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“When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Matthew 11:1-6
As we enter into chapter eleven we are going move on from talk about the mission trip and now focus on John the Baptist. Now when we see John here, he is in prison. Now for those who don’t know the story of John. He was the one who was said to “pave the way” for Christ. He was the forerunner. The welcomer of the king. We meet him at the beginning of Matthew and now we hear about him again. And you probably want to know how he got into prison? Well we actually hear that story in chapter fourteen, if you want to read it for yourself. The short version though is that Herod put him in prison to cover up for Herod’s secret relationship with a lady named Herodias, Herod’s brother’s wife. Yeah, it’s complicated. John spoke up and ended up in prison, but not just that, he’s about to be executed. But I think as we read we see something that grows in each of our own hearts. Doubt. I also think that there are some things to be learned here, things that we might need to hold onto when, like john, things aren’t making sense.
So here they are:
Look To Christ In Scripture
John might have thought that Jesus was going to make everything better. He might have thought that he would bring blessing for the repentant and judgement for the rebellious. He might have thought that he was there to start his rule as king.
But whatever the motive behind the question, Christ’s answer revealed what really needed to happen. They needed to see what is plain to be seen. To look at the scripture and look at Christ and come to solid conclusions. If the signs pointed to the messiah, then the only conclusion was that Jesus was the messiah.
This is also the case for us. If all the evidence is in, then we must not keep doubting or at least pick up our Bibles and battle the doubts head on!
It’s important to read, but more than that, to read and be certain. Doubts happen when something we thought was to happen doesn’t happen. Or if we find something unlikely because of past experience. We say “I doubt that.”
Doubts also happen in moments of trials and struggle. Like here with John. He’s in prison about to die and Jesus is suppose to be conquering by now. It’s not adding up. So he may have doubts.
But there is something we can learn from John as he, too, seems to struggle to make sense of things. We must turn to the promises of God and what he’s revealed in scripture. We must have men and women in our life who can refocus us in times of questioning. In times when we aren’t connecting the word of God with our present circumstance. The way to fight doubt is to saturate our hearts and minds in the word of God and have people who will walk beside us with the same mindset.
Another Option
The other option here is, what if John didn’t have the doubts but was planning for the two disciples he sent? John knows his life is about over. This must have been plain to him. So we could see his eagerness to send those he loved to Christ himself with a question that would embolden their faith. Now we cant be for certain of the motive of the question. It does seem full of doubt, but maybe it was intentional to build his disciples up for when he dies. Which if this is the case, and even if its not, we should learn that we should always be trying to live with men and women in such a way that emboldens them, not that causes them to waver. Always trying to push people to Christ and not throwing snares in their paths. Whether with our actions or words.
Don’t Be Offended
Lastly, we must see that when things don’t add up, it’s probably on our side, not on Christ. This is a really hard thing to hold when everything seems to be falling apart in our lives and we think Jesus isn’t hearing us or that the word of God seems to say things to do, but when we do them, it doesn’t seem to change anything. It’s hard. I know. But the worst thing for us to do, is to start railing our fist at God. To be offended in our doubting is a very hard place to be. If this is you, today, keep going. It seems confusing, it may even seem impossible, but call someone who can encourage you. Keep reading and trust and see that Christ loves you. He is doing what he has promised. Keep going.
Here are the points to take away:
1. Look to Christ in the Scripture
2. Surround yourself with Godly men and woman.
3. Live to embolden and encourage faith. Don’t be a hindrance. Many people need solid faithful men.
4. Keep going. Keep asking questions. Keep talking. Keep reading.