I am the living bread which came down from heaven. … 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. —John 6:51, 53-54, NKJV
A good example of God intentionally offending people is in John 6. Jesus fed five thousand people with the multiplied fish and loaves. Now they expected that the Messiah would prove Himself with some great sign, something more than multiplying bread or healing people. They were asking Jesus to do something like the manna-from-heaven thing again. Jesus offended them in their minds theologically by saying that He was the bread that came down from heaven. He offended their expectations by refusing to give them the expected sign. He offended their sensibility and their dignity by suggesting that they eat His flesh and drink His blood. Jesus knew their hearts—that most of them loved their tradition more than God. He also knew that those who followed Him as told in John 6 did so with mixed motives. He revealed their hearts by intentionally offending their minds.
{ PRAYER STARTER }
When I feel offended by Your Spirit, cause me to immediately repent and to remember that You offend to redeem. Reveal my heart through Your offense, and bring me to repentance and restoration.
God’s offense is redemptive. He offends
people’s minds in order to
reveal their hearts.
