What Did Jesus Really Say?
I saw this picture below posted on Facebook and I've seen similar statements before, so I feel like this kind of thinking might be widespread both in the world and perhaps among those who would say they are of faith. Let's examine this reasoning and see what Jesus really says according to the Bible. Don't forget to use your Bible to follow along and read all of the references.
Essentially, this picture is an attempt to show that homosexuality is just fine because Jesus never spoke about it. Lots of people seem to take this view of only doing or believing the "words in red" (most Bibles have the words of Jesus in the New Testament in red ink instead of the usual black). This is the main focus of this article, not the issue of homosexuality. Yes, Jesus came as both human (Hebrews 4:14-15; Luke 2:52) and God (John 1:1-18; Matthew 1:23), so clearly His words hold very much importance; they are the words of God (John 12:49)! Yet, this does not nullify the rest of the Bible, does it? Of course not; the rest of the Bible is the word of God as well. This point can even be made from the position of one who only believes the words in red. The following list contains passages where Jesus refers to passages from the Old Testament and implies that they are the true and authoritative word of God: Matthew 4:1-11; 19:4-5; 21:42-44; 24:15; Mark 12:26-27; Luke 4:16-21, etc. Clearly, Jesus studied the Old Testament very well, believed it, and viewed it as authoritative. We should as well.
Now, let's examine the words of Jesus to see if we should believe the black words of the New Testament. In John 16:13, Jesus explains to His apostles that the Holy Spirit will come upon them and guide them into all truth. Thus, what the inspired writers of the New Testament were writing was the truth, given to them by God divinely and miraculously through the working of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 2:10-13). Basically, they were prophets just like the ones of old (eg. Ezekiel 2:1-3) whom Jesus gave credibility to when He quoted them. Once we open up the New Testament like this, then we can really understand the words of Peter in II Peter 1:16-21 where he explains that what he and others have preached is not some private, made-up matter, but is a revelation from God. Also, you can see what Paul said in II Timothy 3:16-17 regarding, in particular, the Old Testament and how it was also given by inspiration from God.
In conclusion, we see that taking only the red text as the basis for your doctrine, life, faith, etc. is a bad approach to the scriptures. Even the red text itself directs you to read the entirety of the word! It is somewhat summarized by Jesus' prayer in John 17:14—the Words of Jesus came from God and were given to the Apostles. God is the source of the entire Bible. With this in mind, let's all go and study our Bibles to truly get the sum total of God's will for us (Psalms 119:160).
As an aside regarding the issue of homosexuality, however, let's again go just by the red text here. In Matthew 5:27-30 Jesus affirms the evil of adultery and in fact, explains that you can commit adultery in your heart by lusting after someone to whom you're not married. Furthermore, in a passage I mentioned above, Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus quotes the creation of man and the first marriage (both from Genesis 2), affirming the truth of this account and also showing His view on marriage. Marriage is, as it was in Genesis and therefore as God designed it, the union of man and woman. Based on these two passages alone we can see that Jesus condemns sexual relationships outside of marriage and that Jesus also believed marriage was between a man and a woman; therefore, Jesus would not approve of a homosexual relationship because it would be sex outside of marriage. If you're not solely beholden to the red text, there are a plethora of other passages that deal with the issue more concretely (eg. I Corinthians 6:9-11); however, I feel that this is the heart of the issue. Homosexuality (which is not a state of mind, but an action like the other sins listed in I Corinthians 6:9-11 and the other issues Jesus deals with in the sermon on the mount, Matthew 5:25-26, 31-48) is forbidden just as any other form of fornication is.
