Jesus attitude to sexual sinners.

The Pit... A homosexual fell into a pit and couldn't get himself out. A pharasaic fundamentalist came along and said, "You deserve your pit." A psychologist came along and said, "Accept your pit. That way you'll be happy." An apostate liberal came along and said, "Your pit is God's beautiful gift to you." A gay activist came along and said, "Fight for your right to stay in your pit." A researcher came along and said, "Discrimination against pits is illegal." A charismatic came along and said, "Just confess that you're not in that pit." Respectable people came along and said, "We don't associate with pit-dwellers." His mother came along and said, "It's your father's fault you're in that pit." His father came along and said, "It's your mother's fault you're in that pit." His wife came along and said, "It's all my fault you're in that pit." But Jesus, seeing the man, loved him, and reaching into the pit, put his arms around the man and pulled him out.

Quoted from Deliver Ministries - Freedom from Homosexuality!

Contents:

Introduction

1.1. The woman at the well. (John 4:13-26)

1.2. The woman caught in the act of adultery. (John 8:3-11)

1.3. Eating with sinners: (Luke 5:29-32)

1.4. The woman with many sins: (Luke 7:36-50)

1. 5 The prostitutes enter the kingdom of God ahead of the religious Pharisees.(Mat 21:28-32)

1.6 The prodigal son squandered his Fathers money on wild living and prostitutes: (Luke 15:11-32)

1.7 Marriage, Eunuchs and homosexuality (Mat 19:3-12)

In the light of these scriptures, what should our attitude towards the homosexual be?

Introduction top

Jesus attitude towards sexual sinners and indeed sinners in general is surprising. We would naturally expect him to condemn sinners, especially in the light of the OT punishment that said adulterers should be stoned. In fact the people that Jesus condemned were the religious people, especially the Pharisees. Jesus attitude to sinners should be considered in the light of John 3:17 in which God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn it, but to save it through Jesus, see also Luke's statement 'For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost' (Luke 19:10). When Jesus returns a second time then the world will be judged, but in the meantime His word to sinners is repent and be saved.

(John 3:17) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

(Luke 19:10) For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

(Luke 5:29-32) Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. {30} But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" {31} Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. {32} I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

1.1. The woman at the well. top

(John 4:13-26) Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, {14} but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." {15} The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." {16} He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back." {17} "I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. {18} The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true." {19} "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. {20} Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." {21} Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. {22} You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. {23} Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. {24} God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." {25} The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." {26} Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."

Jesus attitude to this woman is remarkable, she had had five husbands and was now living with another man who was not her husband - a rather modern tale. I assume that either her husbands had died or they had divorced her, it seems that she had given up on marriage and was living with a man. So she was certainly guilty of fornication. However Jesus, while he confronted her with her lifestyle, which he knew about, he did not condemn her. Not only that but he reveals that he is the Messiah to her.

1.2. The woman caught in the act of adultery. top

(John 8:3-11) The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group {4} and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. {5} In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" {6} They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. {7} When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." {8} Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. {9} At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. {10} Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" {11} "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

This is one of the most remarkable recorded incidents in the New Testament, so we will examine it point by point.

Firstly, the Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in adultery - now whatever happened to the man? The penalty under the Law for adultery was death, both for the woman and the man.

Lev 20:10 "'If a man commits adultery with another man's wife--with the wife of his neighbor--both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.

"If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife ... you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death" (Deut 22:22-24).

The Pharisees had brought the woman to Jesus to try to trap him, to see if he upheld the Law and told them to stone her or failed to uphold the Law by letting her go.

In his classic reply "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." He was put them in the spot, firstly because the death penalty had to be carried out by witnesses to the crime and by its nature there are usually no witnesses to adultery. Secondly while they accused her of adultery, each of them was guilty of lust or other sins and therefore no one could cast the first stone. Finally the one person who was both the Law giver and sinless and therefore entitled to cast the first stone was Jesus himself. Unable to condemn her they all left starting with the older ones who presumably had more sins.

Now what is the reaction of Jesus the sinless one, he did not condone her or condemn her but told her to leave her life of sin.

1.3. Eating with sinners: top

(Luke 5:29-32) Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. {30} But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" {31} Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. {32} I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Jesus ate with the tax collectors and 'sinners'. We should note that he calls sinners to repentance. To be cured we have to admit that we are ill, and to find forgiveness we have to admit that we are sinners.

1.4. The woman with many sins: top

(Luke 7:36-50) Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. {37} When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, {38} and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. {39} When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is--that she is a sinner." {40} Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Tell me, teacher," he said. {41} "Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. {42} Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" {43} Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said. {44} Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. {45} You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. {46} You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. {47} Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." {48} Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." {49} The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" {50} Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

The woman was a notorious sinner in the town, everyone knew that. Jesus was also aware of her 'many' sins, not just one but many. Jesus also forgave her many sins. She was forgiven much, so she loved Jesus more. Jesus said that her 'faith' saved her. Firstly because she knew that she was a sinner and also she recognised that Jesus had the authority to forgive her sins. In this he also demonstrated to the Pharisee that he was a prophet, because he knew all about the woman.

On the ability of Jesus to forgive sins see Luke 5:21-26

1. 5 The prostitutes enter the kingdom of God ahead of the religious Pharisees. top

(Mat 21:28-32) "What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.' {29} "'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. {30} "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. {31} "Which of the two did what his father wanted?" "The first," they answered. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. {32} For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

The tax collectors and prostitutes believed in what John said and repented, and therefore entered the kingdom of God ahead of the religious Pharisees who did not.

1.6 The prodigal son squandered his Fathers money on wild living and prostitutes: top

(Luke 15:11-32) Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. {12} The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. {13} "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. {14} After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. {15} So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. {16} He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. {17} "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! {18} I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. {19} I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' {20} So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. {21} "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' {22} "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. {23} Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. {24} For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

{25} "Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. {26} So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. {27} 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' {28} "The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. {29} But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. {30} But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' {31} "'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. {32} But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'"

Notes:

1. He first squanders his fathers money on wild living including prostitutes. He then had to come to a low point before he came to his senses (v17). Pigs were detestible to the Jews, so to look after pigs was the lowest of the low. This is true of us, when everything is going well we ignore God. We only cry out to God when we come to a low point in our life.

2. He admitted that he had sinned against God and his Father: {18} I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. {19} I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' He would happily be like a hired servant than eat the pig food.

3. He confesses his sins to his father. His father welcomes him despite his past sins. And instead of making him a hired servant, which is what his son deserves, he restores him to sonship in a grand way, they celebrate. "For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." The son returns to his father and will be quite happy to be a hired servant, but his father restores him to full sonship.

4. His brother says he squandered his wealth on prostitutes. We should note the reaction of the older brother to the return of the younger brother and beware. He was rather like the self-righteous pharisees. Yet the father celebrates because his son who was dead is now alive.

5. This parable speaks most to the backslidden Christian who returns to his heavenly Father, who he already knows. But it also speaks to those who do not know God and reach rock bottom and then call upon God to save them. It shows us that God is more than willing to receive a sinner who repents. Even though we do not deserve it. This is of course the point of the gospel, God forgives us even though we do not deserve it. God can only do this and remain a just God because Jesus paid the price for our sins as our substitute on the cross. Not only does God forgive us our sins but he gives us the righteousness of Christ (2 Cor 5:21).

The fathers joy at the return of his son is aptly summed up by Luke 15:7

(Luke 15:7 NIV) I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

1.7 Marriage, Eunuchs and homosexuality (Mat 19:3-12) top

(Mat 19:3-12 NIV) Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?" {4} "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' {5} and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? {6} So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." {7} "Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?" {8} Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. {9} I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery." {10} The disciples said to him, "If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry." {11} Jesus replied, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. {12} For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it."

In this passage Jesus clearly states the biblical basis for marriage. He then goes on to give several catagories of those who cannot accept this word, including people born as eunuchs etc. Some people would see a person who is homosexual as falling into the catagory of a 'eunuch' in that married life with a woman is not for him. However, to say that it is OK to 'marry' another man would go against Jesus teaching given here on marriage, which is clearly that marriage and sex is between a male and a female. The options are either marriage or celibacy.

In the light of all these scriptures, what should our attitude towards the homosexual be?top

Jesus came into the world not to condemn it but to save it, and so we should not be in the business of judging individuals sin. God will judge those outside of the church. If we judge, we are judging ourselves as well for we have all broken the Law (Rom 2:1, 1 Cor 5:11-13).

(Rom 2:1 NIV) You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

(1 Cor 5:11-13 NIV) But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. {12} What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? {13} God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."

However Jesus still calls sin sin. A person who will not admit that homosexual activity is sin is far from the kingdom. Only when a person admits that he is sick can Jesus heal him.

(Luke 5:31-32 NIV) Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. {32} I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

The church in its preaching and teaching needs to proclaim all sexual sin as sin; fornication, adultery as well as homosexuality.

(Mark 7:21-22 NIV) For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, {22} greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.

(1 Cor 6:9-10 NIV) Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders {10} nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

(Gal 5:19-21 NIV) The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; {20} idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions {21} and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

There is a big difference between someone with a homosexual orientation and someone who does homosexual acts, in the same way that there is a big difference between a heterosexual person who refrains from sex outside of marriage and the one who does not. Temptation is not a sin.

(1 Cor 10:13 NIV) No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

It is the Holy Spirit who convicts people of sin not us.

(John 16:8-11 NIV) When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: {9} in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; {10} in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; {11} and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

We should not seek to lay a heavy burden upon people like the Pharisees - however the minimum requirement is that people refrain from sexual immoralty - the same rules apply to the homosexual as to the heterosexual.

(Acts 15:28-29 NIV) It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: {29} You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.

Homosexual acts are one of many sins that can disqualify a person from heaven including hatred (hate the sin but love the sinner):

(Gal 5:19-21 NIV) The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; {20} idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions {21} and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

The bible clearly indicates that former practising homosexuals were part of the church in Corinth. There is no indication of whether the orientation was changed.

(1 Cor 6:9-11 NIV) Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders {10} nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. {11} And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

13 Apr 98 updated 12 Mar 04

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