If you share the Good News, only to see it falls on deaf ears, rest assured you are not alone.
The Great Commission's Command
To step out in faith to share the Gospel, especially for the first time, can feel daunting. When efforts to obey are met with a skeptical, edgy response like the ones heralded by Jesus’s audience, the Great Commission’s command to tell the Good News can leave the messenger feeling frustrated, ineffective, or even tempted to keep silent. Sometimes after sharing Jesus, a softened line of discussion follows, sometimes it does not. Sometimes the Gospel was all I was supposed to share. There is always a part of me that feels totally inadequate when being obedient to share and not getting the results I want. Did I understand the Lord’s direction in that moment? Did I handle that situation correctly? Did I reflect God’s glory?
Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” John 6:30-31
Personal insecurity aside, Jesus faced the same doubt that originates within humanity’s fallen nature. I love how He confidently speaks to individuals while surfacing their doubts, hesitancy, and misguided motives toward Him. He isn’t insecure about these things, but rather dives into them.
Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:32-40
Jesus Is Faithful
Oh how sweet are His promises. He gives life. He comes to me. He has all the provisions. The Father drew me to Him and Jesus hangs on, no matter what unfolds in life. He does this because of the Father’s overarching, overwhelming, omnipotent love. And that passionate, jealous love is followed through with perfect justice, seen at the Day of Judgement, where everything that has ever wounded us will be left behind, un-resurrected and gone forever.
There will always be those who curiously explore the Gospel and delightfully discover the depths of treasure given freely to them. In contrast, there will always be individuals who mock beautiful things, to their demise.
The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” John 6:41-51
The Good Teacher
As I prepared to write this post, I listened to chapter 6 on YouVersion repeatedly while on a long drive. Due to finishing the chapter and looping back to the beginning, I saw something I had never seen before. In John 6:5-6, Jesus initiated the conversation about bread with the twelve disciples, with the plan to expositionally teach and intimately demonstrate Himself as the giver of life and their need to depend on Him.
Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. John 6:5-6
I love to read and reread passages while putting myself in each of the people's position to try to understand their response to Jesus. One position I'd not yet explored was the disciples perspective during chapter six. By deliberately shifting from a bystander to an insider of Jesus’s close knit group, I saw the intentionality of Jesus's interactions with His disciples and something deeper surfaced within the Scriptures. His eloquence of speaking to multiple audiences in one speech always holds me captive, and this time it was food for my soul. With laser precision, His words dissect and isolate troublesome heart issues, offer divine solutions, teach effective ministry tactics, and provide extraordinary depth of spiritual insight.
I observe what was one person's spiritual sifting is another one's manna.
The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”
Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” John 6:52-58
As future leaders and under-shepherds of the Church, Jesus challenged His disciples to look to Him as the Provider of all they would need for ministry. Their own resources would prove inadequate to meet the physical and spiritual needs of these people. They must lean into Him for provision. When we are met with the spiritually poor and needy, He will show Himself as Living Bread. The blessing is multifaceted, blessing us and those around us as we pay it forward.
Also worth noting, Jesus walked on water in the middle of this two-day teaching, proving further to the disciples that their trust could be placed completely in Him. This miracle taken into context of the chapter is interesting in regard to the vulnerability and fear the disciples experienced in the dark night.
Would God provide when they cannot see Him?
Would He be faithful to them on a personal level, not just ministerial?
Of course, yes.
When you are facing the night storm and need Jesus to get into your boat, expect to come out of the night with an experience that makes you fearless of the dark.
After witnessing the food and water walking miracles, the awe-struck disciples face the crowd with Jesus. At this point their faith is heightened to stratospheric levels, but doubt and skepticism has infected the crowd. I wonder if they felt shock and disbelief that anyone could doubt Jesus. Yet they witness for themselves the hardened hearts and misguided motives of the crowd facing Jesus.
Unfortunately, Some Only Come For The Meal
Jesus doesn’t avoid them all together, knowing their hardened hearts. He sifts them, going deeper to reveal their motives and their disbelief. Perhaps some of them came around to believing Him, but when facing their judgement none could say they didn’t know. How they handled the truth- God’s Word- after it was exposed will either stand for them or against them.
He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him— the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. John 12:48
Their Response Does Not Change The Call
We have long past the beginning of the days where the crowds are aware of their physical needs but blind to their spiritual needs. As we continue to faithfully share the Gospel to the ends of the earth, we must remember that Jesus is our Provider and He is Faithful. Even when facing a hardened skeptic, recall we saw Jesus walk on water last night. God’s hand is in your life, working, changing, transforming, refining, and redeeming. He is active in your family. He is active in your workplace. He was on the scene before you arrived and has a plan.
Its good to remember we are joining Him in His work, not the other way around.
As much as we may yearn for a friend or family member to accept His salvation, His love for people is greater than our willingness to obey to share the Gospel. We can rest in the fact that His plan for redemption is farther reaching than we can ask or imagine. We just need to do our small part.
If you are struggling with overcoming fear of sharing Jesus, don't worry, you are not alone. Thousands of believers have struggled the same way, and Jesus anticipated this need. In Acts chapter one, when speaking to His disciples, He promises to provide power to overcome through the Holy Spirit.
“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. ... you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:5,8
This power of the Holy Spirit is available to anyone who wants it. He will empower you to love, be bold, and faithful. His work in you extends to the work He does around you, enabling you to partner with God in the moment to be His hands and feet to broken and hurting people around you. Sometimes we are aware of it, sometimes not. Sometimes you are the provision of help provided by God within a situation. It doesn't take much salt or light to do the job. This can feel lonely, but is also where we can fellowship with Jesus at a deeper level. (Think about Paul in Acts 27) Whatever the circumstance, God desires to empower you to expand His kingdom.
Prayer: Good Father, thank you for desiring to empower me to do Your will. I thank You for always being with me to do the things You call me to do. I ask that You would fill me with Your Holy Spirit and continuously dwell, lead, and direct me to Your work in the world around me. Thank You that You promise to give abundantly to those who ask and for the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit. I trust in You and Your plan for me to those around me. Help me to steward Your gift of the Holy Spirit for your glory. Amen.
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