Was Jesus Silent On Homosexuality?

Pro-gay people will frequently claim that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality. His silence, they insist, is supposed to mean that a) He has no problem with it, and b) everyone else should be silent about it.

If you’re a self-interested speed-reader, you’ll find precious little in the Gospels about homosexuality. But so what? Jesus also didn’t mention drugs. Or suicide. Or bestiality. Or sibling marriage. Or child molestation (not directly, anyways). Or green planets. Or saving whales. Or women’s rights. Or Obamacare.

The list is as endless as it is meaningless.

When Actions Are Louder Than Silence

If actions do speak louder than words, then Jesus actually said quite a bit about homosexuality. Anyone who wants to be serious about finding out what Jesus said and thought about the topic of homosexuality will note two things:

1. When it comes to uniting people, Jesus always and only affirmed one type of union: God-ordained monogamy between one man and one woman (Matt 19:1-9). Everything else, He says, is outside of God’s original plans, starting all the way back from Genesis 1.
   Thoughtful Bible students will correctly point out that there may be certain conditions when a breach of this ideal is permissible (eg: polygamy [Exod 21:10-11] and divorce [Deut 24:1-4]), but what is not in dispute is the standard of God-ordained monogamy. Those are Jesus’ words. The question now becomes whether homosexuality is an acceptable breach of that standard. And that takes us to point #2:
2. Without exception, every expression of homosexuality in the Bible, both OT and NT, is met with direct condemnation. In the very first instance of homosexuality, Genesis 19, we see none other than Jesus Christ Himself proactively destroying Sodom and Gomorrah for their sin of sexual deviancy – including homosexuality.
   Then out of the sky the LORD rained burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah from the LORD. He demolished these cities, the entire plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground. (Gen 19:24-25)

Note that both “Lords” are mentioned: Jesus (who had been sitting and dining with Abraham in the previous chapter), and God in heaven. Both are proactively partaking in this destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Fastforward to Matthew 11 where Jesus Himself said that Sodom and Gomorrah deserved the judgment/destruction that He rained on them 2,000 years earlier:

Then He proceeded to denounce the towns where most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago! But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” (Matt 11:20-24 )

What more can we conclude than this: Jesus deliberately destroyed an entire region for their sexual deviancy; Jesus affirmed that they deserved that judgment; we will be worse off if we don’t repent for our sins – whatever they may be.

Although people would have us believe God no longer has an OT ire against sins, Paul affirms this same standard in his letter to the Corinthians, warning them – and us – to  be mindful that God’s sense of morality never changes, and His freedom from the snare of sin is readily available:

Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.  (1Cor 6:9-11 )

Jesus’ alleged silence on the issue should never be used to condone immoral behavior. Especially homosexuality.

Now if you really want to bend your mind on arguments from silence, ask yourself this: Why was Jesus silent when He stood in the midst of Sodom and Gomorah back in 2,000 BC?

In other words, why didn’t Jesus preach to Sodom and Gomorrah? After all, He knew they would repent….