Can’t You Do More?



Matthew 11:2-6
2Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples
3and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
4And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:
5the 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.
6And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

One of the most enigmatic and interesting characters in the story of Jesus’ life is John the Baptist. We catch snatches of his story throughout the Gospels. We learn of his miraculous birth (Luke 1), his bold message (repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand), his baptism of Jesus, and his gruesome death (which we will examine in chapter 14). Both Matthew and Luke record this rather bizarre conversation between Jesus and the disciples of John. At this point in the story, Jesus has performed numerous miracles and has spoken boldly and clearly about the Kingdom of God. His disciples don’t really get it yet, but they are on a sharp learning curve. At some point after the baptism of Jesus, John is arrested by King Herod and at the time of this story he is languishing in prison. The thing about Roman prisons is that they served only one purpose – a holding place. There were only two things that were going to happen to you in a Roman prison – release because you were found innocent or execution. They didn’t hold prisoners for punishment purposes like we do. So John knows his fate. The chances of him being found innocent are nonexistent. He is bound for execution. With those facts in place, John sends his disciples to ask Jesus if He is really “the guy”. “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Over the centuries there has been a great deal of discussion as to exactly who this question comes from; is John asking this question for himself or is he sending his disciples to Jesus so that they can now follow Him rather than the soon to be dead John?

I would suggest that the answer is both. John would want his disciples to follow Jesus. To send them to meet Jesus and become a part of His circle would make perfect sense. But the text clearly states that John sent them to ask Jesus this question on his behalf. Jesus even sends them back to John to share His answer. We wonder about John’s motives, for surely he was true believer. He’s the one who leapt in his mother’s womb upon meeting Mary while she was pregnant with Jesus. He’s the one who baptizes Jesus and hears the voice of the Father declare His pleasure over His Son. And yet now John asks if Jesus is the “one”. That seems strange to us. But let’s remember where John is when he asks the question. He is sitting in a Roman prison awaiting execution. (We will discuss the details of his case when we get to chapter 14.) For John it looks like Jesus might not have the power to handle the role of Messiah. Jesus is not meeting John’s expectations! If Jesus and John had a face to face meeting, John might challenge Jesus. He can cast out demons and heal the sick, but you can’t save John from evil men. Something isn’t adding up here for John. It makes total sense for John to have a few questions considering his circumstance.

Once again, the Scriptures deal with God’s unwillingness to meet our human expectations. We get confused just like John when our lives our difficult and we think that God should do something about that. But Jesus answer is, of course, brilliant. “The blind see, the lame walk . . . the dead are raised and the Good News is preached!” All of the power rests in Jesus’ hands and He wields it however He chooses. It was not inside of God’s will to save John from execution. What makes sense to us doesn’t always fall inside of God’s will and we must humbly submit to Him and His wisdom. Jesus’ final words to John’s disciples tell it all. “Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”(NIV) Letting God be God instead of demanding that He be God the way we want Him too is a tough lesson – even for disciples.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more