Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
John the Baptist was an interesting guy. He spent the bulk of his ministry in the desert, eating bugs and preaching about making ourselves ready for a messiah who would change everything. It was a big job and not one to be taken lightly. Seemingly unafraid, John pressed on in calling out sin and then ultimately pointing people to Jesus. But this made him some enemies and he found himself in prison. That probably isn’t exactly how John thought his life would go. John had spent all this time telling people to prepare their hearts for the Messiah. Jesus comes along and he starts performing all these miracles…and John sits in prison. It didn’t add up and doubt crept in.
John sends some of his followers to Jesus to flat out ask him – Are you the one we have waited for? Or should we expect someone else?(Matt 11:2-3) Essentially, what John wanted to know was: is my suffering, my imprisonment, worth it or am I a fool…because from where I sit, it doesn’t look good and it doesn’t make sense.
Jesus essentially points them to the evidence of God at work through Him. The blind see. The lame walk. The deaf hear. Those who were dead are now alive…and the good news is shared with the poor. He encourages John to continue to trust and have faith.
Even John the Baptist had his doubts! But incredibly Jesus didn’t call him out and ridicule him for his doubt. Instead, Jesus pointed John back to God’s goodness at work and the evidence of His power.
Jesus doesn’t think less of us when we have doubts either, but He is eager to remind us of His love for us and the evidence of a love so great that it would go to the cross for us.
