Doubting John
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Introduction
Introduction
You’ve all heard about the apostle Doubting Thomas. Today I’d like to introduce you to Doubting John. This isn’t something that we talk about very often, but even John had doubts about Jesus’ ministry and identity. Let me point this out to you again in case you missed it in our reading:
Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples
and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
This is John, and he is asking Jesus if he is the one who is to come, or if they should look for another.
John the Doubting Baptist
John the Doubting Baptist
That John the Baptist would doubt who Jesus is is both remarkable and surprising. John is often said to be Jesus’ cousin. But let’s just hold on a second here. We use the word cousin in a very specific way. Your cousins are the children of your parent’s sibling. That is not how the word is used in older English. That’s an innovation. For example, Shakespeare used the word “cousin” to describe several different types of familial relationships. For Shakespeare it just means “relative.” So the KJV took this word:
συγγενίς
συγγενίς
and translated it as “cousin.” But the word really just means “relative.” So, the ESV gets it right, in Luke 1:36.
And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
This verse says simply that Mary and Elizabeth were relatives, not that they cousins as the King James Version translated it, or even less likely that they were sisters since there is a word for that. And so all we can actually say of John and Jesus is that they were relatives in some way, but they were probably not cousins.
But regardless of how closely the two were biologically related, it’s clear from the New Testament that Mary, the mother of our Lord, and Elizabeth, the mother of John, were close. We know this because after Mary conceives, she goes to Elizabeth, and Luke says that
Luke 1:41 (ESV)
And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.
John leaped in Elizabeth’s womb at the mere sound of the voice of Jesus’ mother, and yet now he’s wondering if he should be looking for another who is to come.
Crying in the Wilderness
Crying in the Wilderness
Likewise, as I’ve mentioned previously, all four of the Gospels are unambiguous that John is the prophet crying out in the wilderness that the exile is over and that the people must prepare the way of the Lord. All the Gospels says, “This is the guy. This is the voice crying in the wilderness. Even in our passage this morning, despite John’s doubts, Jesus doubles down on this by referring to John as the Elijah-like figure of Mal 3:1, which is itself developing Isa 40:3.
This is he of whom it is written, “ ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’
Jesus says, “John is that messenger.” The Gospels says, “John is that voice.” And yet John wonders if he should be looking for another.
Behold!
Behold!
John is the one who once saw Jesus coming towards him, and he proclaimed:
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
That guy, who said that, is now doubting?
Doubt
Doubt
Do you ever doubt? Do you ever look at the way world is today and say, “Is this story of the Bible really true? Is the kingdom of God really here? Is Jesus truly who he said he was?” If you ever have doubts, you’re in good company. We’ve already got Peter and John the Baptist on our side, and I’m certain there are plenty others. You see, we live by faith, but the opposite of faith isn’t doubt. The opposite of faith is certainty. Because we live by faith and not by certainty there will always be room for doubt in the Christian life. There will always be room for the Johns and Thomases of this world.
But let’s take a moment and think through why John doubted. Let look at verse 2 again.
Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples
The reason John doubts are probably two-fold. First, he’s in prison, and his relative, the Messiah, hasn’t come to set him free. Second, he hears what Jesus has been doing, and I suspect it doesn’t quite match up with what he thought the Messiah should be doing. This is a theme we find throughout the Gospels. Whatever notions there might have been on the ground in the first-century about what the Messiah was supposed to do, Jesus frankly does the opposite of that at every turn. So John’s reason for doubting is not far-fetched or uncommon. There were many people in the first-century who were well aware that Jesus wasn’t doing the things that the Messiah was supposed to be doing. And here’s what that says to me, especially when it comes from the lips of John the Baptist:
Our doubts often come from our preconceived notions of who Jesus is supposed to be rather than from who he is.
John had ideas about what the Messiah was supposed to be doing. Jesus wasn’t doing them. We often have ideas about what the Messiah should be doing in this world, about what the kingdom of God should look like in this world, and when we don’t see those things happening, we might start to wonder if our faith is misplaced.
But note what Jesus says:
And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:
Pay attention to what I’m doing. Don’t come to me with your preconceived notions. Don’t come to me with your expectations and plans. Come to me and watch. Come to me and listen. See what I do. Hear what I say. And then you will know.
He continues in the next verse:
the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
I’ll tell you brothers and sisters, I wish the world was already fixed. I wish all things were already made new. And while I believe the kingdom of God is at work in this world, because I am such a finite creature is nearly impossible for me to comprehend the historical arc of the kingdom of God in this world. I can only see such a small part of the arc I can’t even imagine what the whole things looks like or what t his world would look like today without the kingdom of God.
But do you know what I cling to in those moments of doubt and confusion? I cling to the places where I see the kingdom of God at work in this world. I cling to the reports I hear from the trailer parks. I cling to the opportunities we have throughout the week to feed those who are hungry, buy clothes for those who have none, or even provide a bed for a son of man who has nowhere to lay his head. Those are the places where Christ and his kingdom are at work in this world. And if you’re doubting. If you’re wondering if all of this is for nought, look and listen. Set your eyes and ears upon our King who is coming soon. Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the things that he said and that he did. Don’t come to him with your preconceived notions of who he is supposed to be. Just watch and listen, both to what he did, and to what he is doing. Go to the places where the hungry are fed, where the naked are clothed, and where the sick are cared for, and if you will watch, listen, and serve, then you’ll know. You’ll see it with your own eyes: the kingdom of God is at work in this world through the hands and feet of his people, and you’ll know. He, Jesus, was the one is to come, and he is the one is to come again. He is the one making all things news. Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus.
Amen.