John the Baptist Search

Matthew 11: 2-6

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent a message by his disciples ³ and asked Him, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus replied to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind see, the lame walk, those with skin diseases are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news.  And if anyone is not offended because of Me, he is blessed.”

        We all at some point or another have questions about our faith. I believe that it is human nature that calls us to want to know absolutely every single answer there is out there about our faith. But, there are just some things that we will have to figure our when we see Jesus face to face. Luckily for us, the question that John the Baptist had was not one of those questions that we have to wait and find the answer out to.

        John had been the voice in the wilderness calling out, preparing the way for Jesus to come in and do His ministry. But, even he had his doubts when we pick things up here in Matthew 11, where John find himself in prison for doing what he believed he had been called to do. He had to find out for sure that Jesus was the Messiah that the people had been waiting for all of these years. And the answer that he got back was a resounding “YES, I am the Messiah”. Although when you first read it it may not seem as clear to you as Jesus just simply saying “Yes, it is me.” But that is what he is saying. Jesus tells John’s disciples to go back and to tell him what has been going on. “the blind see, the lame walk, those with skin disease are healed, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised.” These are things that only God could do. He was showing that he had control over all of these things and could fix people’s physical ailments back to the way they were supposed to be.

        But lets concentrate on John for a minute. Like was mentioned earlier, he was the one that was chosen before the beginning of time to preach about Jesus coming. He had come out of the wilderness and had tons of people following him and being baptized because he preached that the kingdom of God was near. Now, he or all people, had the serious question of whether or not Jesus was really the one that was the Messiah. Now, I don’t know about you guys, but this makes John the Baptist, a man who seemed like the most secure man in his faith in the whole world, who to me seemed like a legend among men, all of a sudden look more like a real human being. Because let’s be honest, there has been times in all of our lives where we have questioned the Lordship of Jesus, and while it is reassuring in one way to see someone like John ask the same question, what is really reassuring is Jesus answer.

        There is no rebuke in it at all. In none of that passage above do you hear Jesus condemning John for even asking such a question. He didn’t bring up the fact that John was supposed to be the one who was preparing the way for Jesus and he should have known. No, he simply reassured him that Jesus was in fact the Messiah that had been promised for years to come.

        So be comforted in that when you have questions about God, He is not going to send a lightning bolt down to kill you, but he will gently remind you of what he has done in the past to prove that he is the Messiah and he will probably remind you what he has done in your personal life to remind you he is the Messiah. So go ahead, ask Jesus the hard questions. I promised that each and every time you will find assurance in his word that he is who he said he was.