Sermon Tone Analysis

The name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit.

By my count.

There are at least.

6 ordained priest with us this morning?

Which is a lot and I stay at least because sometimes priest show up incognito and I don't actually know that they're here.

There's at least six priests with us this morning, I'm sure every priest here has had this experience.

I have a sermon in front of me, then I'm not quite sure what it is.

I actually want to stay this morning at the first service, I'm really under a time crunch this service, I'm not under the time cards and the Dolphins don't play till 8:20.

So we're going to we're going to make the Bucks play win.

25.

Okay.

42504 that's our endpoint now.

You have all heard.

I'm sure about the Apostle doubting Thomas but this morning I want to talk to you about doubting John's weekly doubting John.

The Baptist isn't, I think a passage that we talked about very often but here we see in Matthew 11, that even John had doubts about Jesus as Minister and his identity.

Let me point out to you in case you missed it cuz I think you're not paying attention.

I maybe we don't kind of hear what was exactly selling point your attention back to the second and third verse of Matthew 11 now and John heard in prison about the Deeds of the Messiah.

He sent word by his disciples and said to him, said to Jesus, are you The one who is to come.

Or shall we look for another father?

I don't know why this isn't changing.

Can you change it?

Thanks.

This is John.

John the Baptist.

The Forerunner of the Lord and He is asking if Jesus.

Is the wonder if he's the one to come.

If he's the one they've been waiting for or if they should be looking.

For someone else.

This is John, the doubting Baptist.

that John would doubt who Jesus is, is both remarkable and surprising John Is often said to be a cousin of Jesus, that's not entirely true.

We use the word cousin today in a very specific way.

Your cousins are the children of your parents siblings.

That is not how the word was used in older English.

That used to just kind of an innovation.

If you look through Shakespeare, Shakespeare, use the word cousin, just drive, all kinds of different familial relationships.

So when the King James version came to translate Luke 1:36 or talks about Mary being the cousin of Elizabeth, you're translate relative translate this word soon, kinases, some Genesis Dennis from Dennis family, and that's how it was used in intuitive older English.

And so, we've often had this notion that Mary and Elizabeth for cousins and that John and Jesus were there for cousins, are second cousins or something like that.

But that's not what the verse says, the ESV gets it, right?

We're only Told that Mary and Elizabeth, we're relatives, we don't know how close they actually were genetically and we don't know how close they were biologically but that doesn't really matter is the point of this story, when Mary and Elizabeth meet, it's not really about their familial relationship.

The point of the story is what happens when the baby and Elizabeth hears, the voice of the mother of Our Lord.

Mary is approaching Elizabeth.

The baby inside marriage on the Batman star.

The baby inside Elizabeth John, the Baptist here's the voice of Mary and he leaps in her womb.

That.

That child.

Who has a baby in the womb, left at the voice of the mother of Our Lord that child.

No doubts.

that child now wonders if You should be looking for someone else who is to come.

It's not just that John left in the womb of his mother.

All of the gospels make the point repeatedly.

That John is the voice crying in the wilderness.

He is the one who announces that the Exile is over.

That God is at last returning back to his people, all for the gospels.

Say, this is the guy.

This is the voice crying in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord, Even in our passage this morning.

Jesus is faced with John's doubt, right?

He sends his disciples, they tell him what John says, even in that context, Jesus double down on this identity.

He says this is he of whom it is written.

Behold I send my messenger before your face who will prepare the way before you will prepare your way before you that's not Isaiah 40.

That is Malachi 3:1 Malachi 3:1 is developing, Isaiah 40 verse 30 and if you're interested in that, I I know an excellent dissertation.

That has a whole section about relation between Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 43.

John is the messenger despite his doubts.

And yet, that messenger the Forerunner, The Voice crying in the wilderness.

He's doubting.

He's doubting Jesus.

Are you really?

Who I thought you were.

It's not just to John is the relative of Jesus and left in his mother's womb.

It's not just that he is the Forerunner of the Lord and point the way to Jesus he is the one Prestige Jesus, coming towards him.

It says.

Behold the Lamb of God.

Who takes away the sin of the world, we talked about this, and our adult ed class.

I think, John is going directly back to Genesis to the sacrifice of Isaac.

And Abraham telling Isaac God will provide for himself a lamb.

John says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world that guy.

Who saw Jesus walking towards him and said that, that guy.

Is now doubting.

Do you ever doubt?

Yeah, me too.

Do you ever look at the way the world is today, the way your life is today.

And say, is this?

Story.

Really true.

If the Bible.

Really true is Jesus truly who he said he was is the kingdom of God, really hear a mixed, all this muck and filth and decay.

If you ever had doubts.

You're in good company.

We've already got Thomas on our side now, we've got John the Baptist as well.

And I'm certain, there are plenty more.

because we as Christians live by faith,

But the opposite of faith.

He's knocked out.

The opposite of faith is certainty.

Because we live by space.

A knot by certainty.

There will always be room for doubt in the Christian Life.

There will always be room for the John's and Thomas's of this world.

but let's look for a moment at why, John doubted Look at verse two again.

Now, when John heard in prison, About the Deeds of the Messiah.

He sent word by his disciples, the reasons.

The John doubts are probably too full first.