Our study today is in Matthew 11:2-19: and Luke 7:18-35
From these verses, I point you to verse 20 and verse 22.
[20] When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to ask, ‘Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?’”
[22] So He replied, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
As you read these verses, you can ask, what does John ask Jesus? Are you the one, the Messiah?
Surely, he already knew Jesus was the Messiah. He said he did! “What,” John asks of Jesus is a good question, but a better question is:
1. Why did he ask it?
Here are some possible answers:
Maybe it was because his dreams weren’t working out.
What was John’s dream for the coming Messiah? Did he expect that he would get to serve in this new kingdom, and now it is becoming clear to him that he won’t be there? If one as great as John can struggle with disappointments and unfulfilled dreams, then so can we all.
Maybe it was because he was in the lowest place in his life.
Unfairly in prison, waiting for death, John struggled with his future. We seldom make good decisions when we are stressed. When you are stressed, give it a little time, if you can. Tomorrow, things may look better.
Maybe he was pointing his disciple to their next.
By sending his disciples to Jesus, John also provided them with an opportunity to witness firsthand the works and teachings of Jesus.
2. More important than why, is how Jesus handled the question.
He simply showed the miracles and then praised John. He didn’t deride or condemn John for his question. God knows we are human and that we can struggle. God loves you anyway.
3. Why did Jesus show the questioners the miracles? Why didn’t he just say “yes” and then send that back to John?
Jesus’ answer pins everything on the miracles. If Jesus never did miracles, if it were all fake, then Jesus is neither the Son of God nor the Messiah. Jesus showed them blind men who got their sight back, crippled people who walked, diseased people made well, deaf people regained their hearing, and dead people brought back to life. These people didn’t get better, they got well! He didn’t cure a headache, he raised the dead. Jesus is the Savior!
Lonnie Davis