Crisis of Faith -- A Fork in the Road (Luke 7:18-23)
Notes
Transcript
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ” In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Prayer
Personal remarks — greetings ...
“When you come to a fork in the road, take it” — Yogi Bera
MBL Hall-of-Famer, Yogi Berra, No. 8, the beloved Yankees catcher and outfielder who passed away at the age of 90, in 2015.
This iconic quote is often used to suggest that, when you come to a fork in the road of your life, take it — in other words, do something ...you need to moved forward.
Berra said this while giving directions to his best friend, Joe Garagiola, to his house... The fork was unique in that no matter which direction you chose, you would end up at Yogi and Carmen's house.
"Take it” is not bad advice — it is important for people to avoid the paralysis of indecision by overthinking a decision.
However, sometimes a fork in the road cannot be taken until a few questions get answered. This is especially true when you are experiencing a crisis of faith.
Prayer
Narrative
The story’s main character is a man, famously known as John the Baptist.
HIS BIRTH STORY SUMMARIZED
John was a prophet who was sent to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. He was the son of Zechariah and Mary’s kinswoman Elizabeth (Luke 1:5ff.). Much of his preaching was against the corruption of the temple priests and their associates. He was a fiery ascetic, the complete opposite of the Pharisees and Sadducees — religious elite. While they lived in luxury in the great cities, John lived in a cave in the desert, surviving on locusts and wild honey (Matt. 3:4).
All four Gospels associate him with the prophecy of Isaiah, “A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.” (Isa. 40:3–4).
John’s was one of the few miraculous births recorded in the Bible. John’s mother Elizabeth was barren and was well beyond the age of childbearing. His father Zechariah was a priest who served on a rotational basis in the temple. One day as Zechariah was in the temple the angel Gabriel came to him to tell him that Elizabeth would bear him a son whom he was to name John.
Six months later, Gabriel appeared to Mary to tell her that she would bear Jesus, and soon thereafter she went into the hill country to visit her cousin Elizabeth. As she approached Elizabeth, John “leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:41).
John the Baptist was not a Southern Baptist, Independent Baptist, a Conservative Baptist, a Baptist Methodist, or a Primitive Baptist, etc. In fact, he wasn’t a Baptist at all … not the kind we think of when we hear the word.
He was, simply put, John the baptizer — He baptized people! That’s it — just him, the river, and repentant fellow Jews who were looking and hoping that their Messiah and deliverer would soon appear.
English Standard Version (Matthew Chapter 3)
4 Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Immediately following these verses we find the amazing moment when John baptized Jesus — the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, like a dove — and a voice from Heaven declared “This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased.” FATHER, SON, & SPIRIT interacting in beautiful community — a Divine family moment.
Few people in the New Testament had more reason than John to trust that Jesus was indeed the Messiah — John’s very birth story directly testified of Jesus’s identity. His Holy Spirit empowered and fiery ministry in the Judean Wilderness caused people to wonder John himself might be the Messiah. He was the last prophet of the Old Testament era — before the New Covenant came to be. When he saw Jesus, John declared “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
It’s hard to imagine … but this mighty prophet and fiery man of faith one day found himself at a major fork in the road.
SUMMARIZE THE SITUATION
John did not abandon his ministry after the baptism of Jesus but continued until his arrest — Probably less than a year later
King Herod Antipas was not a Jew, and although he had technically espoused the Jewish faith he certainly did not take it seriously.
John the Baptist openly condemned Herod for this immorality, and that was the last straw for Herod, who was already furious at John’s preaching against the establishment.
(Matthew 14:3-5)
English Standard Version Chapter 14
For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet.
JOHN THE BAPTIST’S CRISIS OF FAITH —
John was a prophet — chosen to prepare the way for the Lord — but John was also a human, just like you and me.
In his weariness, uncertainty, and perhaps a bit a fear — from the horrible prison cell, he came to that fork in the road and began to wonder, “Did I miss something? I thought the Messiah would deliver us from these cruel oppressors and bring us freedom.”
Jesus had been preaching, healing, setting the captive free in many powerful ways — John’s disciples kept him informed.
The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ” In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Of all people, how could John the Baptist doubt that Jesus was the promised Messiah? After all he had seen and heard, from his childhood until now? The baptism event should have been enough in itself, with the Holy Spirit and the Father showing up to acknowledge Jesus as the One.
Here’s a couple of observations that we can take from John’s moment of uncertainty:
A crisis of faith can happen when God’s plan doesn’t look like you think it should
Even those who walk in the strongest of faith can unexpectedly find themselves at a fork in the road … a “crisis of faith!”
A crisis of faith can come in various situations —
When you face a major, unexpected, and maybe catastrophic challenge to your faith
When you are confused by all the competing voices in this world
When you neglect the care of yourself — spiritually, physically, mentally, and relationally
In your weakened state, you can come to a fork in the road that tempts you to despair, question, and become paralyzed with despair and indecision.
A crisis of faith can lead you to a fork in the road that is a blessing in disguise
Your crisis of faith can push your faith over the edge
Your crisis of faith can powerfully draw you back to the source of your faith
Summary — We don’t know exactly what happened in John’s heart during his crisis of faith because Herod had him beheaded, probably not long after this.
However, I believe we can be confident that his faith stayed in tact — because He knew Jesus was the Messiah, no matter what things looked like around him.
Another reason we can be confident in John’s faith, when it’s all said and done — His crisis of faith motivated him to go straight to the source of faith — Jesus. He sent his disciples to ask Jesus himself for reassurance. He didn’t send them to ask some religious experts — theologians — his mom — a fortune teller — the prison chaplain. He sent them to Jesus because he already knew the answer — he just needed to be reassured.
Conclusion
Big Idea: When you come to a fork in the road that reveals a crisis of faith, you have a choice: follow the road called faith that always leads to Jesus, or follow dead end paths that lead away from faith and Jesus.
Jesus did not rebuke John or say, “how can you ask such a question?”
He simply showed the friends of John the same thing He had been doing all along.
English Standard Version Chapter 4
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”