached before college students. I've preached before drunkards. I've preached before many different people in many various times.

And every single time Jesus is preached, there's always people who will find a reason to be offended. And you know what's most offensive about the message of Jesus? It's this, that a holy, perfect, righteous, set-apart God calls you a sinner to repentance.

And why is that so offensive? It's because sinners love their sin. They love it. We love our sin. If we did not, it would be so easy then, wouldn't it? Just to repent, to turn from it. But no, men love wickedness.

And we desire it. We look for it. And that's why this call to repentance is so offensive. How dare God tell me what to do? How dare He tell me to change from my wicked ways when I love my wicked ways?

They bring me life and joy, and they bring me great pleasure. And what Christ is calling all people to is to turn from evil, turn from sin, trust in Him, and forsake all other things. It is the vow of vows, it's the covenant of covenants.

Christ is beckoning all people to repent, turn away from their former course, and devote themselves entirely to Him. It is the ultimate wedding vow. And there is an offense, isn't there, when someone desires marriage and another person doesn't?

The person who desires marriage says, I want to be in covenant, I want one person for all of life. And that's where I want to come into that relationship, that status. And those who don't look for that, especially in today's world, they are offended at the thought that just one person for all of life, really?

Where's the fun in that? Where's the joy in that? They do not see things as God sees them. God calls us to a life of dedication to Him. Therefore, why it is so offensive, why Jesus, why the gospel, why this good news can indeed be offensive, because God demands exclusive devotion.

He is a jealous God who does not share His glory with another, nor shall He share His glory with even graven images. As the Scripture says in Isaiah 42, 8. This God calls us to perfect devotion. Therefore, beloved, blessed is the one indeed who is not offended by this Jesus.

Don't fall into the trap of offense. There's a great book called The Bait of Satan by John Bavarie. I don't endorse everything he says or teaches, but this particular subject, I really enjoy his work on this.

He talks about the bait of Satan being the bait of offense. Some people in this world live life just waiting to be offended. Have you ever met people like that? Oh, I bet you have in this area, in this country.

We've met a lot of folks like that. People are just waiting for you to mess up, waiting for you to say the one wrong thing so they can say, well, actually, you know, and they want to interject their point of view, their worldview, whatever it is that they're trying to get at.

And people are just waiting and viewing, especially if you've ever been on social media. You see people are ready on pins and needles to be offended. And that's such a bait. And the reason why that's such a bait is because it baits us, one, to be in conflict with one another.

It baits us into talking and arguing over things that sometimes substantially doesn't even matter. And it baits us into always being able to have something against another person who is made in God's image.

And where this is worse amplified is in the church of Jesus Christ. When we as fellow image bearers, we as fellow heirs of God's kingdom, when we find reasons to be perpetually offended at one another, we bring into the church a wrong spirit, a wrong expectation or wrong attitude.

And it's harmful to the people of God. And it destroys the people of God and the perfect fellowship that Christ has called us into through His beloved grace. And so, beloved, do not fall into the trap of being perpetually offended.

If a brother offends you, the Scripture gives us the antidote to do it, which is to go lovingly to your brother. Not so that you can win an argument, but that you can win your brother. Some of us are too focused on winning arguments that we forget that we're talking to a human being.

We forget that we're to win the person, not always just the argument. And sometimes it costs losing the argument to win the person. Brothers and sisters, do not fall into this trap. As a pastor, I can tell you in various different ministry capacities, I've had people just waiting and ready to point out the preacher's flaws, and of which there are many.

There's many flaws from this preacher and from the other preachers here. We're not perfect. We don't always say everything exactly the way they need to be said. In the spirit that needs to be said, we're broken.

We're fallen too. But what I would expect and what I call you to, as I would call you to do with any other person here, is to approach one another with grace, with love, with humility, therefore exemplifying the great honor that it is to know Jesus, the great honor that it is to be in Christ today, the great honor it is to be able to be among those people of whom Christ says, they shall never be put to shame.

What a joy that is. It should be a joy for us to be amongst the people of God, not walking on pins and needles waiting to be offended, but rather that we would consider it a great joy inciting one another to love and good works as the Scripture says.

Therefore, truly having a brotherhood of peace within the Christian church. Of these things, Satan will constantly, perpetually try to expose our vulnerabilities or weaknesses so that we find reason to be offended.

Sometimes we may not trust the motivations of our pastors or our people, and we have to realize that we often are the ones who are at fault, and we're the ones who need to be examined. And before we point out the flaw in someone else, which has been kind of the main teaching of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, we often have to look inward before we look outward.

And so, friends, continue to examine your own heart, your own walk, so that we can be blameless in the way that we approach our brothers and sisters. Because God truly does love and care for us. He cares for you.

He loves you. He knows of your plight. He knows of your struggles. Therefore, may we be among those blessed because we're not offended by Jesus or the ministry and the work that He's doing amongst His people's hearts.

John the Baptist as the Forerunner of the Lord

In Luke chapter 7 and verse 24, it says this,. When John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowd concerning John. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

What, then, did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts. What did you go out to see? I love how Jesus is bringing out the intention of His heart here in relation to John.

He says, What did you go out to see? You heard of this madman out there in the wilderness preaching and talking about repentance and about the kingdom of God. What did you go out to see? What were you expecting to see?

What were your expectations? He says, A prophet? Jesus says, Yes, and I tell you, more than a prophet. Jesus is telling us that this John is indeed a prophet. He is someone of substance. He is someone of great importance.

In fact, He goes on to say in verse 27, This is He of whom it is written, quoting the Old Testament now, Behold, I send my messengers before your face who have prepared your way before you. Jesus said that John the Baptist was more than just a prophet.

Why don't you write this in a note? Jesus said that John the Baptist was more than just a prophet. He identifies him as the very forerunner of Yahweh. You see, John the Baptist plays an essential function as the announcer, the forerunner of God himself, stepping into human history through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

It says this in Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, chapter 3, concerning this promised one, concerning the one who would come. It says in Malachi, chapter 3, verse 1, Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.

And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come into his temple. And the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. This is what is being referenced here by the Lord Jesus Christ, that God would send a messenger to prepare the way before Him.

Yahweh was coming into the world, Jehovah God, the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. He was coming into the world, and His forerunner was John the Baptist. As we've learned in other times before, John the Baptist was indeed the Elijah that was to come.

He was the one who was the one preparing the way for the Lord, making straight His path. John is also the last prophet of the old covenant system, ushering in the kingdom of God in the new covenant that Jesus establishes.

Jesus is offensive, brothers and sisters, not just because of what He preached, not just because of what He has called us to do with faith and repentance, but He's also offensive because He's God. The Jews took such offense to this claim of divinity that it is the very reason they later crucify Him for blasphemy because He, being a mere man, claimed to be God.

Jesus is offensive, brothers and sisters. He is indeed a stone of stumbling for those who reject His true life, work, and divinity. For this very reason, the Jews crucified Him for this great blasphemy which is how they saw it.

Yet concerning this John the Baptist, Jesus says in verse 28, I tell you, among those born of women, none is greater than John. Did you catch that, what He just said? Jesus is making an astonishing statement concerning John the Baptist.

He says, among those born of women, none is greater than John. Think of all those who came before Him. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. John is greater than them all?

Than Elijah? This is what Jesus is saying. John is the forerunner to God coming into the world. And among those born of women, none is greater than John. Pretty big statement, pretty astonishing statement.

And then He goes on to make another astonishing statement in the same breath. He says, yet the one who is the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. Wait a second, wait a second. Okay, John is the greatest person to ever live apart from Christ.

And yet, the one who is least in the kingdom of God, you and I, is greater than him. How does that work? In what economy does that make sense? And it only makes sense in the economy of God. Where the least, where the most lowliest of sinners in the new covenant arranged by the blood of Jesus Christ can be greater than the greatest prophet who ever lived, John the Baptist.

You see, again, John the Baptist was the final prophet of the Old Testament. And we don't really think of it in those terms because we're reading John in the New Testament. But the reason we're reading John in the New Testament is because, again, the New Testament had not yet been written.

The New Testament, or the new covenant, is established by Christ's blood. Through His perfect sacrifice on the cross, through His resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God the Father, establishes this new covenant according to Hebrews chapter 7, 8, and 9.

And therefore, in the new covenant arrangement, even those who are the least amongst the brothers, a least amongst the people of God, are in the respect higher and more exalted than even John, who represented the Old Covenant, who represented the Old Testament.

What a privilege, then, it is, brothers and sisters, to be in the new covenant family of God. Amen. I want you to write this in the notes. John the Baptist is the greatest among men, yet he is the least in the kingdom because he is the last of the Old Covenant system.

The New Covenant, Regeneration, and the Coming New Creation

Again, we tend to read the Bible from a new covenant stance because we are recipients of this new covenant. But notice the gravity of the change that you see from the New Testament authors. Take Paul, for instance, when he says in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17, that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

We read that verse, we like that verse, but I don't think you understand the gravity of that. As a people transitioning from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, in that we are not just merely sprinkled with newness, we're not just made newish, but we are made new creatures completely through regeneration.

Through the new birth, by being born again, Christ gives you a new life, a new start. Not simply in the outside, in the flesh, but in the inside, the interior of man, there is something that is fundamentally changed and different through regeneration.

You are a new creation in Christ, and notice what Paul says in that same verse, in 2 Corinthians 5, he says, he's a new creation in Christ, the old is gone, behold, the new has come. You've heard it said in the Old Covenant, in the Old Testament, that there is a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness will dwell.

I say to you through Scripture that the new heavens and new earth is beginning now and is inaugurated in the new birth of the Christian church. The Christian church is the seed of the new world. The Christian church, through faith in Jesus Christ and regeneration by the Holy Ghost, is indeed the beginning, the first fruits of the new creation, which is exactly what Paul refers to Christians as in 1 Corinthians 15, as the first fruits of the resurrection.

Christ being the first fruit and we to follow Him. Christians, indeed, under the new covenant are the beginning of this new world in which righteousness will truly dwell, which is, again, an offensive message.

You know why the Christian message is also offensive to the world today? Because we, as Christians, tell the world that death is dead. You know what we're actually doing when we declare the gospel? We're telling them that death is a lie.

We're telling them that the person who is preaching this good news unto them, that you as a preacher, you will actually die. You say, wait a second, Pastor, what do you mean? We all die, we're all marked and mired by the fall, we're all going to taste death.

Beloved, have you not heard? The Lord Jesus Christ in John 11, He says, Though you die, yet shall you what? Live. Though you die, yet shall you live. Death is not truly death in Christ. It's only a temporary separation.

The Bible teaches us that those who die in Christ go directly, immediately in the presence of the Lord where we await the eventual resurrection, the reuniting of body, soul, and spirit at the last day.

But death truly ends in Jesus. Which is why, again, when He returns, it will not be in relation to sin and death, but rather to conquer. Rather to make all things new again. As He began that work in His first advent through the ministry of regeneration and reconciliation.

Beloved, the new world has started, and it's you and I. It's the church. So that is why even John the Baptist, the greatest among men, is called the least in the kingdom of God. Because the new has truly come.

He's making all things new again. And we are messengers, ambassadors of this new covenant. Now what did the Pharisees do with this message that Jesus was proclaiming? Did they accept it, or were they offended by it?

Let's read what it says. In verse 29 of Luke 7. When all the people heard this, the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by Him.

So you have the two classes of people to whom Jesus is speaking and ministering to. Those who were sinners, who heard the message of repentance through John, and were baptized in John's baptism. Then you have the high class.

You have the Pharisees and the lawyers and the Sadducees who heard the message of John, yet rejected it, having therefore rejected the purpose of God for themselves by not having been baptized by John the Baptist.

I want you to write this. The Pharisees rejected God's purpose by rejecting God's baptism of repentance. What did John baptize as a symbol of? Of repentance. And the Bible says that pride is before a fall.

And it's usually pride, not even usually, it is pride that keeps us from repentance. It's always pride. It is pride which keeps us in a vicious cycle of offense. Think about it, today's culture and world, why are people so easily offended?

It's because they have a higher esteem and view of themselves than they ought to. That's the truth. What I just said may be offensive. May be offensive, but it's the truth. It's the truth. We live in a world that celebrates ignorance and despises truth.

Even if you say something that people intrinsically know is true, they'll still hate you for it, even though they intrinsically know that it's true. And what they'll usually say is something to disagree.

Well, you just didn't say it right. You just didn't say it nice enough. And granted, maybe we didn't, or maybe we did. All about the intention of the heart. But I would propose, again, sinners love wickedness and hate righteousness.

Men have a high view of themselves, therefore they find a reason in everything to be offended because they love the sin of pride. And it's pride, again, that keeps us from accepting God's purpose of faith and repentance.