On social media I am constantly told that Our Lord would
have no problem with so-called “same-sex marriage.” After all, the gospels do not report
Jesus directly condemning homosexual acts. However,to argue on this basis that He approved
of sodomy is defective reasoning. Stating that “Jesus is not against it so he
must be for it” bases its conclusion on a supposed lack of evidence to the
contrary, instead of on the existence of any indication one way or the other. Lack
of evidence proves nothing.
Because the gospels do not have a record of Jesus
doing something does not mean that he did not do it. It is most likely the
evangelists did not record it; as is well known, the gospels do not contain everything
Jesus taught and did, as St. John states in Jn 21:25: “But there are also many
other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose
that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written”.
Remember too that almost nothing is said about Jesus’ early years in Nazareth, and even
a large part of his public life is not told.
In fact, it is reasonable to say that Christ did directly
condemn homosexual acts, because homosexual acts were condemned in the Old
Testament before Jesus as well as in St. Paul’s Epistles after Him. In his
letter to the Galatians, Paul reminds us where he got his teaching (Gal
1:11-12):
“For I would have you know, brethren, that the
gospel which was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it
from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ”.
Furthermore, Jesus assured his apostles that the Holy Spirit would “bring to your
remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26).
St. Paul certainly shared in this assurance. This
being the case, his teaching on homosexuality may very well be what he
remembered Jesus saying to him in a revelation.
Additionally, when Jesus sent out representatives he
told them, "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me,
and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me" (Luke 10:16). So—since Paul
was sent by Jesus, when we “hear” him in his epistles, we hear Jesus. There
really is no doubt that Jesus condemned homosexual acts as sinful, so do not be
hoodwinked by the defective reasoning of those who would undermine marriage.
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