Relationships are complex. It is based on mutual trust. What if you suddenly have a doubt whether your friend, sibling, parent, or spouse, are truly what you thought they are? I used to feel guilty about doubting and try to suppress it. Suppress it till a stage where the relationship in itself becomes hypocritical from my side. The opposite extreme is amplifying the doubts to question one's understanding of the other person, and indeed the validity of the entire relationship. If a relationship between humans can be complex, what about one's relationship with God? What do we do when we have our doubts about God? Today we'll read parts of Matthew 11 where John the Baptist, the guy who saw, knew, and baptized Jesus, declaring Him the Messiah of whom John was the forerunner - doubt whether Jesus was truly the Messiah.
Verses from Matthew 11: When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
John's ministry was as a forerunner to Christ, preparing the way for Christ's ministry. John preached judgment and repentance. When he saw Jesus, he declared Jesus to be the Lamb of God and was happy when he heard that people (including his own disciples) were going to Jesus. John was later put in prison for pointing out the immorality of Herod. Why is it that at this stage in his ministry John is having a doubt? John, like the rest of the Israelites, could have expected a political revolution. He had announced that the ax was at the edge of the tree and judgment was coming. However, he couldn't see Jesus' actions corroborate with his understanding of the timings, and his interpretations of the scripture. John was also going through a time of captivity where he couldn't watch in person the miracles of Jesus. He also probably wondered why the Messiah's ministry didn't involve freeing him from prison. Yet, what I find wonderful is that John took his doubts to Jesus! Are you in a similar place in your spiritual walk? Do you find what is happening around you, and in you, something counterintuitive to what would happen to a follower of Christ? Take your doubts to Christ.
Now let us look at how Jesus responds. Jesus doesn't chide John for doubting. Jesus asks the disciples to report the miracles and quotes the fulfillment of the prophecies about the Messiah given in Isaiah 35 and 61. But notice that the chapter starts by saying 'John heard about the deeds of the Messiah and then sent the disciples'. John would have surely associated this with the fulfillment of the prophecy. Then, is Jesus' response a needed reiteration of what John already knew? Jesus also clearly leaves something out from the prophetical passage in Isaiah 61 - the part where captives are set free. Is this for John to understand that the prophetic fulfillment doesn't require him to be set free?
I think the most important part of the response is the warning at the end: 'Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me'. How many times do we think that Jesus has to fit in the box that we draw for Him? When there are 10 wonderful things that God has miraculously done in our lives, do we question His goodness when we don't receive the 11th blessing that we believe is promised to us?
Doubts can be healthy, and doubts can be deadly. In the same chapter, Jesus rebukes the crowd as a generation that is never satisfied with any answer.
“To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: “‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.” At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
The crowd seemed to find a problem in every sign. They demanded that John and Jesus conform to their way of thinking. Following these verses, He continues to rebuke the cities where miracles were performed, warning them of the judgment that followed unbelief of the revelation given from above. What you do with the revelation given from above matters. What you do with your doubts matters. But, why is it written that these things are hidden from the wise and the learned, and revealed to little children? That's probably a question for another day!
Link to the previous article: How can we know the way? Link to the next article: What sign can you show us?
Comments