Friends tell their Friends about the Real Jesus

Open: Little Plastic Jesus fad. Believers are giving out tiny plastic Jesus figures to others or leaving them in random places. The idea is that Jesus is everywhere and that a “little Jesus goes a long way.”

Transition: Leaving painted rocks with inspirational words is one thing, but leaving a tiny Jesus figurine in a rest area bathroom or handing them out to strangers strikes me as very odd and bordering on the blasphemous.

In our modern mixed up and massively confused culture, it is not a good idea to lead others into thinking that Jesus is squishy good luck charm who fits in your pocket. Our message as Christ followers should be clear and biblical. We who are IN Christ must be ready to give an informed witness to others because it is easy for confusion to set in concerning the person and work of Christ.

READ the Text: Matthew 11:2-6

Believers can be led into doubt when personal expectations of Jesus are not met (Matt. 11:2-3)

Explanation: John the Baptist was definitely a believer in Jesus. Jesus Himself gives a strong witness to the Baptist’s character and his faith (Matt 11:9-11). John was the person who announced the arrival of the Messiah (Mark 1:1-8).

John’s message was “repent and believe” and he gave this message with passion because his expectation was that God’s Day of Judgment was at hand. John’s message was the King had arrived and that He would soon overthrow the unrighteous and set up His physical Kingdom of glory and light.

John the Baptist had been imprisoned for taking a stand for holiness (Luke 3:19) and while he was in prison his own disciples came and brought him news of the Messiah and the reports of Jesus’ approach to ministry confused the Baptist. Jesus was NOT seeking to overthrow the hated Romans and Jesus was NOT planning to set up an earthly kingdom. In fact, when others tried to make Jesus an earthly king, He removed Himself from their presence (John 6:15). Instead Jesus went through Judea teaching about the spiritual aspect of the Kingdom while He validated His message through miracles.

As a result of what he was hearing, John began to doubt his convictions. He sent some of his followers to Jesus to find out what was going on. John wanted clarification - was Jesus really the Promised Messiah or was the genuine Messiah coming at a later time?

Argument: Before we consider that John’s faith was shallow or uninformed, let’s take a moment and admit that we can (and often do) have similar doubts. We hold certain expectations about our relationship with God through Christ, and when our expectations are not met, we too can begin to think we may have made a mistake.

Examples: praying passionately for the healing of a loved one (who is also a believer) and that person dying instead of being healed

Family members of the victims in the recent school shooting in Georgia

We live in a fallen world and our life situations can change in a very short time. These situations are very different in substance from what John the Baptist was dealing with, but the outcomes can be similar: have I been believing in someone who is not who I thought He was?

Application: You CAN deal with doubts positively. First, realize that you are not the only one who has ever doubted. You aren’t crazy and you aren’t alone. Second, and more important, take your doubts to Jesus like John the Baptist did.

Jesus answers our doubts by revealing more of Himself (Matt 11:4-5)

Explanation: Jesus does NOT respond to John’s questions with condemnation. Jesus does not rebuke John for having doubts. Instead, Jesus gives a more complete picture of Himself and His ministry to answer John’s questions. Jesus informs them of His ministry actions. To us, this may not sound like a real answer, but to them it was. Jesus was pointing them to prophecies about the things Messiah would do when He arrived, and Jesus is telling them that He is fulfilling these very specific prophecies.

Argument: The Jews of Jesus’ day had expectations about the Messiah that focused on His ruling from David’s Throne (Isa 16:5). The prophecies about the Messiah proclaiming liberty to the captive, healing the afflicted, loving the outcasts - those prophecies also existed (Isaiah 42:7), but the people put the expectation on the prophecies of deliverance because that was what they desired for themselves in their generation.

This mindset is similar to our own. We too, want Jesus to deliver us from this present evil, and we want Him to do it now. We too, want Jesus to deliver us from personal afflictions - we don’t want to deal with chronic diseases, loss of personal freedoms, or losing our children to shootings or even to vehicular accidents.

Application: Shift your focus to God’s will instead of your own. Realize that God is indeed at work, but that His work may be judgment instead of deliverance. His physical Kingdom WILL be established, but His spiritual Kingdom is already IN PLACE - the question to you is this: am I seeking to serve the King according to HIS desires? or am I striving and working for my own personal happiness?

Fortify your faith in the Spirit of Christ through the Word so that you stand firm (Matt 11:6)

Explanation: After Jesus gives an answer to the messengers, He declares, “Blessed is he, whosever shall not be offended in me” (v. 6). Jesus is preparing us for future challenges to our faith. The principle is to know and treasure Christ for WHO He IS, not necessarily for what He can AND will do for His followers.

The focus on His fulfillment of the proclamation prophecies that highlight the Messiah opening the eyes of the blind, healing the lame, and raising the dead DOES NOT take away from the other aspects of His role as Messiah. It is not an “EITHER OR” situation; it is a THIS AND THAT!”

Argument: Knowing Christ is our key to successful kingdom living. We have the privilege of the entire Bible so we have access to revelation that John did not. He was unable to see the depth of Salvation History We, however, know that the Jesus who declared, “My Kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36) is the same Jesus who will return on a white horse to set up His Kingdom (Rev 19:11-16).

It was a matter of timing for John, as it is with us. Knowing Jesus well through the Word and our personal experience of walking with Him in faith enables us to take the long view. Knowing the REAL Jesus will get us through to glory. This is NOT a job for little “squishy Jesus” in our pocket.

Jesus IS already King and He IS already Lord of All with power and authority (Matt 28:18). He can deliver us in our present circumstances and He can heal in the now. Our response, however, is to be like the three Hebrews before Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel Chapter 3. They knew God WAS ABLE, but in faith they were able to victoriously declare, “But if NOT, we will not serve” the false gods (Daniel 3:18)

Application: You can trust that Jesus is who He says He is. You can trust Him even when you do not understand the circumstances you are in. Those of us who are IN Christ are already on the Winning side and we are headed for glory.