Is that the Best You Can Do? - Pt. 4

When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” (Matthew 11:1-6 ESV).

 

Cornelia Arnolda Johanna "Corrie" ten Boom was a Dutch Christian watchmaker and later a writer who worked with her father, Casper ten Boom, her sister Betsie ten Boom and other family members to help many Jews escape the Nazis from the Holocaust during World War II by hiding them in her home. The book, The Hiding Place, details the harrowing events of her life. Early in my ministerial career I was able to hear her in person. She had an amazing depth of trust in the plan and purpose of God. The quote in our meme today is just one marker of her trust: “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

 

Our reading today is from the details surrounding the last days of John the Baptist. He had trusted that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ of God. He had said it more than once: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 3:2). He had pointed to his Lord by saying, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). And on the day he had baptized the Lord, he had heard the voice of God saying to Jesus, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well-pleased” (Mark 1:11). How could he be shaken in his faith?

 

Circumstances have a way of doing that to all of us, even that great herald and prophet of Christ. John was in prison. King Herod seemed to have more power than Jesus. The Lamb of God had done nothing to protect him from Herod’s clutches. And John began to wonder, “Is Jesus really who he says he is?” So John sent his disciples to ask Jesus.

Jesus answered by saying that the signs of his lordship were clear: “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.” These were clear signs that the kingdom of heaven had come, and they pointed toward the day when that kingdom will come in all its fullness.

 

In case you are not sure about who Jesus is, turn to the gospels and be convinced that Jesus is the Christ, the resurrected Son of the living God. That trust was not violated then; and, it will not be violated today!