This Might Offend Some People…

Jesus is our greatest example of humility.

He didn’t worry about what was popular or stress about man’s approval. He just did what God told Him to do and gave credit to His Father. After Jesus fed the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish, the people were so amazed, they wanted to make Him king ( John 6). But Jesus “knew what was in man” ( John 2:25). He knew the people’s hearts weren’t with Him. They weren’t worshiping and following Him because He was God; they followed Him because He filled their bellies. It was all selfish. They thought Jesus was the ticket to meeting their needs. So, Jesus began preaching a hard message.

Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. (John 6:27–29)

After Jesus spoke these words, the people demanded a sign from Him. They wanted Him to produce manna and feed them, like Moses fed the Israelites in the wilderness ( John 6:30-31). Jesus had miraculously fed 5,000 men—not including women and children—the day before, but that wasn’t enough for them. So, He replied:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. (John 6:32–33)

Jesus said, “You’re looking for manna from heaven, but I am the Bread of Life. God sent me to give life to the world.” I’m sure people in Jesus’s day thought that statement was arrogant. But it was the truth. It was humility for Jesus to declare Himself to be the Bread of Life. He was agreeing with His Father.

It’s not wrong to speak the truth. If you’ve built a billion-dollar company, it’s not humility to deny what you’ve done. That’s a religious con. True humility would say, “Yes, I built a billion-dollar company, but God gave me the opportunity. He gave me the wisdom to build well. I’m glad this company can be a blessing and employ so many people.” Humility doesn’t deny good things. It just gives God credit.

I’ve seen multiple people raised from the dead throughout the history of my ministry. Yet people criticize me and accuse me of promoting myself when I tell those stories. I never claim to perform those miracles; I can’t raise a gnat! God raised my son from the dead. God raised my wife. God raised up the man from Pritchett. That’s not pride. That’s what God said would happen (Mark 16:17–18 and John 14:12). That is glorifying God.

Humility does not debase or criticize self, nor does it refuse to acknowledge the good in your life. God has done some amazing things in my life. And it’s humility to acknowledge them—as long as I give God glory and don’t take credit for myself. That’s what Jesus was doing when He said:

I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. (John 6:35–38)

Jesus didn’t come to the earth to seek His own will. He was busy building His Father’s kingdom. He said, “This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day” ( John 6:40). But the Jews murmured at Jesus’s words ( John 6:41). They questioned His motives, and some even labeled Him a heretic. They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?” ( John 6:42).

What Jesus said was true. He did come down from heaven. He wasn’t an ordinary man. He was God manifesting in the flesh ( John 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:16), and it would have been pride for Jesus to deny that. It would have been pride to temper His words for fear of the people’s response.

That’s the problem with modern-day ministers. The vast majority of them do not speak the truth about finances, healing, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit for fear someone will misunderstand or criticize. Others refuse to address what God says about marriage, parenting, and sexual purity for the same reason. They think God’s Word is too strong for society to handle, so they water it down to make it more palatable. They quit being a faithful witness, and they start interjecting their own words and ideas.

People who are afraid of criticism, who need the approval and validation of people, are proud. Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man bringeth a snare.” A snare is a trap used to catch an animal. Satan uses the fear of man to snare or trap us in pride. This fear is rooted in selfishness. If you are going to represent God, you must be prepared for criticism (2 Tim. 3:12). Jesus said, “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets” (Luke 6:26, NIV). If you aren’t being persecuted, you aren’t living godly or truly representing God. If you never bump into the devil, it’s because you’re both headed in the same direction.

When you start representing God, it will cost you something. Jesus asked, “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?” (Matt. 10:25). When you share the unadulterated Word of God and people misunderstand, don’t fall all over yourself to apologize or explain what you said. When the people misunderstood Jesus and began murmuring, He didn’t backpedal. He said:

Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. John 6:43b–46

Jesus basically said, “Why are you murmuring? None of your teachers have firsthand knowledge of what they speak about, but I do. I’m the only one who has seen the Father, and I can speak with authority about Him.” Jesus continued:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. John 6:47–51

The Jews completely missed the spiritual application of Jesus’s words. They thought He spoke of cannibalism ( John 6:52). If this sort of misunderstanding were to happen today, most ministers would go out of their way to explain themselves and keep from offending anyone. But Jesus just made it worse, saying:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. John 6:53–56

To put this into a modern-day context, let’s say I was drawing crowds of 20,000 people at one of my Gospel Truth Conferences. Then God told me to preach something unpopular, something that would weed out the people and narrow the crowds to those who were really committed to Him. And let’s say many people got offended at what I preached, and 18,000 left. Boy, would I be the talk of the town! People would say, “Did you hear about Andrew Wommack? He had 20,000 people coming to his meetings, and he blew it! People were getting up and walking out; he offended everyone. Only a handful are left.” People would say I was a failure. I’m sure many looked at Jesus as a failure too.

Even Jesus’s disciples began murmuring at His words. “Doth this offend you?” He asked ( John 6:61). “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not” ( John 6:63–64). Jesus knew what was in their hearts. He knew that many followed Him for what they could get out of Him. They followed Him for the food, the miracles, and the prestige. So, Jesus began to place an expectation on His followers. He basically said, “You have to follow Me for more than what I can do for you. If you really want to experience the kingdom of God, you have to truly believe.”

What happened next?

From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. John 6:66

Spiritually speaking, followers of Jesus must partake of Him to live. There is no other way to the Father (Acts 4:12). The Jews didn’t understand that, and Jesus didn’t try to explain. He didn’t put their concerns to rest or correct their assumptions. He wasn’t concerned with what they thought of Him. He was out to glorify His Father, not Himself. Jesus was a faithful witness. He remained true to what the Father had to say whether or not it worked to His benefit.