A prophet with faltering faith
John the Baptist has a moment of faltering faith. He sent his disciples to ask Jesus directly—are you the one we should be looking for, of is there another? I am encouraged by his honesty to Jesus here.
John was called by God to baptize, saying “Repent of your sins because the Kingdom is near.” Thousands were coming to him to humble themselves and seek the Lord. His message was, if you humble yourself, God will exalt you; If you bow your head, God will lift it up again. But if you hold on in pride to your image or reputation, you will reap the consequences of it. As Luke’s story unfolds, you see some who did humble themselves and some who did not.
John himself baptizes and, in a sense, ordains Jesus for his public ministry. John witnesses the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus and the Father say, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased.” Why then would John’s faith waver? Matthew 11 tells us that John was in prison for preaching against King Herod’s immorality. (Herod was one who did not humble himself.)
An unexpected kingdom
John was preaching a gospel of repentance because he, along with all of Israel expected the Kingdom to arrive. Everyone expected a political movement that would cleanse Israel morally and restore Israel’s independence, drive out Rome, and restore the glory of Israel’s golden age under David.
Jesus was preaching a kingdom, but it was a different kind of kingdom. The kingdom Jesus was preaching is based on humility that takes hold in our hearts and radiates outward from there. But John was looking around and seeing the walls of a prison cell. Far from repenting, the King had him arrested. Rome, it seemed, was only consolidating power.
How does Jesus Answer?
How does Jesus answer John’s question? Jesus says, “Look at what’s happening—the blind are receiving sight, lepers are cleansed, the lame walk, the deaf hear, and the dead are being raised.” Jesus is referencing the promise of messiah in Isaiah. Jesus gently reminds John what the messiah’s ministry will look like.
Have you ever experienced a faltering faith? John the Baptist did, and Jesus says he was an example of the greatest of mankind. When our faith fails us, we are so quick to look inward, perhaps examining the fruit in our lives; perhaps looking for some sin to repent of to get things back on track. Perhaps we look around at our peers or at our circumstances and get cynical; fooled again, we might say.
Look at Jesus
We look inward or we look around, but in that moment, here is what Jesus says to us. He does not condemn you because your faith falters. He does not shame you for seeing that things are different from what you might have expected your life to look like. He also does not appeal to fear, calling you to look for positive fruits in your life to prove your faith is genuine. No. Jesus gently, kindly says, “Don’t look there, look at me.” What are the fruits of Jesus’s ministry? What is the fruit of Jesus’s life, Jesus’s character?
Jesus gently invites us to repent. He does not shame us for feeling angry, or sad, or afraid. He does not try to prevent us from feeling these things. He does not shame us for having a shaky faith. He just invites us to turn our focus from ourselves and onto him.
If we hold on to our pride—if we try to white-knuckle ourselves, and hold on tight, we will miss the kingdom of God. But if we simply humble ourselves, admit our frailty, our weakness—yes, even our sin—then Jesus will lift us right back up again. And even when the kingdom we receive doesn’t look like wealth and power, it may look like a powerful Roman centurion (vv. 1-10) who entrusts himself to the lowly Jewish preacher. It may look like a widow receiving her son again (vv. 11-17). It may look like a woman with a reputation being freed from shame (vv. 36-50). And it may look like a prophet of God getting his faith back.
What would it look like for you if you look at Jesus again today?
Chuck Anderson 