Luke 7:20

New Living Translation

John’s two disciples found Jesus and said to him, “John the Baptist sent us to ask, ‘Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?’”

For Meditation

Sometimes certainty and conviction desert us when we most need them. We know the truth and we want to believe it. We make plans to move on it, but the insidious voice of doubt sounds a warning: What if…?

John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus. He had the highest privilege of baptizing the Messiah in the River Jordan. The next day, John identified Jesus to his disciples as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). But Herod imprisons John for opposing him for marrying his brother Philip’s wife (Matthew 14:3-4). And now, in prison, John gets disillusioned. 

He sends two of his disciples to inquire of Jesus if He is the Messiah to come, or should they expect someone else (Luke 7:19). 

What! 

After the explicit confirmation of His identity from heaven as the Son of God (John 3:17), how could John have doubts about Jesus now? But he did. 

John was being human like every one of us. The loneliness of prison life had melted the confidence of his testimonies. Doubt assailed his witness and left him second-guessing himself. If Jesus was the Messiah, why had He not, at least, visited him in prison? How could He who came to free the oppressed not come to his rescue?

Did he, John, get it right with Jesus? Did he hear right at the Jordan banks? What if Jesus is not the Son of God? What if…?

Doubt is a mind-meddler. It shrouds wise reasoning and abuses commonsense. When doubt assails, we see things in multiple settings and shades. Reality becomes challenging to pin down. What if…?

Have you heard about self-doubt? It weakens conviction and paralyzes courage. We need the mercy of God to uphold us as He reveals His glory to us in actions around us. 

God’s response to doubt is in His acts of kindness and outpouring of His grace to the people He blesses in our orbit. His glory dispels the darkness and gloom that has overtaken the doubter, that he can see well and walk again. And that is what Jesus did for John. He gave evidence of his ministry to John’s disciples by healing and delivering those afflicted by multiple diseases and demons (Luke 7:22). 

“Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard… blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” (23).

When the rubber of your life hits the road of adversity, may the Lord help you know that your faith is genuine and resilient in Christ Jesus, Amen!