On my journey this morning through the Gospel of John, something caught my attention.
Jesus had just dropped a heavy truth on the crowd. He told them that He was the Bread of Life, and unless they ate His flesh and drank His blood, they’d have no life in them.
The Jews then murmured at Him, because He said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. -John 6:41
There it was....murmuring. It wasn't even honest wrestling. Murmuring.
That word stirred something in me. Because if I’m honest, I’ve murmured too. Not always out loud, but in the hidden corners of my heart where offense finds a voice.
Murmuring is subtle. It doesn’t always shout. Sometimes, it whispers in sarcasm, mutters under its breath, or disguises itself as "venting." But at its core, murmuring is a symptom of something deeper....a heart that is offended, unsettled, or unbelieving.
In John 6, the crowd didn’t murmur because they didn’t understand Jesus. They murmured because they DID - and they didn’t like what they heard.
He was confronting their expectations,
challenging their comfort zones,
and revealing their unbelief.
And just like that, their attitude shifted from awe to agitation. The same Jesus they followed for miracles suddenly became too much for their pride to handle.
Let’s just call it what it is: it's a spirit of offense.
It crouches at the door of our hearts, waiting for the perfect moment...usually right after truth is spoken.
Offense doesn’t need much to get stirred up. It latches on to tone, timing, facial expressions, or even the delivery of truth. And once it settles in......murmuring follows.
But murmuring is more than just words. It’s a posture. It’s the resistance of a heart that refuses to fully trust what God is saying or doing. It’s the symptom of inward rebellion disguised as discernment. It sounds spiritual, but.....it's actually VERY carnal.
It’s not just a bad habit.
It’s a barrier.
The very people who murmured in John 6 missed the miracle of what Jesus was offering. He was offering them eternal life through Him! Their murmuring blinded them to the revelation that could’ve saved them!
I wonder how many things we miss because we’re too busy murmuring?
How many moves of God do we resist because we’re offended by the package?
How many relationships do we sabotage because we never dealt with the spirit behind our muttering?
Jesus didn’t chase after the murmurers. He didn’t coddle their offense.
He spoke the truth.....and let it stand.
But for those who stayed, who pressed in despite not understanding everything, THERE WAS LIFE.
Sometimes the Word offends before it transforms.
Sometimes we don’t need a softer word.....we need a softer heart!
What if we caught ourselves the next time we started to murmur? What if we paused and asked, “Lord, is this offense… or is this conviction trying to do its work?”
Murmuring is often the mask offense wears when pride is wounded. But healing comes when we allow the Word to pierce us, not just please us.
Don’t let a spirit of murmuring rob you of what God is saying. Let’s trade murmuring for maturity. Let’s lean in when it’s hard and stay soft when the truth cuts deep.
Because on the other side of offense…
there’s often a breakthrough!
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