Is it true that Jesus said nothing about homosexuality?
from Christian Concern:
In this article, we respond to the pro-LGBT claim that Jesus isn’t against homosexuality
It’s frequently claimed that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality.
This is not true. Here’s why.
Jesus’ references to ‘sexual immorality’
Consider Jesus’ words:
“What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:20-23 ESV)
“Sexual immorality” may sound vague to 21st century ears, but clearly Jesus believes that there are at least some expressions of sexual acts which he regards as “defilements.”
His original audience – Jews, in particular law-obsessed Pharisees – would have known exactly what Jesus meant. ‘Porneia’, the word translated as ‘sexual immorality’ doesn’t come out of nowhere.
As New Testament scholar Dr John Nolland persuasively argues, “In the Jewish context of Jesus’ day, and in the Christian context that grew out of it, homosexual coitus would have been automatically embraced within the scope of porneia.”
Jesus’ audiences would have remembered the moral teaching of Leviticus 18, among other passages which make clear that male homosexual sex is ‘detestable’ (NIV) or ‘an abomination’ (ESV).
Did Jesus single out homosexuality? No. Nor did he single out incest or bestiality, both of which Leviticus 18 and contemporary culture jointly condemn. Anyone arguing that Jesus’ failure to specifically list sexual sins indicates his approval is, in fact, arguing for an ‘anything goes’ approach to sex and relationships.
When Jesus criticises sexual immorality, he criticises all sexual immorality. Porneia is not a term that we can move different sexual practices in or out of to fit in with culture.
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