The Troublesome Twosome
Matthew 11:1-6 NKJV
1 Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.
2 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples 3 and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
4 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
So when did John the Baptist flip-flop on Jesus? When we first see John in Matthew chapter three, he is preaching in the wilderness and baptizing all who came to him. When Jesus shows up and asks John to baptize Him, John tries to prevent Jesus. John declared that Jesus should be baptizing him. Indicating that John knew Jesus was in a different category on an entirely different level. But Jesus prevails and John was able to witness the heavens opening and God speaking about Jesus being His beloved Son. John was also able to witness the Holy Spirit descending and remaining on Jesus. John had a revelation about Jesus that no one else came close to. It was John who called Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
So what was John thinking when he sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus if He was the coming one? John was asking if Jesus was the Messiah or were they looking for someone else. What happened to John? Did he just forget? Did he lose his mind? There is a key phrase in this passage, well, actually two phrases that give us some insight. The first was “when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ.” John was in prison. He was locked up for calling out King Herod and his wife for doing something unlawful. Herod married his brother’s wife, and John spoke about it. This made the wife mad, which typically does not turn out well. John was in prison. I am not sure how long he had been locked up, but long enough to get discouraged. And that is the first of the troublesome twosome. When you are in a dark situation with no prospects of relief, it’seasy to become discouraged. When you are discouraged, it skews your perspective. Dark situations breed dark thoughts.
The second phrase that lets us know what happened to John was the words of Jesus: “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” This is where we see the second of the troublesome twosome revealed. Offense. John was offended at Jesus. Maybe John was sure that Jesus would have gotten him released from prison. Jesus obviously knew about John’s situation, so why was He not breaking John out of prison? So John became offended that Jesus was not doing what John thought He should be doing. If dark situations breed dark thoughts, offense hammers those thoughts home. Being discouraged and being offended, which is half mad, half hurt, is the twosome that can unleash a whole host of problems.
The combination of discouragement and offense created a situation where John doubted the very things he knew to be true. In that dark season of his life, John forgot what God had called him to and who he was called to promote.
Jesus answered John’s disciples by reminding John of what the Scriptures said about the Messiah. Jesus took John back to the truth of scriptures. We don’t know what Jesus’ response did for John, but it does tell us what to do when discouraged or offended. Go back to the truth of Scripture. Go to what you know in the Scriptures to be true and what God has spoken to your heart in the light before things got dark. The truth of God’s Word is still the best remedy for the troublesome twosome of discouragement and offense.
Prayer
Lord help me stay with what I know to be true. Thank You for the Spirit of truth who lives in me and reminds me of scriptures and what You have spoken to my heart. I am blessed because I am not offended by You.