Does Jesus Care About Sexuality?

The sexuality conversation has crept into every arena. It has even made inroads into biblical scholarship.

For example, the most populated society for biblical scholars in America is called The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL). Every year, their annual meeting, along with the American Academy of Religion (AAR), attracts around 10,000 attendees. During Pride month (June), they sent out an email explaining their support of the month’s celebration. In 2016, they made an announcement that they were banning the publisher InterVarsity Press (IVP) from their annual meeting over its recent clarifications on human sexuality.

Publishers also seem to be following the footsteps of the culture. The Grand Rapids-based publisher Eerdmans, though they claim to be “deeply rooted in the historic Christian tradition,” posts books to read during Pride month that feature the stories of queer Christians.¹

Some Christians might be shocked by this news. Others might wonder if I’m a pessimist who is overreacting. Still others might note that maybe the issue of homosexuality (or sexual preference) is not such a big deal since Jesus didn’t mention it.

Jesus said to love your neighbor (Matt 5:43), to love your enemies (5:44), to love those who don’t love you (Luke 6:32), to love one another (John 13:34-35; 15:17), and to remain in his love (John 15:9). He said to forgive one another, to overlook other people’s sins, and to be merciful.

Some might conclude that Jesus sounds a lot more like Pride month than current Christians who condemn something Jesus never spoke about.

Jesus’ great omission

It’s true, Jesus does not explicitly mention homosexuality or transgender issues, and he does speak a lot about love. We don’t have evidence that he quoted from texts from the Old Testament that spoke of homosexuality as against the Jewish law. Neither Paul nor the other apostles cite Jesus when they address the topic.

As the logic goes, if Jesus talked more about money, love, and the cost of following him, then maybe we should focus more on what Jesus said than what he didn’t. In fact, maybe Jesus did not address it because he realized it was a new era and he did not condemn the practice at all.

However, there are three reasons why this logic is not satisfying.

1. Jesus affirms the Old Testament

The first reason this logic doesn’t work is that Jesus very clearly affirms the words of the Old Testament in their entirety. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus claims he came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. He even raises the stakes by saying that anyone who relaxes any part of the law will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:17–20).

Despite the popular opinion, Jesus did not come and preach a new law of love and liberty in comparison to the legalism of the Jewish law. Jesus came and affirmed everything in the Jewish law. Some thought that Jesus was playing fast and loose with the law, but Jesus claimed the opposite is the case. Even when Jesus is questioned on the law, he argues with the law (Matt. 4:4, 7, 10; 12:5).

In the Jewish law, there are two verses that express unequivocal condemnation of homosexual acts (Lev. 18:22; 20:13). However, some will quickly note that if Jesus affirmed all aspects of the law, then we are in a tough spot, for Leviticus 20:13 says the people who committed such acts need to be put to death.

However, this is to confuse authority of the law with its function. The law is still authoritative, but it functions in a different way now that Christ has come. The law was a civil document for the nation of Israel, but now Christ’s people include both Jews and Gentiles and are under the new covenant. Therefore, since we are not bound by the same covenant as those in the Old Testament, the law still functions as prophecy, wisdom, and morality, but the civil punishments have ceased.

2. Jesus’ words are not more inspired than the rest of the Bible

The second reason this logic doesn’t work is because Jesus’ words are not more inspired or important than the rest of Scripture. This can be confusing because many Bibles have “red letter” editions where Jesus’ words are marked out in red, thus communicating his words have a distinct authority in comparison with the rest of the words.

However, Christians believe that all of God’s words in Scripture come from him. All Scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16), and every word of the prophet ultimately comes from the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21).

In this sense, all the words of the Bible are “red lettered” because God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit act and speak inseparably.

So, even if Jesus did not say anything about homosexuality, Paul does.

“For this reason God delivered them over to disgraceful passions. Their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. The men in the same way also left natural relations with women and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty for their error” (Rom. 1:26-27).

In 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10, Paul says the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom—and that includes males who have sex with males. Paul’s words are not lesser than Jesus’. He speaks from God, and therefore his words are true because God is true.

3. The record of Jesus’ words

Third, what many people also overlook is the reality that Jesus did speak to sexuality. In Mark 7:21-22 Jesus says evil thoughts come from within. This includes sexual immorality (porneia) and adultery (moicheia). Porneia is a broad term for sexual sin and almost certainly includes same-sex relations, especially since the Jewish tradition was unanimous on this matter. By including adultery (moicheia) in this list, Jesus includes various sexual sins. So it is not quite true that Jesus didn’t address sexuality even though he didn’t name homosexuality explicitly.

Jesus does allude to the feminization of man. In Matthew 11:8 and Luke 7:25, Jesus asks the crowds about John the Baptist. He asks them, what attracted them to John. Was it his weakness or his clothes? John was a powerful prophet who wore camel’s hair. Therefore, they didn’t go out to see “a man dressed in soft clothes.”

The Greek word for “soft clothes” is malakos, which can mean soft, effeminate, or being passive in a same-sex relationship. This is the same word employed in 1 Corinthians 6:9 to describe “males who have sex with males.”² In summary, malakos can refer to men who thoroughly cross gender boundaries by receiving sex from men.

However, the context of Jesus’ words goes on to speak of men in soft clothes who are often found in royal palaces (Matt. 11:8; Luke 7:25). Therefore, Jesus’ words could simply mean those who live in luxury and not imply a feminization. However, it is also possible that these two realities could be combined.

No matter what one concludes on the term malakos, Jesus still affirms all that is in the Old Testament, his words are not more authoritative than the rest of Scripture, and he does specifically condemn sexual immorality under which homosexuality and transgenderism would fall.

Conclusion

We must not pit the love of Jesus against the call to holiness in Scripture. We can recognize that the Church has often treated those who struggle with sexual sins as beyond hope. This is wrong and damaging to the witness of Christ. The Church needs to do better at affirming that we all stumble and are tempted in various ways. Yet, we also must be clear where the Bible is clear. Though Jesus never explicitly addressed the issue, that doesn’t mean God didn’t. Will we submit to him or create a god who agrees with us on everything?