Joni And Friends Daily Devotional 14 August 2024, Wednesday Message
TOPIC: When Others Take Offense
“’Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?’ And they took offense at him.” – Mark 6:3
TODAY’S MESSAGE
The eyebrow raisers included Jesus’ own brothers. One time when Jesus entered the room, they quickly became all seriousness; suppressing grins, they winked at one another and urged him to “go more public with his important message.” Such skepticism led Jesus to heal fewer people in his old neighborhood than anywhere—naturally confirming the neighbors’ doubts—and the gossip began. “Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, ‘He is a good man.’ Others replied, ‘No, he deceives the people’” (John 7:12).
His goodness scared people. One village asked Jesus to move on just after he had healed their town’s most notorious psychotic. Some whom he greatly helped didn’t even turn to thank him. It became common to hear people wonder out loud why Jesus attended parties, when John the Baptist had contented himself with wild honey and fried locusts. Others avoided him for fear of getting kicked out of their synagogues. Some even joined the ranks to stone him. (Estes)
But Jesus never backed down. He kept to the furrow he was plowing.
Have you ever found yourself the brunt of gossip in your office? Do neighbors whisper behind your back? Have people smiled stiffly at your words of witness, then said, “No thanks.” We have all found ourselves feeling left out at parties, or the last to be invited to sit at the popular table at a church potluck. It’s okay. It’s what happened to Jesus many times. Don’t fret or feel intimidated. If Jesus kept to the furrow he was plowing, you must, too. You’re the servant following in the Master’s tracks.
PRAY: I pray for those who take offense at me, Lord. If you could lay down your life for your accusers, I can pray for those who malign me.
Joni Eareckson Tada is an American evangelical Christian author, radio host, artist, and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization “accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community”