Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.”
- KJV And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
- NKJV And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
- NASB And blessed is anyone who does not take offense at Me.”
- NLT And he added, “God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus pronounces a blessing on whoever does not stumble over Him. He gently encourages faith despite expectations not being met as anticipated.
Overview
This beatitude addresses the temptation to be offended when Jesus does not act as one expects, perhaps a word of comfort to the imprisoned John. True blessedness belongs to those who trust Christ even when His ways confound human assumptions. It calls all hearers to persevering faith in Jesus as He truly is, not as they imagine Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 1 Pet 2:7–8To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”
- Matt 11:6Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.”
- Isa 8:14–15And He will be a sanctuary—but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare.
- Rom 9:32–33Why not? Because their pursuit was not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
- Matt 13:57–58And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own household is a prophet without honor.”
- 1 Cor 2:14The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- Luke 2:34Then Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary: “Behold, this Child is appointed to cause the rise and fall of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,
- John 6:60–66On hearing it, many of His disciples said, “This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?”
- 1 Cor 1:21–28For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 7:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.