Jesus Humbled Those Who Grumbled

What Did Jesus Do?

“Do not grumble among yourselves.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”
John 6.43-44

Article 138 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice gives every soldier (and airman, sailor, and marine) the right to complain. Actually, the article speaks to the procedures for enlisted personnel to file a complaint against any officer whom they believe has wronged them. Long before the UCMJ there was a long standing tradition of complaining, mumbling, and murmuring among the people of God, who time and again imagined that they had been wronged (see Numbers 11.1; Deuteronomy 1.27; Psalm 106.25). So, when the Son encountered grumbling, it wasn't anything new, for the Father had heard it all before. The issue was more about who listen and learns from the Father.

The thing about muttering and grumbling is that it is so pernicious. Murmurs and whispers are weapons of the discontented, dissatisfied, and doubting who seek to enlist others in their campaigns of negation. It is all but impossible to debate with grumblers because, well, their minds are already made up. A rising tide of grumbling confronted Jesus in Capernaum in response to his revelation that he was the “true bread from heaven” which gives life to the world (John 6.33-34).

The grumblers, thought they knew all about Jesus, “This is the carpenter's kid. Who does he think he's kidding? 'I have come down from heaven.' Phooey on him!” (John 6.41-42) Certainly, Jesus would have been foolish to deny that he had grown up under their eyes in Nazareth, the son of Joseph. But the Lord didn't let the grumblers put the focus on him, or who had raised him, rather he directed attention to the Father. For the Son didn't come for all, but only for those whom the Father would draw to him (John 6.44). The grumblers evidently had never listened to or learned from the Father, and so they refused to recognize the Son (John 6.45). But for all who believe, who hear the words of the Father and learn from him, the Son gives eternal life (John 6.47).

Grumblers want to argue and debate; they challenge us to persuade and convince them. But the whole question of who Jesus is, and what he does, is not ever going to be settled by argument or debate. Faith is not a matter of persuasion. Salvation does not come to the convinced, but to the convicted.

The Son came to proclaim the kingdom. The Lord was not a salesman or politician; he neither bargained with anyone, nor campaigned for their votes. If people wanted to grumble and complain, that was their “right.” Jesus did not argue with grumblers, he hadn't come for their sake, but rather for those who listen and learn from the Father.

The kingdom still goes forward by proclamation. Evangelism is no more a matter of selling or campaigning today than it was two thousand years ago. Many will still grumble about the message we preach, but for those who yet hear and learn from the Father there is still eternal life in the Son.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4