Matthew 11:1-6
¹When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities.
²Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples ³and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?”
⁴Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: ⁵the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
⁶And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”
Devotional
The question here is whether Jesus really is the One who was to come.
That is why Matthew also mentions His title here in verse 2: the Christ = the Messiah = the Anointed One.
Jesus, the Messiah does the deeds of the Kingdom of God:
▪︎ He preaches the Good News.
▪︎ He heals the sick.
▪︎ He let the deaf hear
▪︎ He let the blind see
▪︎ and He drives out evil spirits.
If you want to know what God’s purpose is for His creation, you can see it by what Jesus did.
John the Baptist is in prison (See Matthew 4:12).
As the forerunner of the King, he prophesied of One to come after him: the great King.
Johannes felt himself too little to bring him his sandals.
Now in prison he hears about the Messiah.
It is generally said that John began to doubt the message he had preached, and that the question was in his mind:
▪︎ Whether Jesus really is the Messiah
▪︎ Whether Jesus really is the Man He had been looking for.
It’s obvious to assume that, but if we’re honest (and we want to, right? Especially when it comes to the Bible!), we have to admit that it doesn’t say that.
The Bible only tells us…
▪︎ that John was imprisoned,
▪︎ that he heard of the works that Jesus did,
▪︎ and that he sent two of his disciples to Jesus, asking if He was the One they were looking for.
So it could also be that asking the question, was an educational action to clear the doubts of his disciples.
After all…
- John had prophesied great things about Jesus.
- Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
- At the baptism of Jesus he had seen
- how the heavens opened
- how the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove
- At the baptism of Jesus he had heard
- how a voice from the heavens said “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)
On the other hand, it is also obvious that John, like many others, had an entirely different expectation of the Messiah.
He probably expected:
▪︎ A huge breakthrough of God’s Kingdom.
▪︎ That all opponents (especially the Romans) would be removed.
▪︎ That the Messiah would rule.
He may have wondered…
▪︎ Where is the great future he had looked forward to?
▪︎ Why is he still in prison, with no sign of release?
When we approach it that way, (but again it doesn’t say that) it is only human that doubts have crept up on him.
If this has been the case, then he has done the best he could have done in his situation. Bring the question to Jesus.
And regardless of who was in doubt (it really doesn’t matter), the question was asked, “Is it really you?”
And there is a clear answer.
It is plain to see that Jesus is the Messiah, for He does the deeds pertaining to the Kingdom of God. This is how the prophet Isaiah spoke of Him (Matthew 11:4,5; Isaiah 29:18,19; 35:5,6a; 61:1-3).
The question is recognizable.
Why is there so little visible of the power of God in this world?
You may wish that everyone would repent,
or that fire would come down from heaven to wipe out all the bad people,
but it doesn’t happen.
Where then is the King who has all power in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18)?
But take a good look around you.
Look at what the news on radio, TV, and newspapers is telling you.
The signs of his Kingship are on display!
Also today.
Happy are you if you are not offended by the humble nature of Jesus’ Kingship (Matthew 11:6)!
Question
- What do you see of His work on earth?
Prayer Suggestion
- Pray that you will see Jesus at work in this world.
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