The Lord Jesus Christ told his followers that those people who are not OFFENDED by him are BLESSED. In other words, the people who believed in Jesus Christ are most certainly BLESSED because God the Father is the very one who sent him to this earth.
Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. And BLESSED is HE, whosoever shall NOT be offended in ME. (Luke 7:22-23)
The word OFFENDED is derived from the Greek word SKANDALIZO and is defined as follows: to entrap, i.e. trip up (figuratively, stumble (transitively) or entice to sin, apostasy or displeasure):–(make to) offend. Jesus knew that many people were OFFENDED by his claims to be the CHRIST which means MESSIAH, and the majority of Jewish people then, and now do NOT believe that Jesus is the Christ and the very eternal Son of God. That can also be said for the majority of Gentile people also. I am dealing with the Jewish people in this post to combat the FALSE teaching that they are still in COVENANT with God, despite their rejection of Jesus Christ. I am writing this post to show you that Christ himself did not give any hint that the Jewish people could be BLESSED outside of faith in him. For the past two thousand years people have been born, and people have died, by the billions. The majority of those people, which includes both Jewish and Gentile people, have died in their SINS. God shows no partiality toward anyone.
Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:10-12)
The apostle Peter made it ever so clear to the people of Israel, that there was no salvation outside of Jesus Christ. Any person in this modern day who preaches a different message is not being inspired by the Spirit of God, but by the father of lies. The testimony of the apostle Paul still stands TRUE to this day:
At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me. Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles. (Acts 26:13-23)
That is the message for the Jewish people in this modern day also. There cannot be a BLESSING upon the Jewish people outside of FAITH in Jesus Christ. You need not fear a CURSE coming upon you my dear fellow Christian if you are preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Jewish people, the EXACT same way that you preach it to everybody else. Do not be FOOLED by the modern-day preachers who love to rub elbows with modern-day politicians, and who love to elevate Jewish leaders without ever preaching repentance and faith in Jesus Christ to them. Read the Gospel accounts and the book of Acts and you will see a church that never minced words, who stood for the truth and suffered greatly for that stand. What you are witnessing today, is a BOGUS Christianity, where the Gospel is withheld and ethnic and national Israel is exalted. Let Jesus Christ be your example (Read the Gospel accounts). Let the apostle Paul be your example. (Read Acts 9, Acts 26) Let the disciple Stephen be your example (Read Acts 7) Do not ever forget the words of Jesus Christ himself, where he told us that those who did not believe in him were ALREADY CONDEMNED! Whose report will you believe? Will you believe the report of Jesus Christ, the one who created ALL things (John 1:1-3), and who laid down his life for you, (Romans 5:8-9), or the report of the modern day wolves, who seek to please men, and enjoy the pleasures of this world?
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18)
