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.

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