Offend
In the culture I live in, it’s common to hear, “That offends me,” or, “I find that offensive,” or something similar. In English the dictionary definition of “offend” is: “To cause to be upset or to hurt the feelings of someone, esp. by being rude or showing a lack of respect.” And that’s exactly what people mean when they say one of those things. Culturally, it has come to be considered very negative, to cause someone to be offended.
The word “offend” occurs in the Bible, more often in some versions than others. One example:
And he [Jesus] called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” (Matthew 15:10-12)
Most of us probably would read this in just the way the word is used in modern English. In fact, some versions translate this as “upset” or “angry” or “had their feelings hurt”. However, when we dig into the original Greek word, it doesn’t mean this at all. Greek lexicons tell us the word literally means to trip up or spring a trap.
Here are some other places the same word is used. Again, versions vary, but most are very similar.
If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. (Matthew 5:29)
… you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away … (Matthew 24:9-10)
Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” (Matthew 26:33)
Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. (1 Corinthians 8:13)
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? (2 Corinthians 11:29)
As you can see, “being offended” in the Bible is a whole lot worse than having your feelings hurt or being disrespected. You’re caused to sin, you fall away.
And then we also have this. Paul and Peter both quote Isaiah 8:14-15, where God says, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 9:33, 1 Peter 2:6) Both writers make clear, the “rock of offense” is Jesus.
Of course, Jesus was never one to purposely trip or trap us, to cause us to sin or to fall away. However, it is definitely true that people then and now trip over that rock. That is, they can’t accept Jesus or his true teaching. They don’t like what he says or who he is, so they reject him. They are offended, in the genuine Biblical sense. This is what the disciples were saying when they told Jesus the Pharisees were offended. Yes, they probably had their feelings hurt and felt disrespected. But way beyond that, they stumbled, and they fell. Not so badly that they couldn’t be redeemed—just look at Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee who became the apostle Paul.
How about us? When we run into something “offensive” (in the modern sense), do we “take offense” in the Bible sense? We are taught to let insults (and worse) roll off. As Jesus did: “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:23)
Our concern is two-fold. First, not tripping and falling down over the true teachings of Jesus and his Father, even if at first they upset us. Second, not creating stumbling blocks that trip someone else, putting temptations in their way. Real easy to say that, isn’t it? Small words and not too many of them. But between them, those two things will occupy us for approximately a lifetime.
Love, Paul