A Rock of Offense, a Cornerstone of Life

A Rock of Offense

Flannel graphs and coloring sheets have introduced children to Jesus for decades. He fed 5,000, walked on water, and healed the lame, diseased, and blind. His life inspired statues, stained glass, and jewelry. More songs have been sung and books have been written about Jesus than any other historical figure. What’s not to love about Jesus? He is the center of our mission statement and the object of our faith.

While our words will always fail to capture the wonder, beauty, and majesty of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah penned words that capture a neglected part of Jesus:

“But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.” Isaiah 8:14

We have grown accustomed to a Jesus that is part of American culture – widely accepted and somewhat revered. However, this popular Jesus conception of Jesus is not a historical figure with divine origins. This popular Jesus has become an symbol of what we want God to be. We have imagined God in our own image and fashioned a god lacks divinity, authority, and power.

This Jesus, our Lord and Savior, is described as a rock of stumbling, a trap, and snare? Those words do not fit well in the altar call, but they are true. We are reminded that narrow is the way that leads to life and that few will find it. The masses, those who walk on the broad path, whose end is destruction, stumble on Jesus. He is a rock of offense which will break many.

As America spirals in the chaos of post-modernism and critical theory, pressure will increase for the church to abandon truth and conform to false narratives. We will see an increase in animosity toward the exclusive claims of Jesus and the authority of the Bible. There will be increased pressure to reimagine Jesus as less controversial. There will be pressure to detach Jesus from the Old Testament which He quoted authoritatively and the gospel which he gave explicitly. There will be an increased effort to make Jesus an icon earthly power rather than regard as the supreme Creator of all things who is, who was, and is to come.

Cornerstone of Life

Good news - Jesus is a rock of offense, but He is also the chief cornerstone. He is the foundation of our lives. As Peter prepared the exiles for pushback they would receive, he gave them the following encouragement:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9



Additional Encouragements:

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27