Doubt & Confusion

Luke 7:18-23 ESV

“The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”  And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” 

In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard:  the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”’

John was imprisoned and was doomed to die because of his judgment against Herod marrying Herodias his brother’s wife. John, sitting in prison, obviously begins to doubt Jesus as the Messiah.

He summons a few of his disciples to go and ask Jesus if He was actually the Messiah. John, I believe, knew the answer before he received it, but his spirit was troubled.

Jesus was doing His work and Ministry as the Messiah and that may have been proof enough, but He tells the disciples of John, “…the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.” (Everything that the Messiah was supposed to be doing.)

But Jesus’s last sentence tells the summation to John the Baptist, “And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Jesus was saying, “the one who does not doubt, who is not offended, who does not expect to be rescued from every situation, is the one who will see the glory and will receive the honor and blessings for his or her faithfulness.

We will not always get our way. Not every prayer that we pray will we receive the answer that we wanted. But if we take what God gives us and persevere in the middle of trials, we will receive far more blessings than we deserve here on earth, and the victors crown when we get to heaven.

Prayer:
Thank You Lord, for peace in all situations. Not everything goes my way and is comfortable, but I will remain faithful. In Your name Lord Jesus, Amen!