A scandal a week, or so so it seems!
It is almost hard not to get scandal-fatigue as we see news from Washington: Benghazi and the IRS, spying and whistleblowers, diplomats and prostitutes. Where does it all lead?
Hopefully, from our nation's scandals it leads to a yearning for repentance and turning to God!
The word, "scandal" these days means "a cause for offense; a stumbling block to our sense and self."
When the New Testament was written, "scandal" meant "a trap, a device that ensnares"
At least twice, the Apostle Paul calls Jesus Christ a "skandalon"
Those who refused to believe that a messiah could be crucified on a cross were trapped by their preconceptions of what a messiah could and should be.
These people were scandalized by what happened to Jesus and ensnared in their expectations thereby missing out on the truth and salvation that Jesus is and offers.
So in at least one sense, the scandal is not bad, but the outcome may be. For Paul, the Savior was Himself The Scandal which traps those who will not believe into their own loss and destruction.
Paul wrote, "but we preach Christ crucified: a scandalon to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles"
(1 Corinthians 1:23)
Let us make sure our preconceptions about Jesus do not entrap us and serve as a stumbling-block to Who Jesus is and what He has done!
Let us seek His freedom from all our personal assumptions and let His truth bring us freedom!
The scandals of Washington will pass and be forgotten. The scandal of Jesus Christ never will!
