Biblical Revivals and Awakenings
No one is, was, or ever will be like Jesus Christ. He is the Eternal God who created the heavens and the earth, everything visible and invisible (Colossians 1:16). So, when Jesus came from Heaven to earth two-thousand years ago was He met with gratitude, praise, and respect by those who met Him?
Let’s take a closer look to answer that question.
New Testament Prophecies about Revival
It’s good to remember some of the New Testament prophecies that prepare us to understand the revival God was going to bring to His people. Here are several for us to consider. First, from the Angel Gabriel who stands in God’s presence –
Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. Luke 1:30-33
Here is what Mary said prior to Jesus’ birth –
He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever. Luke 1:51-55
This is what an angel told a group of shepherds near Bethlehem after Jesus was born –
Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10-11
Here’s what an old man in Jerusalem said after seeing the baby Jesus at the Temple. The Holy Spirit had told him he would not die until He had seen Messiah –
Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel. Luke 2:29-32
Anna, who was an elderly prophetess, saw the baby Jesus and gave thanks to the Lord, “and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38)
All of this would lead a reader to think that the time of great revival was about to come upon Judea, but is that what happened? Let’s look at Jesus and revival after He began His earthly ministry.
Jesus and Revival
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. Matthew 4:23-25
It didn’t take long after Jesus began preaching and healing that “great multitudes” began to follow Him. Why wouldn’t they? He healed everybody they brought to Him. That was a big deal in 1st century Judea. The country didn’t have hospitals or medical clinics. People suffered greatly, so they were excited to learn that Jesus of Nazareth was a teacher and healer. He was able to heal people of any and every disease, cast out demons, and even raise the dead. That will get a crowd!
Jesus also fed thousands of people through miraculous means. That also impressed people to follow Him –
Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children. Matthew 14:19-21
So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala. Matthew 15:35-39
Opposition to Revival
What Jesus did by healing and feeding thousands of people made Him very popular. However, what He said caused many problems with some people, especially with the religious leaders. There are so many examples in the New Testament, so I’ll share just a few.
Let’s begin with what Jesus did and said to people who had known Him from childhood. Jesus was already well-known in the area near his hometown for teaching in synagogues and healing people in many towns and villages. The day came when He went His hometown synagogue in Nazareth. He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. He was handed the Book of Isaiah. Jesus opened Isaiah and started reading –
The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Luke 4:18-19
Jesus closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. Everyone was watching Him to see what He would do or say next.
And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Luke 4:21
All it took was just eight words – eight words – and that changed everything. The people in the synagogue questioned how someone who had grown up in their own village could say such a thing. Jesus then added fuel to a growing flame –
He said to them, ‘You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.’ Then He said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.’ So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way. Luke 4:23-30
People who Jesus had grown up with, people from His own village, became so angry at what He said that they tried to murder Him.
Here’s another well-known example, the Sermon on the Mount. We find the long version in Matthew chapters 5 – 7, and the short version in Luke 6. Jesus saw the “multitudes” who followed Him and went up on a mountain. He sat down with His disciples and began to teach. The first part of the sermon included blessings and how believers are the salt and light of the earth. The next part took on issues of the heart (e.g. murder, adultery). Then Jesus took on the issue of loving your enemies, blessing those who curse you, doing good to those who hate you, and praying for those who spitefully use and persecute you. Why? “… that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:45).
Jesus taught about fasting and prayer, laying up treasures in Heaven, and dealing with worry. He addressed the issue of judging other people, and entering through the narrow way. Jesus warned the people to beware of false prophets who came to them in sheep’s clothing, but were inwardly ravenous wolves. Then He said this –
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7:21-23
Jesus went beyond being a teaching healer to claiming to be God. The people were astonished at His teaching.
Jesus continued His ministry of healing, working miracles, and teaching, but His words began to divide many of the people who followed Him. He also angered the religious leaders. What looked like a revival began to look more like an angry mob as Jesus continued to speak the truth.
Here’s an example of what happened while Jesus was teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum –
Then Jesus said to them, ‘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. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever … Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can understand it? … From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. John 6:53-58, 60, 66
We learn in John 6:5 that even His brothers didn’t believe in Him. Surrounded by unbelief from His own family members and followers, and opposed by the religious leaders of His time, it looked like there would be no real and lasting revival. Even the revival that appeared to be growing under John the Baptist had fallen apart. John was arrested, imprisoned, and murdered.
Next Time
Had the opposition to the messenger and the Messenger of the covenant defeated God’s plan to revive His people? Not at all. Everything was going just as God had planned it. We’ll learn about that in the next part of our special series, Revival – To Live Again.
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
© Faith and Self Defense, 2026
