No Question

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

 NO QUESTION

Matt 11:1-6

11:1 After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.   2 When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" 4 Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." 

NIV

There seems to be some question as to why John the Baptist would ask such a question. John was the one by his own declaration declared Jesus to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Certainly this truth was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, yet here in prison he sends his disciples to ask if Jesus is the one. Perhaps John was concerned about his disciples knowing his end was near and they would be left to wander aimlessly and hopeless through life without him. So he sent them to question Jesus that they might find the truth about Jesus more fully and attach themselves to him as his disciples. John had to know he could not offer the same as Jesus and wanted his disciples to have that which Jesus could offer. The other idea is that John once convinced Jesus was the long waited for Messiah and he, like many others, thought Jesus was going to set up his kingdom on earth, overthrowing the Roman occupiers, having been in prison for some time now, wanted to know if this was going to happen soon, so he could be released.  Yet there might be another reason for John’s question. John was a blessed man from the time he was in his mother’s womb. When Mary, the mother of Jesus arrived at Elizabeth’s home, John leaped with her womb at the presence of Jesus within the womb of Mary. We do not know much about John’s childhood as with Jesus’s. But as an adult he began a wild ride. Surely being inspired by the Spirit he began preaching the Kingdom of God was at hand and people needed to repent and be baptized. Whether it was his message or his wild appearance that drew people, crowds came to hear him and to repent and be baptized. He was on top of the world, so to speak. Everything was going his way, people were responding to his message. Then to top it is all off, Jesus shows up and John witnesses the presence of the Holy Trinity. He declares Jesus to be the one and baptizes him. Then standing in the presence of Jesus, John sees the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descend and rest on Jesus and then hears the very voice of God from the heavens declare Jesus is his Son in whom he is well pleased. How much better can life be for John? But because he does not shrink away from the truth and speaks up against the adulterous situation of King Herod, he is thrown in prison. Life is not so good now. Here is where we could find a lesson for our lives. There are moments in life when we are on top of the world. Everything is going our way. We accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and all is well. We are being blessed day after day, things are just wonderful. The Lord is doing so many things in our life. Then a situation arises that is not so good. Either we have not seen any answer to our prayers for a long time or we are experiencing some difficult situation. Maybe we lose our job, or experience some other form of financial loss. Maybe we get very ill, or someone close to us has cancer, or some other dreaded disease. Maybe we are having a difficult time overcoming some sin or temptation. Maybe we go through a relationship crisis. We pray and nothing is happening, we do not hear from God nor do we see any results of our prayer. We know Jesus is the Son of God. We experienced his divine touch in our lives. We might have even been healed once of some infirmity by his miraculous hand. Yet now things are not as perfect as they once were and maybe we are experiencing just a smidgen of doubt, wondering is all we once experienced just a coincidence, is Jesus actually real, is all this actually true. Is the Bible truly the word of God?  If he is real, why does he not do something? So we ask, as John was asking, are you the one? Jesus responds to his question and assures him all is well and not to worry about life, Jesus has everything under control. He lets John know not to lose hope, not to fall away from what he knows in his heart, Jesus is the Son of God and eternal life is in his hands. John might lose his physical life, but his true life will be with Christ forever. What can man do to us? They can harm the physical life, but never can they destroy our eternal life. We need to remain always hopeful no matter our physical situations in life. Our faith cannot be shaken even if we have not seen a prayer answered in a long time. We do not live by sight but by faith. This life has some ebbs and flows, some ups and downs, some good times and some not so good times. Jesus promised us he would take care of us. He told us that he would never leave us nor forsake us. So we take him as his word, just as John was going to need to do. We have the Spirit who lives within us and testifies to all that is true. In fact he leads us into all truth. So no matter the course this life takes us, we will never fail to believe. So then should be question? No, there is no question. Whether we are on top of the world or in some valley, Jesus is always there with us.