Matthew 11:1-6 NASB95
When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. [2] Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples [3] and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” [4] Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: [5] the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. [6] And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”
John the Baptist ministry was the ministry of repentance. He was the last of the Old Testament prophets, and he came to point out sin and to call people to repentance. Jesus came full of grace and truth. He came to tell the truth about God, and the truth about God is, He is full of grace. The word “offense” in verse 6 can also be translated “stumble.” Jesus came to make incarnational the grace of God, and as people encountered God’s relentless love in the person of Christ, true heart repentance and surrender happened. This is the way of the new covenant. John stumbled over, took offense at the grace of God. Why do people, especially people who fiercely love God, get so offended with grace? Grace isn’t something that we should stumble over. Grace is something that we should be celebrating, and we will for all eternity.
I guess a better question would be why do people want to live under the law. I believe it is because people like to measure their success. We do that all the time in the ways of the world (like in the realm of business and finances), and therefore good, solid Christians do the same thing in their own spiritual life. Performance-based Christianity is all about counting. People love counting their successes. Things like how much do you pray, or how much do you read your Bible or witness, or go to church, or fast, etc. When we count our successes, it makes us feel good about ourselves, but the problem is when you count your successes, you also count your failures, and no matter how many successes you have, the failures hang over your head like a fog because when you live under the law perfection is the only true measure of success. The law causes us to live with a constant “sin consciousness.” Grace causes us to live with a “Jesus consciousness.” You see, God doesn’t count! 2 Corinthians 5:19 says, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, NOT COUNTING their trespasses against them.” Religion always says “do,” while Grace always says “done.”
When you live under the reign of grace, you stay Christ conscience because the only boasting you can do is in Jesus. 1 Corinthians 1:29, “that no flesh should boast before God,” and Ephesians 2:8 – 9, “For by grace you have been and are still being saved (that’s the proper grammar here) through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, that no one should boast.”