Focus: Turn to Jesus and the Scriptures, and you’ll discover that he is the one!
Function: To encourage the people to deal with their doubt and darkness by turning to Jesus and the Scriptures.
Text: Matthew 11:1-6
Prisons are gloomy places. You can’t move around freely; you can’t see daylight and the sky. There is nothing to do other than sit and think and brood over things. John the baptizer is in prison.
King Herod has jailed him on account of John’s railings about Herod’s infidelity and immorality. For King Herod married Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, while Philip was still married to Herodias. John has been in prison for months. The future looks bleak. He knows that King Herod would like to kill him, but Herod is afraid of a popular uprising if he should kill John the baptizer. So, King Herod lets John “waste away” in prison.
Prisons are gloomy places—where doubtful thoughts rise up in the mind, where anxious feelings fill up the heart, where the human spirit teeter-totters on the brink of despair. John has doubts. He has second thoughts about Jesus.
For a long time, John has pointed people to Jesus as
being the Lamb of God, as Someone who is “greater than John.” John had great
expectations about Jesus: that he would free the Israelites from Roman
oppression and dominion, for example. John was hoping that Jesus would lead
Israel to new glory days, new prosperity, and new blessings under God.
John formed these expectations on the basis of his understanding of the Scriptures. But Jesus does not seem to fit the bill of John’s expectations. There he is: in prison, with no apparent future before him. And there is Jesus: with no army, no apparent political power to change the situation in Israel. John has doubts about Jesus: “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”
It still happens today. Millions of people are looking for answers to make sense out of their lives and circumstances. For example, thousands of Orthodox Jews today are still looking for the Messiah to come. They do not accept Jesus as the One who is to come. Millions stake their future on the gods of Hinduism or Budhism. Millions appeal to Joseph Smith or to Mohammed as their favorite prophet. Others, though not adhering to any particular religion, think of themselves as highly spiritual. Their spirituality leads them to seek the answer in themselves. They make themselves the center of the universe; they set themselves up as gods. Secularists and atheists and agnostics, too, are searching and wrestling with ultimate questions. It’s true, they have already rejected Jesus “as the one expected to come.” Nevertheless, like John the baptizer in prison, they too must come to grips with Jesus.
Asking questions about Jesus also happens among us who claim to be Christians. Struggling with doubt is not at all uncommon among Christians. As we see with John the baptizer, it is possible to have moments that we say with great clarity and conviction, “Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Savior of the world,” only to discover later thoughts of doubts as to Jesus’ identity. Then what do you do? How do you deal with doubts about Jesus?
You go to Jesus. That’s what John
the baptizer does. He sent some of his disciples to Jesus, asking: “Are
you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”
Jesus’ response is
very telling. He does three things: He points to his actions; he draws
attention to his words or preaching, and he appeals to the Scriptures.
·
Points to his
actions: Listen: “Go back and
report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk,
those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised….”
Like a cascading wave, the Lord Jesus points to his miracles, which underscore
his power of divinity. Jesus’ actions—ranging from curing the blind to raising
the dead—point to his Messianic role, appointed by God and declared by the
prophets. Away with doubt! Turn to Jesus, for Jesus is the one!
·
Draws attention to
his words: Listen: “…the dead
are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” In other words,
Jesus’ miraculous deeds are in the context of Jesus’ good news messages. Jesus
message underscores that God’s rule or kingdom is breaking into the world;
Jesus’ words draw attention to Jesus’ origin as the Son of God, who has come to
“seek and save the lost.” Therefore, implies Jesus, away with doubt. Turn to
me, for I am the one!
·
Appeals to the
Scriptures: When John the baptizer
asked the question, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect
someone else?” John raised that question in light of the Scriptures.
John’s expectations were partially shaped by the prophecies in Isaiah, for
example. Jesus did not question John’s basis—the Scriptures—for shaping his
expectations about the coming of a Messiah. Jesus simply confronted John with
his miraculous actions and kingdom of God preaching. These are to inform John’s
reading of the Scriptures.
For example, Isaiah 29:28-21 says: “In
that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and
darkness the eyes of the blind will see. Once more the humble (poor) will
rejoice in the Lord; the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.”
And in Isaiah 35:5-6 we read: “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and
the mute tongue shout for joy.” And who can forget these words in
Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me; because the Lord
has anointed me to preach good news to the poor”?
Folks, Jesus is the one! Turn to
him. When in doubt, consider Jesus’ miracles and his prophetic word and see how
they line up with the Holy Scriptures. Trust the Lord Jesus; trust the
Scriptures. And discover the meaning of these words of Jesus: “Blessed is
the man who does not fall away on account of me.”
In
the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.