Jesus DID have some things to say about homosexuality -- just not in the direct manner that gays would like to see (or, actually, not see -- they seem to like the argument from silence even though it is an intentional fallacy). He spoke about the proper sexual relationship through marriage as defined by Genesis 1:26 -- ONE husband with ONE wife in a bond that lasts for life:
[i:3f1hmcab]Matthew 19:4-10 (ESV) He [Jesus] answered, [color=#FF0000:3f1hmcab]"Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female,[/color:3f1hmcab] 5 "and said, [color=#FF0000:3f1hmcab]'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh'? [/color:3f1hmcab] 6 [color=#FF0000:3f1hmcab]"So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." [/color:3f1hmcab] [/i:3f1hmcab]
[i:3f1hmcab]7 They said to him, "Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?" 8 He said to them, [color=#FF0000:3f1hmcab]"Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. [/color:3f1hmcab] 9 [color=#FF0000:3f1hmcab]"And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery." [/color:3f1hmcab][/i:3f1hmcab]
[i:3f1hmcab]10 The disciples said to him, "If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry." 11 But he said to them, [color=#FF0000:3f1hmcab]"Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. [/color:3f1hmcab] 12 [color=#FF0000:3f1hmcab]"For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it." [/color:3f1hmcab][/i:3f1hmcab]
Note here what Jesus DID say (positive argument, versus negative, argument from silence) concerning sexual relationships. First, they are between a man and his wife -- only. ANY other sexual encounter is seen as adultery, and because there is NO biblical position that EVER favors the concept of man marrying man, nor woman marrying woman, ANY sexual liason man to man or woman to woman is by definition adultery or fornication -- unlawful acts worthy of punishment.
There is no way to make Jesus say or even suggest that a "loving partnership between two men" is something that He would condone, even using the larger picture of the loving and forgiving nature of Jesus grace.
Jesus said also, concerning the OT Scriptures:
John 5:46-7 (ESV) [color=#FF0000:3f1hmcab]"If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. [/color:3f1hmcab] 47 [color=#FF0000:3f1hmcab]"But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?" [/color:3f1hmcab]
Which, is the problem for a lot of folks that want to pick and choose their way through the Bible, cafeteria-line style. The Jesus they want to have -- all loving, permissive -- "tolerant" -- doesn't exist in reality.
So, to be fair, what did Moses say about homosexuality?
[i:3f1hmcab]Lev 18:22-30 (ESV) "[color=#0040FF:3f1hmcab]You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.[/color:3f1hmcab] 23 "And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is perversion. 24 "Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, 25 "and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. 26 "But [color=#0040FF:3f1hmcab]you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you [/color:3f1hmcab]27 (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), 28 "lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29 "For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people. 30 "So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God." [/i:3f1hmcab]
[i:3f1hmcab]Lev 20:10-21 (ESV) "If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 "If a man lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12 "If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them. 13 [color=#0080FF:3f1hmcab]"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.[/color:3f1hmcab] 14 "If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. 15 "If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. 16 "If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 17 "If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister's nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity. 18 "If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 "You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister or of your father's sister, for that is to make naked one's relative; they shall bear their iniquity. 20 "If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21 "If a man takes his brother's wife, it is impurity. He has uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless. 22 "You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. 23 "And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. [/i:3f1hmcab]
I pasted larger portions of the text surrounding what Moses wrote concerning God's Law for sexual sin so that the readers can see that God is not just a tad "miffed" at guys (or girls) that "lay with one another" but rather, He promises death and destruction to them and their lands.
God also promises the same for promiscuity in general -- He has, from the first, intended that sexual relationships be freely practiced between husband and wife, those defined as male and female -- one each, and for life.
What of another NT example? Is there one? Paul said:
[i:3f1hmcab]Rom 1:21-32 (ESV) For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. [/i:3f1hmcab]
[i:3f1hmcab]26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. [color=#0080FF:3f1hmcab]For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;[/color:3f1hmcab] 27 [color=#0080FF:3f1hmcab]and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.[/color:3f1hmcab] 28 [color=#0080FF:3f1hmcab]And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.[/color:3f1hmcab] 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. [/i:3f1hmcab]
But, the word "homosexual" is not used in Romans 1, did Paul really mean homosexual when he penned those words? Let's see what else he wrote:
[i:3f1hmcab]1Ti 1:8-11 (ESV) Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 [color=#0080FF:3f1hmcab]the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, [/color:3f1hmcab]enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine...[/i:3f1hmcab]
Or this:
[i:3f1hmcab]1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (ESV) [color=#0080FF:3f1hmcab]Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,[/color:3f1hmcab] 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. 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. [/i:3f1hmcab]
In the end, I think it is fair to say that both the OT and NT well establish that there is to be absolutely NO homosexual relationship or actually, ANY sexual relationship apart from that with husband and wife.
One last thing... God is not a stodgy Victorian when it comes to the actual sexual practice between husband and wife. Far from it. He simply forbids THAT sort of experience with any other human being.
Existence was given us for action. Our worth is determined by the good deed we do, rather than by the fine emotions we feel." George MacDonald, Scottish theologian and pastor
