Sermon - The Trap of Offence

Mark 14:1-11

14 Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. ^2 “But not during the Feast,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

^3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

^4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? ^5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly. (The gospel of John names Judas as one who voiced an objection to Jesus)

^6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ^7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. ^8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. ^9 I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

^10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. ^11 They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

I didn't write a full manuscript for this sermon, but click here if you would like to listen to the audio - choose the sermon titled "The Trap of Offence" from the list of available messages.

The basic idea is that to take offence with one another is to fall into a dangerous trap that damages both our own lives and the Church. We get locked into a pattern of thinking, feeling and acting toward one another which stifles love, unity and partnership in mission. Offence gives us an excuse for failing to love and support one another. On the contrary it causes us to betray and hate one another.

John Bevere's book on the subject is titled "The Bait of Satan", and that is exactly what offence is. As demonstrated in Mark 14, Satan was powerless against Jesus and His followers. Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16:18 that the gates of Hades will not overcome His Church. Yet we hand Satan that power when, like Judas did with Jesus, we betray one another because we have stumbled into the trap of offence.

There's a strong challenge for each of us to examine our own hearts toward one another, to see if we have allowed ourselves to fall into this trap. If so, we need to deal with that offence before it does further damage. There is also a huge amount of practical application of Scripture required to teach us how to think, feel and act toward one another so that offence has no room to operate. Learning to appreciate and utilise each other's strengths instead of being offended by each other's weaknesses is a good place to start.