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“You Will All be Offended Because of Me.”

Who is this talking about? Is it talking about the apostles and the rest of the disciples? It is talking about all of us! “You will all be offended because of me.” If you never come to that, you don’t know Jesus Christ. Part of the Revelation of Jesus Christ is that you lose your first love.

Am I encouraging you all to go out and sin? No, I am not. I am telling you that’s what will happen to those who are in Christ Jesus in the mature, complete level. All Christians come to Christ as Corinthians. They are behind in no gift, they are called in Christ, sanctified, called to be saints. But, you can’t speak to them as unto spiritual, you have to speak to them as unto carnal. If you are still saying ‘I’m a (any denomination or doctrine you may follow other than Christ)’, you are a carnal Christian. Christ was not in a denomination, Christ was Christ, and that’s what we are. We are Christ.

We are coming down to the crucifixion of Christ. This chapter is about His apprehension by His enemies and the events leading up to it – the last supper, et. al. He has said what he has to say. All the parables have been spoken, and he has finished all these sayings.

Mat 26:1 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples,
Mat 26:2 Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.

You see how the Bible talks? It is not going to be, “It’s done.” He’s betrayed. God calls those things that are not as though they were. That’s the way the Bible reads all the way through in reality. He is making man in his image. Man isn’t made in God’s image. If he were, why would he need to be conformed in the image of Christ in the New Testament? He’s being conformed. It should read, ‘Let us be making man in our image’, and that’s exactly what God is doing.

Mat 26:3 Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,
Mat 26:4 And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him.

Why do we read about the crucifixion of Christ? So that we know what history is all about and we know what happened to Christ? We need to know that, like the law of Moses, you can’t know who Jesus Christ is without knowing that there is an Old Testament. The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, to know what sin is. Why are we told that Christ has to be killed? So that we know what we have to do, rather, what He has to do in us. That’s what it’s all about.

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect [complete], that we may have boldness in the day of judgment [now for the elect]: because as he is, so are we in this world.

You want to know what judgment day is like? If you are in the house of God (1Pe 4:17), you are in judgment day.

Was Christ crucified? We must be crucified.

It is impossible for the carnal mind to take hold of the things of the Spirit. Paul says:

Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Our spiritual life depends on our spiritual understanding. We have got to be crucified with Christ. That’s what we are, right now, living in this world, we are crucified with Christ. I hope you can understand that. Crucifixion is a slow process. You don’t die instantly, it is a process. You go through it as long as you are in the flesh. You are struggling to die to that flesh. Then you are raised with him.
I have a commentary on what we have just read, consulting to kill him:

Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him [the Christian church, the people who believe on Christ], If ye continue [abide] in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

There’s a world of difference between being a disciple and being a “disciple indeed”. The whole Christian world with its billion plus Christians are disciples of Christ.

Joh 8:32 And [if you abide in my word] ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

That is something ministers do not preach on. Nobody preaches on not sinning. The assumption in the Christian church is that you can’t help it, you are flesh and blood, you have to sin. They all point to Romans 7, but they forget about Romans 6 and 8.

Rom 7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

But you have Romans 6, four times saying, ‘being therefore made free from sin.’

Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Grace does not put up with that stuff. The grace of God chastens us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts, to live Godly lives in this present evil age. No, sin does not have dominion over you. You are free from sin. Am I saying you will never sin again in the flesh? Of course not! BUT as Christ grows in you (and you die daily), sin will no longer have dominion over you. That’s the teaching of God’s word, if you can receive it. Anything else is less than the truth.

Joh 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free [from sin], ye shall be free indeed.
Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed [the Jews who believed on Christ]; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

They (and we) are killing him. Every time you kill another human, you are killing Jesus Christ. If you hate another human, you are hating Jesus Christ. If you steal from someone, you are stealing from Jesus Christ.

Joh 8:38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

That’s the end of my commentary on those seeking to kill Christ. Let’s go on in verse 5 of Matthew 26:

Mat 26:5 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.

What’s the point here? Why is there an uproar among the people? Because, as much as these (Jews that seek to kill him) did not like His doctrine, they appreciated the free meals and all those healings. The ability to heal people will bring a lot of people. Even false ministers who claim to be healers get throngs of people coming to them. Just think how much more so that would be if these guys really were healers and every time they touched someone that person were really healed.

Mat 26:6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,
Mat 26:7 There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.
Mat 26:8 But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?

Now, you know, as He is so are we in this world. Keep that statement together in your mind for every verse you read in God’s word. It all comes back to that. If you have your heart on things above, you are going to be looked on as wasting your substance, wasting everything you say and do. People are going to look on you as a fool because you put your thoughts and affections on Christ instead of on things on this earth.

What purpose is this waste of saying “love your neighbor”? What purpose is this waste of clinging to the doctrine of Jesus Christ? People do not like to see you honoring Jesus Christ. “Talk about it, have Him into your house for dinner, but don’t do what He says,” is the belief most prevalent.

Simon is a Pharisee who has apparently been healed by Jesus. They call him Simon, the leper. Leprosy was an incurable disease, so you don’t have to be too smart to figure out that this guy has been healed by Christ. The very people Christ healed and fed wanted him dead.

Mat 26:9 For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.
Mat 26:10 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.
Mat 26:11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.
Mat 26:12 For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.

This woman with the alabaster box was honoring Christ. She did not care what anyone thought. She was past that. This woman was a sinner, Simon says in another gospel.

Mat 26:13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

Who is this woman? What does she stand for? She’s a woman, so she stands for those who are faithful to Christ, Christ’s real bride. Christ has two wives in scriptural terminology, he has a bond-wife and a free-wife. The children of the bond-wife are in bondage – the church – still subject to sin. The children of the free-wife are free from sin. This woman is the free-wife. She stands for those who don’t care what the world thinks.

The biggest obstacle that any of you will ever have to overcome to get started in your walk in the doctrine of Jesus Christ is to admit and face the fact that the Christian world does not have the doctrine of Jesus Christ. You say to yourself, “How can it be that all of these churches are wrong?” Who do we think we are that we understand what they don’t? If you are looking for numbers, you are never going to see Jesus Christ, because he is not a number. He is a person, he has a doctrine and a personality. If you don’t come to see that person, and see that He is not the Jesus Christ you have been hearing about all your life, you are never going to know Him. You have to see that the Jesus Christ of God’s word is not the Jesus Christ you hear about in church. It is another Jesus.

This woman was sobbing in total gratitude for what she has been given; which is Christ in her. This is in type and shadow. She recognizes him for what He is, even if Pentecost hasn’t come yet and the Holy Spirit hasn’t been given. These things are given us as a type and a shadow.

The whole ministry of Christ is a type and a shadow. His physical healings are not what we are supposed to be looking for today. If they are, He lied, because He said, “These things and greater will you do” because there is nobody since Christ who has ever done as much as he did. Nobody! But, He didn’t lie. We are doing those things and greater because when we heal someone and raise them from the dead, they are never going to die. The people Christ raised from the dead died again. Lazarus died. All the people that were raised from the dead in the Old Testament all died in faith not having received the promises. Hebrews 11 names them, and Enoch is one of them.

When Christ comes into anyone, since his resurrection, that person will be in the first resurrection and will never know death. Death has to do with spiritually being dead. It has nothing to do with the flesh. Flesh is dying.

This was too much for Judas. He was tired of this man who gave everything away and wasn’t interested in a physical kingdom. Judas is not an exception to the rule; Judas is the rule. He had the attitude of all Christians. They turn their back on everything Christ stands for and say, “I’m going to do it my way.”

Mat 26:14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you?
Mat 26:15 And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.

This was the same scenario as Joseph with his brothers selling him for 20 pieces of silver.

Mat 26:16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.
Mat 26:17 Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?
Mat 26:18 And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.

Jesus had set this all up in advance. He was not catching this guy off guard.

Mat 26:19 And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.
Mat 26:20 Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
Mat 26:21 And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
Mat 26:22 And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?

Jesus knows what he’s talking about. He just says ‘one of you will betray me’. There was one of them that didn’t say “Is it I?”

I get this question all the time: “I’m afraid I’ve committed the unpardonable sin.” If you are afraid you’ve committed the unpardonable sin, you haven’t committed it. You are as these apostles wondering if you have, but you haven’t. If you have committed the unpardonable sin, you don’t think you need forgiveness for anything. That’s what the unpardonable sin is – thinking you have the six basic doctrines down and that’s all there is to it. That’s the unpardonable sin. That’s not even a biblical phrase as there is nothing unpardonable. It just says that it is impossible to renew someone to repentance who does not think they need it. The 99 sheep are guilty of the unpardonable sin. Who in Adam doesn’t need repentance?

Mat 26:23 And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.
Mat 26:24 The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.

Let’s go back to Matthew 22:11. This is speaking of the marriage supper.

Mat 22:11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:

This is not just someone who is in the church and has just come out of Babylon. This is someone who is very close to Christ and actually knows a lot about Christ. This is Judas here.

Mat 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.

Mat 26:25 Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.

Judas knew that he had already agreed with it. Christ said to him, “You said it.”

Mat 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
Mat 26:27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many [everyone in Adam] for the remission of sins.
Mat 26:29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.
Mat 26:30 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
Mat 26:31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

We see in the book of Revelation that God’s church loses its first love. He says that to Ephesus, the very first church. We are told that you must keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book. It doesn’t say ‘you keep the good sayings of the prophecy of this book. There aren’t any good sayings in it. It is all bad [for the flesh]. You have to experience the bad. He that has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.

There is some good. It’s the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It’s not the tree of total debauchery. It is good and evil. God created that tree along with a crooked serpent, and He said that it was very good. Good for what? Good to do what he is doing on plan A.

Mat 26:32 But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.

We must experience that along with the churches of Revelation. The churches of Revelation are a part of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. That’s what all who are in Christ do. That’s their part in the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Mat 26:33 Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.
Mat 26:34 Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
Mat 26:35 Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.

They all fled that very night, and Peter denied him three times. Everything was right on plan A. It didn’t take Christ by surprise. Let’s read what happened in the other gospels.

Mar 14:65 And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.
Mar 14:66 And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest:
Mar 14:67 And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth.
Mar 14:68 But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew.
Mar 14:69 And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them.
Mar 14:70 And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto.
Mar 14:71 But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.
Mar 14:72 And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.

Matthew says before the cock crows, period, he didn’t say how many times. Does Matthew disagree with Mark? No. The cock crowed, and Peter denied Christ, and that’s all that’s called for. Mark adds detail that Matthew didn’t add. Let’s see how Luke puts it.

Luk 22:54 Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest’s house. And Peter followed afar off.

All of you will be offended. Don’t think that you are not going to have this very thing to experience. Think about it, prepare yourself for it, be ready, because it will happen. Many of us, I hope, have already been through this. We have already denied Christ and repented of it. We have come to the point that we don’t care any more. Peter, in just a few days, at the day of Pentecost, is going to be a changed man. He won’t care less what they do to him. They say don’t preach in the temple, he says, “I’m sorry I’ve got to obey God rather than men.” Do you worry about the world or do you worry about God?

Luk 22:55 And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them.
Luk 22:56 But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him.
Luk 22:57 And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not.
Luk 22:58 And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not.
Luk 22:59 And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilaean.
Luk 22:60 And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew.
Luk 22:61 And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
Luk 22:62 And Peter went out, and weptbitterly.

You will experience this. Every time you do what you know you shouldn’t do. When you cave in to the desire to be part of the world. When you can’t conceive that all these Pharisees and the high priest, himself, are wrong, you are denying Christ. You will come to see that and you will weep bitterly for it. Then you will know that many are called and few are chosen.

Peter had said that he was going to stand for Christ regardless, he was not going to deny his Lord, and he did. In his confidence in his flesh, he was blind as a bat. When you think that you know what you are going to do, you have sealed your fate spiritually, because you don’t have it in you to execute anything. What you need to say is, the Lord willing, I will do.

We need to recognize our blindness before God can open our eyes to see. If we don’t recognize that we are blind, how can we be healed? We won’t be asking to be healed.

Joh 9:6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,

Why did he anoint the blind man’s eyes with clay? Because, it is our clay that blinds us. Jesus put it on this man’s eyes and showed him that the flesh cannot see anything. Only the spirit is capable of vision and sight.

Joh 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again before I quit saying it. The whole world sees the first part of that verse, and no one sees the last part. They don’t see that all the churches have to come to see their blindness before they can be given sight. Saul of Tarsus was a very good church member. He was blameless in the law. He had to live three days and three nights with a physical shadow of what we must all go through. It was only after he was made blind that God gave him the ability to see the things of the spirit.

In Exodus, Moses is making excuses for not wanting to deliver Israel out of Egypt.

Exo 4:10 And Moses said unto the LORD, O my LORD, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
Exo 4:11 And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

God admits, right there, that He’s the one who makes people blind and deaf, gives them hearing and takes away their hearing. He does it all.

John’s [the Baptist] disciples had a message from John. They wanted to know, “Are you really the Messiah?” John was looking for the kingdom to be established, too. Nobody could see this spiritual kingdom. The spirit hadn’t been given. You can’t understand the things of the spirit without the spirit. John did not have the Holy Spirit. The truth came by Jesus Christ.

Christ sends a message back, you tell John that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the leper’s are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. That’s how you know that Christ is Who He says He is.

What did we just read? What did you just see and hear? Did you see what all the churches are looking for? Coming behind in no gift and are you yet carnal? Christ’s life did not convert one person. Didn’t he say, “Thy sins be forgiven thee?” Yes, the death of Christ forgave all the sins of the whole world of all time. But, no one was converted until the day of Pentecost. Christ told Peter, after his resurrection at the side of the lake when he had the fish waiting for them, “When you are converted [50 days hence], I want you to feed my sheep.” None of the apostles were converted until the day of Pentecost.

Joh 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

What’s greater than what Christ did? What’s greater than that if it’s not the spiritual blind receiving their sight, the spiritually lame learning how to walk in Christ, the spiritual lepers who are incurably diseased with sin being cleansed, and the spiritually deaf being able to hear the words of God and the spiritually dead being raised. That’s what’s greater; incomparably greater than having a physical hand restored, just to have to die a physical death later.

Joh 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

If Matthew 11:5 is to be understood physically, how is John 9:39 supposed to be understood? When did Christ ever take people’s sight away from them? He came for that reason. This is all spiritual language. What Christ is saying is what He said to the Pharisees when they asked Him, “Are you saying we are blind?” He said, “As long as you say ‘we see’ [don’t need repentance], your sin remains.” You have to be the prodigal, to be a carnal Corinthian, see yourself that way. Then you see yourself as a blind person.

You see why I have entitled this as I have. You will all be offended because of me. There is not one person in the room that doesn’t need to see themselves in the sense that we have offended Christ. Christ’s sheep know his voice. They know the voice of a stranger, too. It’s not something they guess about; it’s not something they doubt. Do you know the voice of Christ? Of a stranger?
If you see yourself as having been offended because of Christ, then you know the voice of your Shepherd.