Jesus And John The Baptist
JESUS AND JOHN THE BAPTIST
LUKE 7:19-30
Jesus tells John to consider the facts. God’s power was at work in the lives of ordinary people.
Verses 19-22. Tormented and in prison, John fell into doubt. Doubt not infrequently arises from a discrepancy between our view of what God should do, and what he actually does. John had expected a conquering Messiah, who would cleanse the land of evil, and give the people their ancient liberty. He would burn wickedness and oppression away. Even after the daunting recognition of the Messiah in the person of his own relative (John 1:31-33), the old preoccupation persisted. Surely he would soon “reveal himself,” and “give back the kingdom to Israel” (Acts 1:6).
John did with doubt what should always be done with doubt, he brought it frankly to Christ. Observe the frequency with which David acts in this way in the Psalms. The Lord gave no special revelation. He sought to reveal himself in his works, and still called for faith. He was reminding John of the other foreshadowings of himself in the great prophet whom he loved (Isaiah 35:5,6; 61:1). On this John was bidden rest.
7:23-30. When the envoys were gone the Lord pronounced his great eulogy of John. He was no river reed, or tussock of the Jordan plain, bent under the wind’s blast like any weak and pliant thing, nor some princely visitant delicately clad, whom the crowds gather to applaud at the palace gates. John was the greatest of the prophets, because he closed the whole prophetic line, and saw the fulfillment of all messianic prophecy with his own eyes. And yet he was to die before God’s final revelation in the atoning death and the empty tomb. In that he lacked what the least of Christians had. He was without the last insights into God’s great plan.
How should a Christian deal with doubt? He should ask first what he is doubting, and find whether it is something which he was never called to believe. He should also realize that doubt is temptation, and that temptation is not sin. Sin is cherishing doubt, and falling to temptation. He should take his doubt to Christ, and be prepared then to wait for an answer, alert for God’s demonstration.
Note 7:20: “he that should come”—“the Coming One.” At this moment John saw in Jesus neither the wielder of fan and axe (Luke 3:9,17), nor the fulfillment of Isaiah 53.