Believe your beliefs ...

Someone once said, “Believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts.” Too often we get that reversed. We end up doubting our beliefs and believing our doubts. I think that was the case with John the Baptist.

In Matthew 3:11-17, John was convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. This truth was confirmed to John when God spoke from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” But in Matthew chapter 11, we see a disillusioned John the Baptist sitting in a Roman jail. Herod Antipas had imprisoned John in the fortress of Machaerus east of the Dead Sea. Herod’s wife, Herodias, was infuriated by John’s condemnation of her marriage. She was seeking an opportunity to have John executed. This must have weighed heavy on John’s mind as he sat day after day simply rotting in that Roman prison cell. His doubts grew until he could no longer stand it. He had to know if he had been mistaken about the identity of Jesus.

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” (Mt. 11:2-6)

Many of Jesus’ followers were looking for a political Messiah who would deliver the nation of Israel from their bondage to the Roman Empire. No doubt John had this image of judgement in mind when he proclaimed that the coming Messiah had a “winnowing fork is in his hand” and that He would “burn the chaff with unquenchable fire.” In John’s mind, that occupying Roman army must have been included in the chaff that the coming Messiah would surely burn with unquenchable fire. But Jesus did not seem to be living up to John’s expectations of a political Messiah who would deliver Israel from Roman bondage.

What exactly was going through John’s mind to change his previous convictions about the Messiah into serious doubts? I think that Jesus’ reply to John may give us some further insight into the troubled mind of John the Baptist.

The prophet Isaiah painted a picture of what the coming Messiah would do. According to Isaiah, when Messiah arrives He would proclaim, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn. (Is. 61:1-2)”

While Jesus was in Nazareth, He entered a synagogue and read these words of Isaiah. After doing so, Luke tells us that Jesus “rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ (Lk. 4:20-21)”

Jesus not only claimed that He was the Messiah, which Isaiah and the Old Testament prophets predicted would come, He substantiated that claim through the miracles He was performing. To alleviate the doubts of John, Jesus laid out His Messianic credentials. He said, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

This list of credentials parallels Isaiah’s predictions concerning the coming Messiah. However, we find a glaring omission. We see nothing about proclaiming liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. Instead, Jesus said, “blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

As John sat in that Roman prison, he must have compared his circumstances with the Old Testament prophesies concerning the coming Messiah. I can imagine that the words of Isaiah must have haunted him. The coming Messiah will proclaim “liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” John must have asked himself, “if Jesus is the Messiah, then why am I stuck here in the prison with a death threat hanging over my head?!” John found himself doubting his beliefs and believing his doubts.

Notice Jesus’ reply to John. Jesus did not say, in a generic sense, “blessed are those who are not offended by me.” Rather, His reply was personal and specific. He said, “blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” In essence Jesus was saying, “John, there will be a blessing for you if you can just get past this stumbling block of unmet expectations.”

We can certainly take a lesson from John the Baptist. When nagging qualms begin to enter our thoughts we need to believe our beliefs and doubt our doubts.

In Christ,

Bob

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No Other Gospel

I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. (Gal. 1:6-7)

“Any other gospel is another gospel and is not the true gospel. Without the creation, the gospel has no foundation; without the promised consummation, it offers no hope; without the cross and the empty tomb, it has no saving power.”

-Dr. Henry Morri