Hope in the King

Scripture:

Matthew 11:2–11 NLT

2 John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, 3 “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?” 4 Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen—5 the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” 6 And he added, “God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.” 7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind? 8 Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people with expensive clothes live in palaces. 9 Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet. 10 John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say, ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.’ 11 “I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is!

Are you holding on to hope?

I’m doing my best in this season to keep my hope rooted in Jesus, my King and my Savior. It’s challenging with a whole year of hopes and disappointments coming at me from all over the world.

I’m reminded of the Magi, who were on the road searching for Jesus, and who had more than one place to look to and follow.

We will hear more about this story in the weeks ahead, but there was a star that led them to Israel, scholars and scribes that pointed them to Bethlehem, and probably some of the local shepherds that could have pointed them to Mary, Joseph, and finally Jesus.

God worked through all of these to get their attention, point them in the right direction, and guide their steps to bring them into His presence.

We only see the Magi before and immediately after they met Jesus. I wonder what the rest of their story was?

John the Baptist was one of the people whose story we get just enough of before and after He met Jesus. Last week, we read about his life just before meeting Jesus. Today, we have a passage that tells us his life after meeting Jesus and his own struggles to hold on to the hope he found at first.

Matthew 11:2–3 NLT

2 John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, 3 “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”

Becoming a follower of Jesus is not a one-time decision. Everyone in scripture who followed God had to make many decisions throughout their lives. We have the choice to follow or turn away with every step we take.

It should not surprise us that we struggle with doubts ourselves.

However, scripture tells us:

2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV

7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.

Another way to put this is that we rely on what God sees, rather than what we see.

Thesis: While we are looking for God, He sees the Kingdom at work in us.

This creates a special relationship between us and God that goes deeper than some of our surface-level relationships we have.

God is not a faraway being that created the world and walked away.

God is not Santa Clause, waiting to fulfill our special prayer wish list.

God is not like an earthly mother or father that has to love us just because and we hope to eventually leave so we can find out who we are on our own.

God does what we could not do on our own, and then invites us to come and work with Him.

That not only changes how we see Jesus, our King and Savior, it changes how we see ourselves.

Questions and Answers

Matthew 11:4–6 NLT

Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen—the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” And he added, “God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.”

In the darkness of his prison cell John struggled with doubts.

He questioned Jesus.

He was experiencing a 2020 year that started out with the opportunity to baptize the Son of God and see the beginning of the Kingdom break in. Soon afterward though, he was put in prison and forgotten. He found himself living out the very words he said when his disciples asked whether they should stay with him or follow Jesus.

John 3:30 NLT

He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

He had become less and less and Jesus had indeed become greater. But now it seemed like too little and too much, and John was looking for hope and a victory he could enjoy, and it wasn’t there. All he saw was darkness and the end of his own life.

So he questioned Jesus.

Answers

Jesus anwered by sending John witnesses.

He didn’t give John an explanation.

He didn’t tell rebuke him for questioning or doubting.

He sent back John’s trusted friends to bear witness to what they saw and heard Jesus do in their lives that week, to lift up his spirits enough to face the terrible days ahead.

When we face doubt, it is tempting to turn away from God, from the church, and especially from the very people who will face our doubts with us. When you face doubt, bring your questions to your family of faith.

How do we handle doubt in others?

Matthew 11:7–10 NLT

As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind? Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people with expensive clothes live in palaces. Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet. John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say, ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.’

I wonder why Jesus did not go visit John in prison. He may have been avoiding that kind of political attention. He may have known that John needed more than just some encouraging words from the one who stole his thunder.

When John’s friends questioned Jesus in front of the crowds, Jesus could have pulled out one of his “O ye of little faith” quotes. Instead, he reminded the people of the admiration they initially had for John.

He served out of poverty, not out of popularity.

He said (and did) what was right, not what was popular.

And he wound up persecuted just like the other prophets.

Jesus did not shame him for his struggle with doubt

Instead he praised John for his faithfulness.

He told the people where God was working in John’s life.

How do you handle the doubts of others in your life?

Do you ignore them?

Do you tell them they should just believe?

Do you point out where you see God working in their lives?

Questions, Doubts, and Disbelief

Questions are not wrong.

God knows your questions.

He created curiosity in us so that we would seek Him out and want to know Him more.

He wants us to bring our questions to him.

Struggling with doubt does not make you bad

Doubt is part of the human condition.

If you struggle with doubt, share it with the people that hold you up.

Write them down. You will be surprised that you may have a long list of questions and doubts about God in one column, but if you make another column with reasons you believe next to it, you may find that one reason to believe may overcome an entire page of questions and doubts.

Sometimes we, like John, just need that reminder of why we believe.

Disbelief and Disobedience is the real problem

What gets us into real trouble is when we allow those questions and doubts to fester and then use them as excuses for not being obedient to God. Disobedience usually comes before disbelief. Adam and Eve believed in God fully when they chose to sin. We usually don’t disbelieve until we have sinned ourselves far away from God by following our own desires instead of obeying our King.

Is there disobedience in your life that is leading you into disbelief?

How does our King sees His people?

As disciples of Jesus, we need to grow in our ability to invite others into a relationship with Him.

This is more than just inviting them to watch church happen with us. It is an invitation to come and join in becoming and BEING the Church.

In these seasons of waiting on God, we can invite others to come connect with and wait upon God with us.

Jesus used his most faithful follower’s moment of doubt as an opportunity to invite others to reconnect with God in a deeper way.

Matthew 11:11 NLT

“I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is!

If John the Baptist had doubts and God worked with him to prepare the world for Jesus, maybe there’s room for God to work with me too.

Jesus heartily agrees.

It is better if we don’t let our doubts pile up and overwhelm us. We can make our lists of questions and reasons to believe in spite of those questions. We may not be ready for all of the answers God has for us. We may not be willing to accept some of those answers yet. We can share them with our church family and hear some of their questions as well. We can take this all to God who promises us that if we seek Him we will find Him.

But in this present darkness we live in today, we must not give up hope and settle for something that isn’t Jesus.

The Magi could have stopped at the Temple in Jerusalem and worshipped an invisible God there.

John the Baptist could have chosen to end his life believing he lived and worked for a lie.

The disciples could have quit after they saw Jesus die on the cross.

But these people had enough reason to believe to hold on to hope and press on, despite the immense challenges they faced. As a reward, they got to see Jesus and experience God working throught them personally.

Because of them, we know Jesus today.

Jesus sees that potential in you and I as well. The potential to carry the Spirit of God to a new generation. When our King looks at us, He does not see failures. He sees the people He is putting His hope in.

Who you put your hope in matters.

It matters to you.

It matters to your family.

It matters to those disciples who will come after us.

Will you carry the torch, the light of hope that is Jesus Christ, into the present darkness?