The message and mission of Jesus was NOT primarily about sex, it was about LOVE. Jesus rarely condemns others for sexual misconduct. Instead he calls them to forgiveness and new life. He was concerned with building the Kingdom of God (a carpenter) not adjusting our sexual fixtures (a plumber) . Those who sexualize the debate about same-sex love and marriage are degrading his "Good News".

Nothing. There is no evidence whatsoever that Jesus condemned same-sex love in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Nada. Not an iota. Those who condemn same-sex love and marriage often quote the apostle Paul or the Book of Leviticus. Those who like to quote Leviticus should consult chapters 20 and 24 where there is a long list of charges that warrant the death-penalty. As one of my Jewish colleagues said in the Minnesota legislature, the Laws of Leviticus if fully and literally applied could empty most legislatures and many congregations. If laws of Leviticus take precedent over the teachings of Jesus, Christianity might be reduced to a heretical sect of Judaism.

There are two stories from the Gospel of John, where Jesus is confronted with sexual misconduct. When Jesus meets a Samarian woman at the well (John 4.15-26), he violates Mosaic law by speaking with her and asking for drink of water. When he chides her about her many husbands, he does not condemn her. Instead, she becomes a witness to Jesus as the Messiah. In this story, sexual misconduct is a revolving door from lesser to greater faith.

In the second story (John 8.1-7) the Pharisees bring before Jesus a woman who has been convicted of adultery and is about to be stoned. They ask his advice. Again, Jesus does not condemn the woman. He turns to her self-righteous accusers and says: "Let the perfect among you cast the first stone". After the Pharisees depart, Jesus says two things to the woman convicted of adultery: "I do not condemn you" and "Go and sin no more."

In the Gospel of Matthew (Matt. 5.27-28) when Jesus comments on adultery, he emphasizes the inward intent ("lust in the heart") not the outward act.

How then does Jesus deal with sexual misconduct? He forgives, he does not condemn. He calls the self-righteous Pharisees to account. He places sexuality in a larger context of our relationship with God and our own spiritual life. Here as elsewhere, Jesus turns the legalistic tendency of Leviticus and the Pharisees up-side down. The Kingdom of God calls us to forgive not judge, to love not hate. He seems more interested in compassion than purity. He welcomes the out-cast and the sinner back into a beloved community.

Those who doubt that Jesus could curse as well as bless should revisit the 23rd chapter of Matthew. Jesus unleashes a fire-storm of curses on the Scribes, the Pharisees and Hypocrites. Why? The Scribes copied and taught the laws of Moses. The Pharisees taught that only literal and unquestioning obedience to the letter of the Law lead to salvation. The Hypocrites condemned others while ignoring their own faults.

5. Who would Jesus condemn today?

This leads to a troubling question: Who would Jesus condemn today? Who like the Scribes and Pharisees use a literal reading of the Law to condemn others? Who like Hypocrites, use the outward forms of religious to chastise outcasts and buttress their own sense of righteous? These questions point to a painful and tragic irony: many of those who quote the laws of Leviticus and Paul to condemn same sex love and marriage are, by that very act, placing themselves among those who Jesus passionately and persistently condemns.