Misunderstood
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Have you ever had doubts about anything in your life?
Maybe you’ve had doubts about a ride you have been strapped into, like the sling shot or a roller coaster.
Maybe you had cold feet on your wedding day. You loved your spouse (and still do) but you knew what a big commitment you were making.
Maybe you’ve had doubts about becoming a parent. Can you really do this thing and raise a kid?
Maybe you were up for a promotion and a new job title and you were not sure if you were cut out for the job.
The more serious the task is that we are called to complete and the greater the responsibility we have, the more we may find we doubt.
There is nothing more serious than making sure you are believing correctly in order to have eternal life. John was in prison and was declared the greatest born among women up to Jesus’ birth, yet John had some doubts.
John had misunderstood Jesus. He knew He was the Messiah, but he misunderstood the plan of God.
Let’s take a look at how Jesus reassured him.
1 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.
2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples
3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:
5 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.
6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Pray
Matthew has spent the first 10 chapters giving a defense for Jesus as the Messiah. He now shifts over the next few chapters to give responses to Jesus. These responses are mostly negative with a positive response sandwiched in at the end of each chapter.
As the Disciples go out to preach in the surrounding towns and villages, Jesus does the same alone. He is preaching one day when some of John the Baptist’s disciples come up with a message or question from John.
They want to know if Jesus is really the one they’ve been looking for.
1. It’s Normal to Doubt
1. It’s Normal to Doubt
2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples
3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
Doubt is normal for the believer to have. Most of Jesus’ encouragement to those with little faith or to those who doubted was to the ones who were His followers. Jesus hardly ever said anything to the unbelievers about their doubts.
Let’s look at John’s doubts for a minute.
John’s Doubts:
John did not doubt that Jesus was the Messiah, but struggled with understanding God’s plan
John had boldly proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah
John was bold condemning sin and declaring that the Kingdom of God had come
John said Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jon 1:29)
John said Jesus was before Him and that he was unworthy to untie Jesus’ sandal (John 1:26-27)
John understood himself as a prophet and forerunner of the Messiah (John 1:20-23)
John had seen the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus in the form of a dove (John 1:32-34)
So many people think that if they could just see a sign from God they would believe, but even when John had seen these things happen, he still had doubts about God’s plan
John’s Imprisonment:
John did not doubt that Jesus was the Messiah, but John had been put in prison for boldly speaking out about Herod’s marriage
Herod Antipas had gone to Rome on a trip and began to take notice of Herodias, who was the wife of his brother Philip
Herod divorced his own wife and married her and John the Baptist had called him out on it and called it like it was, sin!
John was imprisoned and Matthew will pick up on what happens to him in chapter 14, but for now in prison, John begins to have doubts about God’s plan
John MacArthur lists 4 categories that can lead people to doubt God
Difficult Circumstances
Incomplete Revelation
Worldly Influence
Unfulfilled Expectations
We could spend a lot of time looking at each one of these categories in more detail this morning, but all of them have an example in John the Baptist.
John is in prison for speaking the truth
John has not had the opportunity to see all of the miracles that everyone else had seen. He had only heard of them.
John, like many of the Jews, had a different understanding of who the Messiah would be.
Finally, John thought that Jesus would bring a winnowing fire and judgment, but Jesus was only healing and having compassion. John is in prison and thought surely that Jesus would free him.
Application:
Perhaps you are here this morning and you won’t follow Jesus, because you had expectations about Him that have not come true. Maybe you thought Jesus would make all of your family problems disappear. Maybe you thought you would no longer struggle with finances. Maybe you thought your sins would no longer haunt you.
Jesus is still the Son of God, even when things don’t go your way. Jesus has compassion on us when we doubt.
2. Look at the Evidence to Believe by Faith (vv. 4-5)
2. Look at the Evidence to Believe by Faith (vv. 4-5)
4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:
5 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.
Jesus had compassion on John and goes on to instruct the disciples of John to look at the evidence and also to take back the evidence.
He doesn’t answer the question of why Jesus has allowed John to remain in prison, because that doesn’t really matter. What really matters is who Jesus is.
John’s disciples had already had the opportunity to see him perform miracles, but now Jesus specifically performs more miracles to send back to John proof of who Jesus is.
Jesus would not do this for just anyone. Many times the unbelieving crowds and Pharisees would ask Jesus to perform a sign for them and Jesus refused. He doesn’t have time for entertainment.
However, Jesus does make time for genuine inquirers. He does have time to reassure the week and feeble that what they believe is true and what they are going through is worth it.
Jesus goes on to name several miracles that were prophesied in Isaiah that the Messiah would do. Some of these miracles were unprecedented on the scale Jesus was performing them. Remember that we only have some of Jesus’ miracles recorded.
Miracles of Jesus
the blind receive sight
the lame walk
lepers are cleansed
the dead are raised up
the poor have good news preached to them
Application:
It’s interesting that Jesus tells John’s disciples to report what they have seen and heard.
What have you seen Jesus do in your life? Maybe you haven’t seen this grand of a scale of miracle, but you have seen God work. If you are a follower of Jesus, you have a testimony to share. Go and share with those who don’t know what you have seen and heard Jesus do. You are to bear witness.
If you doubt God or His plan, remind yourself of what He has done in your life. Read the Bible and remember the miracles recorded there. They are not some fake history. These were real people who lived in time and space.
3. Don’t Be Ashamed of Jesus (v.6)
3. Don’t Be Ashamed of Jesus (v.6)
6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Jesus then gives a blessing for all the persecuted and specifically for John. He says blessed is the one who is not offended by me.
That word “offended” is the Greek word skandalizo. It means to cause someone to fall away or stumble.
Jesus is saying that if you are not caused to stumble or doubt your faith, blessed are you.
We have no reason to be ashamed of Jesus.
I was looking at an ad for a new Bible that is being released by a company I have bought Bibles from before and it is a beautiful new edition. In the comments, there was an atheist that was arguing that it was such a waste to spend that much money on what he called a “book of fairy tales and myths.”
He felt this way because he said people can’t walk on water. He’s right! He completely missed the point of a miracle is that it is something that we cannot normally do. This world demands signs to believe, but when they are given them, they call them myths and fairy tales.
Conclusion
What about you? Do you need a miracle to believe? God has given us a book of faithfully preserved miracles, but if you don’t want to believe, you will always find some excuse.
You see, God could have ordained a world where He gave us undeniable proof of His existence. He could have answered every question that you have about Him, but then you would not have faith. You would have sight. You would also have pride.
God has required faith to believe in order to humble us. The Bible says it this way,
6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.
7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.
13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
God has not answered every question that we may have. Jesus did not answer John’s question that must have been burning in His mind. Why am I suffering?
Jesus just pointed John to the evidence to believe. God has given us ample evidence to believe as well.
Will you believe? Or have you misunderstood who Jesus is?