Joel M Bradshaw

 12Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” 13He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.–Matthew 15

Jesus had uttered a teaching about what was coming out of you being more important than what was going into you. This would have rocked the dietary laws to their core. And the disciples report the great offense. The word in the Greek is where we get the modern word for ‘scandal’. Notice the Pharisees didn’t go to Jesus with their problem, but simply made their offense known and relied upon others to take notice. You might just have one of these frustrating, dramatic personalities in your life. If not, it might be you!

Jesus’ answer was to theologically go very big. He said two things. A person who would be scandalized by Jesus was a plant that the Father had not planted. Any gardener will tell you that those plants are weeds. You never plant weeds, but stay diligent in rooting them up. So God is sovereign over the response of the one hearing the Gospel message. God has either planted you or he has not. And if you are not planted by God, you are rooted up by God.

Only those planted by God will grow and produce fruit. The ones not planted by God will be rooted up like weeds. And a person gives evidence of who they belong to by how they respond to the message of Jesus. God is sovereign, but he expects you to respond rightly. And he is the one who ultimately makes that right response possible. God plants and God roots up. A heart that is scandalized or offended by Jesus is not a heart that belongs to Jesus.–JMB