Was this a “sore spot” with Jesus?

We’ve probably all known, at some point in our lives, that quiet person who rarely mentions something he or she finds particularly irritating. But when they do make a comment, you know it must really be a sore spot for them to say something.

Jesus might have been that kind of person. He certainly didn’t go around complaining about what He didn’t like about people, and if anyone had grounds to do just that, it was Jesus Christ!

But there was a time when Jesus says something rather directly. It’s a sentence that stands out as if the content identifies something that is a sore spot for Him. You’ll find more than one of these moments in scripture, but I’m particularly referencing Luke 6:46 …

“So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?”

Jesus may have actually been smiling when He asked this question for all we know, but I can’t help think there’s a twinge of something like exasperation in just the asking of this question.

I think it makes sense that disobedience would be a “sore spot” with Jesus. After all, it was disobedience that originally broke humanity’s relationship with God when Adam and Eve disobeyed. It was because of our disobedience that Jesus needed to come to Earth on a mission to redeem us so we could be reconciled to God. So I can imagine He may have found it somewhat annoying for people to call Him “Lord” and then not do what He said. And in this moment recorded by Luke, Jesus gives expression to not liking it when someone addresses Him as Lord but then doesn’t obey Him as their Lord.

I mean, come on, we get better obedience from our pet dog than Jesus often gets from us! In fact, pastor Steve Shepherd once used the obedience of a dog in a sermon illustration:

It’s been said that it is not the dog’s keen smell or hearing that has endeared him to modern man, it’s his uncomplaining readiness to obey and lavish affection on his human friends.

A dog is loyal, loving, and lovable, even if his master can boast none of these qualities. The Prussian monarch Frederick the Great hit the nail on the head when he said: “The more I see of men, the better I like my dog.”

If disobedience really is a sore spot with Jesus, I don’t think it’s because He’s the King of kings and Lord of lords and so He should be obeyed … although that is more than enough reason for our obedience to Him. I think we can find reason in another statement by Jesus:

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments,” John 14:15 (NASB).

Jesus finds our love for Him and our obedience to Him as inseparable; IF we love Him, WE WILL obey Him.

And if we don’t …

Perhaps our disobedience to Jesus is a sore spot for Him because it’s a heartbreaking demonstration of a lack of love on our part.

So when it comes to your own obedience to Christ, is it a consistent demonstration of love? Or are you rubbing a sore spot with the Lord?

Scotty