You can search these six verses and the word “faith” is never used, but it’s at the heart of every sentence. Although Luke’s account of this incident in the life of John doesn’t make it clear, the parallel telling of this story in Matthew 11 lets us know that John was still sitting in prison. As Luke 3 also told us, Herod had thrown John in jail for daring to speak out against his soap opera-like life and unholy union with his own brother’s wife.
In the meantime the public ministry of Jesus has been growing exponentially. The crowds are coming his way in even bigger numbers than John had experienced. Just previous to this, Jesus had healed many – including a Roman Centurion’s servant via long-distance (at the soldier’s request). Then in the town of Nain, Jesus had raised the only son of a widow. In other words, Jesus was the talk of the town now. And where was John? He’s behind bars for being a faithful prophet and denouncing the public sin of this unbelieving king.
That’s the backdrop to the sending of two of John’s disciples to see Jesus and ask him a question. The baptizer honestly wanted to know: “Are you the Christ or are we to expect another?” Considering that John is the same one who had previous declared Jesus to be “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” we may legitimately ask the question: “What’s going on here?” The most reasonable answer is that John is struggling with his faith a bit at this point. He had to be thinking: “Something’s not right. Jesus is going all over the place performing miracle after miracle, and here I am – incarcerated for faithfully proclaiming God’s Word? This isn’t fair. Why doesn’t Jesus use his power to spring me? Wouldn’t I be more effective in pointing others to him outside these prison walls?”
Given the circumstance, aren’t these the same kind of questions we would ask in the same situation? In fact, aren’t these pretty similar to the kinds of questions we ask when our life situations seem to run counter to our expectations? Some Bible commentators argue that John wasn’t having doubts, but a few of his disciples were, and so he sent those same disciples to Jesus to have their misgivings surgically removed by the Divine Healer. But I don’t buy that line of argumentation. I believe there were plenty of doubts to go around among John and his followers. In fact the more I think about it, I find myself wondering if this question wasn’t even as much a question as it was a plea. In its own way, it was John saying: “Hello? Jesus? Just in case you’ve been too busy to notice, just wanted to let you know – I’m still here. A little help would be appreciated.” But maybe that says more about me. I do find that when I’m sending up this kind of question heavenward, they are not mental exercises that I came up with in my meditative times. My inquiries tend to add up to one third question, and two thirds request.
Of course Jesus’ handling of John’s question is also telling. He instructs the two disciples of John to go back and report to him that the blind see, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, etc. Here Jesus is not only quoting the predictions of the work of the Messiah (or Christ) as given by the prophet Isaiah, but he’s living that impressive list out each day among the people.
And yet, it was those very miracles that prompted John to ask the question in the first place. So did his question get answered? Yes, but not exactly the way John wanted it answered. Basically Jesus is saying: “Look – I am the Christ and I will do what I have come to do as the Savior, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get to dictate what you’ll face in your life. In your case, it doesn’t mean you’ll get out of prison (or for that matter – that he won’t die at the hands of Herod). But trust me – when it comes to forgiveness and life forever, I will not let you down. So blessed is anyone “who does not fall away on account of me.”
In the meantime the public ministry of Jesus has been growing exponentially. The crowds are coming his way in even bigger numbers than John had experienced. Just previous to this, Jesus had healed many – including a Roman Centurion’s servant via long-distance (at the soldier’s request). Then in the town of Nain, Jesus had raised the only son of a widow. In other words, Jesus was the talk of the town now. And where was John? He’s behind bars for being a faithful prophet and denouncing the public sin of this unbelieving king.
That’s the backdrop to the sending of two of John’s disciples to see Jesus and ask him a question. The baptizer honestly wanted to know: “Are you the Christ or are we to expect another?” Considering that John is the same one who had previous declared Jesus to be “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” we may legitimately ask the question: “What’s going on here?” The most reasonable answer is that John is struggling with his faith a bit at this point. He had to be thinking: “Something’s not right. Jesus is going all over the place performing miracle after miracle, and here I am – incarcerated for faithfully proclaiming God’s Word? This isn’t fair. Why doesn’t Jesus use his power to spring me? Wouldn’t I be more effective in pointing others to him outside these prison walls?”
Given the circumstance, aren’t these the same kind of questions we would ask in the same situation? In fact, aren’t these pretty similar to the kinds of questions we ask when our life situations seem to run counter to our expectations? Some Bible commentators argue that John wasn’t having doubts, but a few of his disciples were, and so he sent those same disciples to Jesus to have their misgivings surgically removed by the Divine Healer. But I don’t buy that line of argumentation. I believe there were plenty of doubts to go around among John and his followers. In fact the more I think about it, I find myself wondering if this question wasn’t even as much a question as it was a plea. In its own way, it was John saying: “Hello? Jesus? Just in case you’ve been too busy to notice, just wanted to let you know – I’m still here. A little help would be appreciated.” But maybe that says more about me. I do find that when I’m sending up this kind of question heavenward, they are not mental exercises that I came up with in my meditative times. My inquiries tend to add up to one third question, and two thirds request.
Of course Jesus’ handling of John’s question is also telling. He instructs the two disciples of John to go back and report to him that the blind see, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, etc. Here Jesus is not only quoting the predictions of the work of the Messiah (or Christ) as given by the prophet Isaiah, but he’s living that impressive list out each day among the people.
And yet, it was those very miracles that prompted John to ask the question in the first place. So did his question get answered? Yes, but not exactly the way John wanted it answered. Basically Jesus is saying: “Look – I am the Christ and I will do what I have come to do as the Savior, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get to dictate what you’ll face in your life. In your case, it doesn’t mean you’ll get out of prison (or for that matter – that he won’t die at the hands of Herod). But trust me – when it comes to forgiveness and life forever, I will not let you down. So blessed is anyone “who does not fall away on account of me.”
So I for one find it comforting that to have a “John the Baptist” Christmas does not mean that I’ll never have questions or struggle with doubts, but that when I do, I go back and focus on what Jesus has done for me, as well as what He promises to do in my life. After all, isn’t that what living out Christ-with-us is all about?
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1 comment:
Nice article. Thanks for sharing. You should take a look at the article on www.joshuamethod.com that covers the widower from Nain as well.
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