31. Blessed
Matthew 11:6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
Luke 7:23 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
The promise of blessedness covers many areas of life; God blesses indeed every aspect of living. Salvation and a wonderful life is certainly included in the blessing. “Blessed is the man who…” adds the many different kinds of conditions. The condition for the fulfillment of blessing here is the one who is “not offended” in Jesus. The simple straightforward meaning of “not offended” is “believe.” Being offended by Jesus is to disbelieve, ignore, set aside, reject.
With Jesus there is no middle ground of neutrality. One is either for or against. Whenever a person hears the Gospel of Christ He will be moved by the Holy Spirit, who creates faith in his heart, or he will choose to refuse the gift of salvation, that is, he will be offended by Jesus. The natural man as a sinful human being will always tend to spurn the love of God and reject the free gift out of pride, stubbornness and rebellion. This resistance will be overcome by the power of the Holy Spirit through the hearing of the Gospel: this is the man who is not offended in Him, and he is blessed. This is the promise.
However, on the other hand, the one who hears the Gospel and resists the Holy Spirit is offended in Christ, or does not believe in Him. This resistance, this being offended, this disbelieving is not a passive but an active power pushing against the Holy Spirit’s moving and prompting. This is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and since forgiveness is spurned it is not received. If this “blasphemy” is continued it will result in damnation with no hope of redemption.
This kind of offense is not always felt in the emotion nor is it always conscious in the mind, but in the spiritual world it is real and powerful. It is active. One may perceive the working of the Spirit in response to the Gospel when the heart and attitude is softened, crushed and shaped, but it will not always be felt. Whether experienced in the mind or emotions or not the Gospel is powerful and active and effects real change: the person is not offended. Offense to Jesus will not usually be violent, but in the spiritual world it is just as powerful: “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian” is the same as rejection and being offended in Jesus; “We will hear you again about this (the resurrection)” is likewise a violent offense. See Acts 26:28 and Acts 17:32. It may not sound like it, but this kind of response it being offended in Jesus. Praise God that you are not offended in Him: You are Blessed!