Unwavering
How do you react when asked the same question over and over again? As parents, we get this a lot. Our children can tend to ask the same question over and over until they get an answer that makes sense to them or the answer they were looking for to begin with. We can be that way with God too, continuing to ask and ask and ask all because we didn’t get the answer we were looking for—not because God didn’t answer. We see an example of this in John 6 with the crowd that had been fed by Jesus the day before.
“Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.’” (John 6:26-27)
Immediately Jesus knew the people had only come back because they wanted food. They didn’t come for Jesus’ message or even the miracles. They had been given all the food they could possibly eat and they wanted more. Jesus cut right to the heart of the matter but still the people only demanded food.
“They answered, ‘Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do? After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” (John 6:30-31)
They were so desperate for the food that they even tried the manipulation tactic of referencing the Scriptures of when the Hebrews got manna from heaven, but they got the Scriptures wrong and Jesus corrected them.
“Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’” (John 6:32-33)
They claimed that Moses gave them the bread, showing their focus was not on the Lord. Jesus continued to point to Himself as the true bread from Heaven. Here, the people have the perfect example/metaphor for Jesus because He is the manna from Heaven and yet they still miss it. They asked to be given the bread every day, and Jesus finally had to make it blatantly clear to them.
“Jesus replied, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me.’ (…) Then the people began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They said, ‘Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, “I came down from heaven”?’” (John 6:35-36, 41-42)
Jesus told them He is the bread of life and yet they focused on his earthly parents. They didn’t understand and were solely focused on getting more of the food they received the previous day. They missed Jesus’ answers. Like the child who keeps asking for the same thing over and over, they only wanted bread and could not break their focus on what they wanted. Notice how unwavering Jesus was. I know I have been guilty in the past of giving in to what my kids want if they ask me enough times, but Jesus didn’t change His answer at all. In fact, He went deeper with the answer.
“So Jesus said again, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day.’” (John 6:53-54)
Jesus didn’t give the people what they desired—He gave them what they needed. Their hearts were not in following Jesus but in what He could do for them. When they revealed this truth, Jesus was unwavering in His answer. Jesus doesn’t give in to what we beg for if it’s not good for us. He knows what’s best and when we are only focused on our desires, we can miss the truth that Jesus has to offer. Don’t be so focused on what you want that you miss what you need. Jesus is unwavering. Listen to His answer, whether it was the answer you were looking for or not.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
