Now, since this is true, the opposite is also true. When we make much of God and His power in light of our problems, we make little of the problems themselves. We reduce in importance everything but God, who is of paramount importance. It is never wrong to make much of God and little of everything else.
Sometimes we have to make little of something good in order to make much of God. At times we have to make little of our ministries; or make little of our families. Once, when Jesus was teaching, someone told him his mother and brothers were waiting outside for him.
But he replied to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. (Matthew 12:48-50, ESV)Jesus made little of his family and made much of God. This doesn't by any means imply that he abandoned them, or disrespected them. As long as they did the will of the Father, they were his family. Jesus, by making much of God, also makes much of God's family. This is God's family: those who have been washed in the Blood of Jesus. "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12-13, ESV) Those of us who are believers are family, brothers and sisters in Christ. A part of becoming a new creation is becoming a part of a new family. A spiritual family, not a biological one, not born "of the flesh nor of the will of man," as John says. Born of and into something much more significant and permanent than the families we knew before.
Think about the dangerous thing Jesus is doing here. In a culture dominated by the family, where family is the most significant thing in your life, Jesus says, "what family?" Remember that family is so important to the Jews because their very identity as a "chosen nation" is tied to their ancestry. And yet this is one of the first things Jesus breaks down in his ministry, this idea that one people is chosen at the exclusion of another because of who their parents are. In making much of God over his family, Jesus sets the precedent for his Body, the Bride of Christ, which will rise up after his resurrection. Jesus makes much of God because he can do nothing else, and because there is nothing else that he should do.
I imagine that, assuming his mother and brothers heard what he said, they were offended at Jesus. Maybe they weren't, but I think that they probably were. This is quintessential Jesus: he offends everyone. And what else could he do? Think about it: Jesus was perfect, and always did the will of his Father. And in bringing the message of the Kingdom to humanity, in preaching the ultimate message of truth, he offended every widely held belief, opinion, principle, and dogma of the day (and of our day, too). He even offended John the Baptist, who knew perhaps more than anyone just who Jesus was. Remember this scene?
Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?"
And Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me." (Matthew 11:2-6, ESV)Why would Jesus have added that last line, which is out of place in his reply, if it wasn't strictly necessary? He was responding in that last line to John's unasked question(s), which may have been, "Why am I in jail? Can't you get me out?" This to me is one of the more offensive things Jesus says in the course of his ministry. He is essentially taking John to task; the man who has paved the way, as prophesied, for the Messiah, and who at this moment sits in prison awaiting his unexpected death. But you know what? Jesus isn't wrong. John knew Jesus was the "one to come," he was just discouraged, and apparenlty offended.
There are many more examples in the New Testament of Jesus' offending people, people of all stripes, but particularly the religious. Jesus always offends the religious. As a perfect testifier of the truth of God, Jesus never cared to parse his words. He wasn't interested in tact, he was interested in truth. And because he refused to hold his tongue, he offended a lot of people, so much that they killed him for it. Consider that for a moment: they killed him because they were offended.
So what's my point, and how is this tied to the Blood and the Body? Here's my point: blessed is the one who is not offended by Jesus. Blessed is the one who gets in line with what God is doing, even if it mocks what they have come to value. Blessed is the one who makes much of their brothers and sisters at the expense of their own interests. Blessed is the one who makes much of the Blood of Jesus, the Body of Christ, and the Truth of God, even when it sucks to do so.
Don't be offended by Jesus, because when you are offended by him, you are implying that he is wrong. And guess what: he isn't. Don't be offended by the Blood, even though the thief on the cross will receive the same glory in heaven as you. And don't be offended by the Body, because you are a part of it and it is a part of you, and we can't be a Body without you.
Make much of the Blood, make much of the Body, and make much of Jesus. Make much of the Father in your life and see how small everything else becomes. And you'll also see just how wonderful is the Blood, how necessary is the Body, how big is this God we call Daddy.
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