“Jesus answers our doubt!”

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Good Morning. If you have your Bible grab them and turn with me to Luke chapter 7. We are living in a world full of doubt.
-People doubt that they will find a successful job and have a good future.
-People doubt our economy and our government leaders.
-Many people doubt themselves.
-People doubt that they can overcome their addictions.
-People doubt that there is a God.
After the Lord healed the centurion’s servant and raised this only son of a widow from the dead the reputation about Jesus began to grow throughout the land. You would think that there would be no doubt about who Jesus was. But even then people did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah the Son of God. The Lord’s many miracles, and His public teaching were of course met with criticism, rejection, hatred and eventually Jesus would be crucified to a cross. Doubt is nothing new and there were many people throughout the Bible who dealt with doubt. Even the greatest man who ever lived up to this time as Luke 7 and verse 28 tells us struggled with doubt. Of course, we are talking about John the Baptist. It may seem strange to say that someone like John could deal with doubt especially when we know some great things that marked John’s life.
-John had gone on public record proclaiming that Jesus was the One to come. In John chapter 1 verse 29 John the Baptist proclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
-John was also the one who baptized Jesus in the Jordan River.
But despite John’s powerful witness to Jesus the Messiah, doubts had come up in John’s mind regarding the Lord’s identity. Here is what I want you to know today. Jesus came to answer John’s doubt and He came to answer any doubt you may have. Follow the evidence that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Know with certainty that when we place our trust in Christ, He will strengthen our faith.
Let’s begin in verse 18 of chapter 7. I hope you will follow along with me.
Luke 7:18–23 (ESV)
18 The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, 19 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?” 20 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?’ ” 21 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. 22 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. 23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
1. Take your doubts directly to God.
1. Take your doubts directly to God.
19 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?”
While their teacher was in prison some of John’s disciples began to follow Jesus. However, they were able to keep John informed with reports. John found himself in a dungeon close to the Dead Sea. John the Baptist had been placed in jail for publically proclaiming the immoral behavior of King Herod Antipas the son of Herod the Great. Biblical scholars believe that John had been in jail for sometime now, possibly up to a year as the popularity of Jesus rose among the people. Hearing all of these reports about Jesus and things that He had done, John was in prison wondering about these reports that had been brought to him.
What do we know about John the Baptist? Well even before John was born we know from the gospel of Luke that he had been dedicated to God and to be the forerunner to pave the way for Jesus and His ministry. John also was given prophetic visions from God. John preached with boldness the coming kingdom of God and prepared the people of Israel to receive the Lord. John spent his whole life waiting and looking for the Messiah.
As these reports came to John, his doubt became so intense that he took action. Church as believers we must take our doubts to the Lord. Since John was still in jail he called several of his disciples to go to Jesus and ask on his behalf, “Jesus are you the one who is to come? Or should we look for another?” John takes his doubts strait to the Lord.
2. There may be specific causes for our doubt.
2. There may be specific causes for our doubt.
20 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?’ ”
John was dealing with a period of intense doubt while he was in prison. Even though John did not struggle with unbelief like the religious leaders of his time, he dealt with doubt. As we see here John was in prison because he was a wonderful servant of God and feared God, and yet he struggled with intense doubt. My point here is that if you are here today and you struggle with doubt you are not alone.
There were actually several reasons why John experienced doubt.
A. First of all, he was dealing with personal tragedy.
A. First of all, he was dealing with personal tragedy.
John’s ministry had been especially difficult. We know that at this time John was currently in prison. Being locked up could lead to depression and in turn to doubt.
2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples
It is not an unusual thing for great spiritual leaders to go through a dark night of the soul and possibly have their days of doubt and uncertainty. We know that Moses dealt with doubt and was ready to quit on one occasion. Jeremiah was ready to give up his office when he had been mocked and ridiculed by the people.
8 For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I shout, “Violence and destruction!”
For the word of the Lord has become for me
a reproach and derision all day long.
9 If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
We know that Elijah the prophet cried out, “I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” Jonah boarded a ship to escape the responsibilities of going to Nineveh and declaring the word that God had given him. When we come to the New Testament Paul himself writes about the disparities of life.
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
Let me take a moment to explain that when we think about doubt you may also think about unbelief. However, there is a big difference. Doubt is a matter of the mind because there are times where we might not understand what God is doing or even why He is doing it. Doubt is not always wrong because it may be a sign that we are thinking about what is happening.
B. Another reason John experienced doubt was because of wrong expectations.
B. Another reason John experienced doubt was because of wrong expectations.
John was in prison and he knew the reports that were coming in about Jesus. If Jesus was the Messiah why had he not come to release those who were prison like himself? The prophet Isaiah tells us this about the Messiah.
1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
John’s message before he was locked up was also a message of warning and judgment. John expected the Messiah to execute the judgment on the unrighteous when He came. But instead we see Jesus healing people and showing them compassion. This did not add up for John who had called sinners to repent. Therefore we see that John had wrong expectations.
C. A third reason for doubt was because John had a lack of complete knowledge.
C. A third reason for doubt was because John had a lack of complete knowledge.
John himself had not seen and witnessed these spectacular miracles that Christ had done, nor had he heard that Jesus had claimed to be the Messiah.
57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
D. Popular Influence.
D. Popular Influence.
Finally, the many people who opposed Jesus like many of the religious leaders may have also cast doubt as to whether Jesus was indeed the approved Messiah sent from God. Contemporary Judaism ignored the prophecies about Jesus. They also ignored all of the things that Jesus did, therefore they had hardened hearts that could not understand that Jesus was the Messiah. It would have been easy for John to listen to the influence of the many religious leaders of his time. All of these specific issues were reasons for John’s doubt.
3. Jesus answers our doubt with convincing evidence.
3. Jesus answers our doubt with convincing evidence.
21 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. 22 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. 23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
One of the things that we see and know to be true about Christ was that He was a great High Priest who sympathizes with the weaknesses of His people.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
It’s interesting here how Jesus deals with John’s doubt. We never see the Lord angry, we just see the Lord deal gently with John. At the very time that John’s two disciples show up here is what the Lord does.
-Jesus heals not just a few, but many people of diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits.
-Jesus also gives sight to those who were blind.
Jesus gives these two disciples and more importantly John convincing evidence through the display of His miracles on these people. This was a special display for the benefit of John. Remember earlier that the Pharisees had a similar request but they asked in unbelief while John was seeking to have his faith strengthened and completed.
After the display of miracles Jesus tells these disciples to go and tell John what you have seen and heard. Hey John we have a report for you. You know have you asked us to go and see if Jesus was the Messiah? Yes. You know have you asked us to see if we should look for another? Yes.
-Well here is what we saw. The blind received their sight.
-Those who could not walk are now walking.
-The lepers are now clean.
-The deaf can now here the good news.
-We even saw the dead raised up.
-And the poor had the good news preached to them.
These are all miraculous signs that the true King of Israel had come and that Jesus is the Messiah. This is exactly what the prophet Isaiah had spoken about.
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
Church no one else was fulfilling the prophetic description of the Messiah and now Jesus comes and gives convincing proof that He is the Messiah.
There was one last thing that Jesus tells the messengers to remind John about. Notice the end of verse 23. “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Now why in the world would Jesus say this? How many people during this time took offense of what Jesus was doing and what He was claiming to be? Of course there were many people who were offended. People in our day and age get offended that there is only one way to heaven and that is through Jesus Christ. The popular message today is that all roads or all religions lead to heaven. If you are just a good enough person you will make it to heaven is what are world teaches. Here is what God’s Word teaches.
5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
There is only one way to salvation and that is by faith alone in Christ alone. Have you submitted your life to Jesus today? Or are you still Lord of your own life? How does this story end? Was John’s doubt turned to trust? When we go the the gospels of Matthew and Mark we learn that eventually John the Baptist is beheaded and his disciples come and burry his body. (Matthew 14:12) After John’s death his disciples come to take his body for burial but they went and told Jesus that he had died. Clearly John had overcome his doubts and it was settled in his heart that Jesus was the Messiah, otherwise John’s disciples would not have sought the Lord to tell him about John.
Conclusion: So how are we to respond when doubt comes are way? What lessons are to be learned here? I want to encourage you today to trust in the wisdom of God above any human wisdom. Believe today all that God’s Word tells you about Christ. Have a deep love for God’s Word so much so that you will obey it and entrust your lives to God both now and for all eternity. Make it your aim to share the good news of Jesus with others and have a desire to always do what pleases God and not yourself. Have a deep reverence to worship God and trust His purposes for your life. Finally, have a confidence in His sovereign control of events, and be grateful to the Lord as the source of all your good and thank Him for it. When you do this you will find that Jesus is all that you could ever need or want. Someday when Christ returns and He ushers us into His glorious presence, our faith will become sight and all doubts will vanish forever. Why? Because then we will know that Jesus is our Living Water, the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
(Close in Prayer)
(Nate with Communion)