Homosexuality – Why Jesus Never Talked About It
Jesus never talked about homosexuality. Some people think He thought being gay was alright and that He wasn’t against it because He never directly condemned it. However, He also didn’t say anything was wrong with bestiality (having sex with animals), but we know that’s not right (Ex 22:19 & Deut 27:21).
First, understand that homosexuality isn’t a feeling, but an action. God doesn’t judge anyone based on what they feel, but on what they do. If a person feels gay all their life but doesn’t do anything gay, then there’s no way they could be judged as a gay person. If someone loves football but never picks up the ball, then they’re not a football player. If a Christian “loves Jesus” but doesn’t do what He says to do, then they’re really not Christian (Luke 6:46).
Getting right to the point, the reason why Jesus didn’t talk about homosexuality is because there were no gays IN ISRAEL in Jesus’ day; it wasn’t a common issue among the Jews, and Jesus was “not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt 15:24). I’m not saying there weren’t people in Israel who felt gay, but people who didn’t “practice homosexuality” (1Cor 6:9 & 1Tim 1:10 ESV). Sodomites, which are gay men, were outlawed (Deut 23:17). On a few occasions, there were sodomites in Israel, and they were taken out of the land (1Ki 15:12 & 1Ki 22:46). Homosexuals were killed (Lev 20:13).
Paul mentioned homosexuality because he was the apostle of the gentiles (Rom 11:13). Homosexuality was more common among the Romans and Greeks; not the Jews.
Is Being Gay Wrong In The NT?
For sure, homosexuality is wrong in the Old Testament, but is it wrong in the New Testament? Check out the Greek for 1Corinthians 6:9-10 that says, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
[Fornicators] – G4205 = πόρνος pornos; a (male) prostitute (as venal), fornicator, whoremonger, a man who prostitutes his body to another’s lust for hire, a male prostitute, a man who indulges in unlawful sexual intercourse, a fornicator.
[Effeminate] – G3120 = μαλακός malakos; effeminate, soft in a bad sense, effeminate of a catamite of a boy kept for homosexual relations with a man of a male who submits his body to unnatural lewdness of a male prostitute.
[Abusers of themselves with mankind] – G0733 = ἀρσενοκοίτης arsenokoitēs; a sodomite, abuser of (one’s) self with mankind, defile (one’s) self with mankind; one who lies with a male as with a female, sodomite, homosexual.
The same words are used in 1Timothy 1:9-10 – “whoremongers (G4205)” and “them that defile themselves with mankind (G0733)”. So yes, homosexuality is wrong in the NT, just like the OT. It’s impossible to “practice” Christianity and Homosexuality.
Summary: What did Jesus say about homosexuality? Did Jesus think it was ok to be gay? Jesus said nothing about it, but that wasn’t approval. The law was against homosexuality. Not addressing the topic shows His agreement with the law that homosexuality is wrong, not right.
