The disciples of John asked Jesus, "Are you the one..., or shall we look for another?" Jesus said, "Go tell John what you have seen: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me." (Luke 7:18-23)
In this passage, we find one of the evidences
that the Bible is true. It is not religious propaganda; it gives us
the genuine responses of real people to God. We find John the
Baptist, a prophet who spoke so boldly about God's word that it got
him thrown into prison by Herod Antipas (Mark 6:17-20, Luke
3:19-20). But, sitting in prison, John began to experience some
doubts about the identity of the Messiah.
Remember, it was John the Baptist who felt unworthy even to carry Jesus' sandals (Matt. 3:11-12, Mark 1:7-8, Luke 3:16, John 1:26-27) because of who Jesus was. John was there and saw the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus and heard the Father's testimony that Jesus is the Son of God (Matt. 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22):
32 And John bore witness: “I saw
the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on
him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize
with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend
and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34
And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of
God." (John 1:32-34 ESV)
Not only that, John was Jesus' cousin. He knew all about the family history. He would have know the circumstances of his own birth (Luke 1:5-25). He would have known of the Angel's announcement to Mary (Luke 1:26-38). He would have heard the prophecies and the events of Jesus' birth and childhood (Luke 2). Jesus himself commends John as the greatest man who ever lived (Luke 7:28). John was a believer and a faithful prophet.
Here's the thing about doubt. Doubt often happens to believers. In Mark 9, there is a story of a man who appeals to the disciples to cast a demon from his son, but they can't. When Jesus learns about the situation, he addresses the man. The man asks if Jesus can help them. Jesus says, "All things are possible for one who believes." Then the man responds, "I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24). In Matthew 14, Peter sees Jesus walking on the water, and calls out to him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." Jesus calls and Peter steps out, but then he looks at the waves and begins to sink. Jesus replies "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matt. 14:31). Jesus says this a lot to his disciples.
Doubt happens when what you feel doesn't match with what you believe, or what you know to be true. Peter felt fear about the crashing waves, even though he knew his Lord was holding him up on the water. John felt confusion about how Jesus' messianic ministry wasn't unfolding how he expected. He had been in prison for some time, and Jesus' public ministry was still relatively new. All of John's information about Jesus and his work was second hand, until now. He believed, but he also doubted.
You may worry that doubt and faith are opposites, that true faith allows for no doubt. But as we've seen John the Baptist and even Jesus' own disciples experienced doubt from time to time. Faithful believers in Jesus often say, "I believe; help my unbelief!" In these cases faithfulness is revealed by a person's response to doubt. How does John respond? He turns to Jesus. He sends two of his disciples to Jesus to verify the question, "Are you the one?" How does Jesus answer? He doesn't rebuke John's question. He answers with compassion, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me" (Luke 7:22-23). When you experience doubt, know that you can always turn to Jesus, and he will not turn you away.
Monday, 3/12/2018
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
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