25 Doubting in the Dark - jesuschapelep.com

Doubting in the Dark
Mat. 11:1-11

Mat. 11:1-3
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. 2And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of
his disciples 3and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”

In chapter 10, Jesus began expanding His outreach by sending out His disciples, making them apostles or “sent
ones,” and allowing them to become participants in His mission, instead of just spectators. He gave them
detailed instructions, warning of persecution, and sent them out. Then He followed up by visiting the cities and
towns they had gone to. For this short period, He was again alone in ministry, teaching (explaining) and
preaching (proclaiming) the Good News of His Kingdom. He probably spoke in homes, in synagogues, and
even in the streets. He always drew crowds and He always amazed the people.

This is an interesting passage that shows the humanity of one of the greatest figures of the Bible, John the
Immerser or Baptist. In vs. 11, Jesus will say John is the greatest man ever born of woman, or at least, that no
one has ever arisen who was greater. That’s interesting and worth looking in to, for sure. He was just an obscure
man in an obscure corner of the world, who lived an austere life and preached repentance for a few months or
years to a downtrodden people, under the domination of another nation. Why would the Son of God call him the
greatest man ever born of a woman? Because he lived his whole life dedicated to God’s purposes. He was a
man of strong convictions and character, who lived a life of self-denial and devotion. He feared only God, not
man. He was filled with the Spirit from his mother’s womb. And he had a tremendously high calling to prepare
God’s people for the coming of Messiah. This man of fiery zeal and holy commitment to God, was the greatest
man who ever lived up till that time.

And yet, this greatest of all prophets, this amazingly dedicated man who lived his life to prepare the way for
Messiah, began to have some doubts that Jesus was indeed “the coming One”! This might seem shocking when
you realize that John was the one who actually presented Jesus to Israel as “the Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world.” (Jn. 1:29) He was told by the Holy Spirit that he would see the Spirit come upon the man
he was to present. His inner spirit bore witness that Jesus was “the One” when Jesus first came up to him, and
he knew that Jesus should baptize him instead of him baptizing Jesus. So his well-honed spiritual senses told
him Jesus was “the One.” He also saw a supernatural sign when the Spirit of God came upon Jesus in the form
of a dove, in confirmation of all the Lord had predicted. After those events, John told his followers that he must
decrease, but Jesus increase. He said he rejoiced to see Jesus become famous and raise up many followers. John
was very sure that Jesus was Messiah, the Savior of the world, when he first came into contact with Him.

But then John was arrested for offending Herod by preaching against his sinful lifestyle. John never took that
course on “How to win friends and influence people.” Instead, he feared God more than man and did what God
wanted him to do. He was incredibly bold, but that got him into trouble and eventually cost him his life.

We don’t know exactly how long John (Yohanan) was in prison before his execution, (probably about a year).
But we know he began to have doubts about Jesus after being put there, because of what we read here in
Matthew 11. Now he wasn’t doubting the existence of God. But there in prison, he became troubled about the
way things were going. Had he misunderstood something, or missed something? Had it gotten it wrong
somehow? Why would he have these doubts? I think it’s pretty easy to figure out!

First of all, Jesus being Messiah had certainly not had any effect on John’s immediate circumstances, had it?
John had been arrested and put in prison. His life was in danger there. His life wasn’t blessed or prospered or
outwardly happier than it had been before. Instead, his life situation was much worse than it had been before

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recognizing Jesus as Messiah. He was with a bunch of criminals in a stinking, ugly, cold or hot dungeon,
possibly with chains on his hands and feet, eating lousy food, hearing rats run around, smelling terrible smells,
and being uncomfortable day and night, day after day, never seeing the sun, not able to go or do what he
wanted, not certain of his future. He was a child of the desert, a man of the wide-open spaces, who had always
been free. If God loved and cared for him, why was this happening? If Jesus was the Hope of the world, the
Savior and Redeemer who was to restore everything back to what God intended, how did that apply to John?
All his life he’d zealously served God, done what was right, and this was his reward? Why wasn’t Jesus helping
him?

It’s easy to say God is good when things are going well for us personally; we’re in good health, we have all we
need, we’re successful in our own eyes, etc. It’s altogether different when our own personal life is difficult. It
seems to be just theory, not reality, when it’s not visible and tangible to us. Times of trial are always a test of
our faith. How can we believe God is with us, loves and cares for us, has a good plan for the world, when things
aren’t what we’d like them to be in our personal lives? How can we believe that God is good, that He is loving,
that He knows what we’re going through and cares about us when times are tough? If our faith in God is based
on our circumstances, we’ll have a hard time trusting when things aren’t going well!

So John could’ve had doubts about Jesus being the Messiah because of his personal trials. But also because
there was no sign of Him impacting the greater world at large. King Herod had arrested John for reasons that
weren’t at all just. John had only told Herod what God would have said to Him in person. John was telling the
truth. He was rightly representing God to the people and calling for holy and righteous living. John was doing
everything right, everything God would have him do. Yet this earthly ruler had arrested him and was
persecuting him. And Herod was living in luxury while John, the man of God, the greatest prophet who ever
lived, was suffering in prison. Herod was corrupt. His government was unjust. He didn’t care about the people;
he only cared about himself.

Herod was also a puppet of Rome. Rome was corrupt and unjust. Rome ruled over Israel at that time, not
because they wanted what was best for Israel or any of their other conquered states. They ruled over Israel
because they were stronger and craftier and better organized. Their might made what they did right in their own
eyes. They ripped all the conquered peoples off! They demanded taxes of them and they controlled their lands.
It was no different than a bully who takes from weaker kids, or the mafia demanding protection money from all
the businesses in a neighborhood. It wasn’t about being just or about helping the locals. It was all about
selfishness and greed.

Messiah was supposed to bring peace to the earth. He was supposed to restore justice and throw out the
usurpers, the crooks and tyrants who were oppressing everyone. He was supposed to raise up the poor and bring
down the proud and arrogant. But that simply wasn’t happening! Jesus was preaching a good message, but John
was in prison! Israel was in bondage. Injustice ruled. War and cruelty were omnipresent. Most of God’s people
were terribly oppressed. Why wasn’t Messiah doing anything about all that? Why weren’t things changing?
Why weren’t the Romans being driven off? Why wasn’t Herod out of power? Where was the peace on earth
God had promised? If Jesus was sent from heaven, why all this darkness? Maybe He wasn’t “the One” after all?
So John went to the Source. He sent his disciples to ask Jesus what was going on, to find some hope.

Mat. 11:4-6
4Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5The 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. 6And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

This was Jesus’ answer to John’s inquisitive messengers. Go tell John what you hear and see. You are seeing
miracles as no one ever has before. You have just seen blind people actually receive their sight. You know this
is humanly impossible! You are seeing lame people walk, lepers cleansed, and even the dead being raised!

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These things have never happened before, and no human being is able to do them. You have to recognize the
hand of God in this. The poor have good news preached to them. They are also included in God’s restoration
plan. This is a foretaste of the justice to come under Messiah’s reign. All these restorative miracles are meant to
demonstrate that God’s Servant is here, God’s Kingdom has come, at least as a foretaste. These are exactly the
kinds of things prophesied of the Messiah in Isaiah (35:5; 61:1, 2), as well as in the words of other prophets.
This is why open-minded people, like Nicodemus, could say, “We know you’re a teacher sent from God, for no
one could do these signs that you do if God were not with him.” (Jn. 3:1, 2) Blessed is the one who isn’t
offended by the different way in which God does things. Don’t be offended John. Don’t lose faith and hope!

John was in prison. He wasn’t seeing these miracles. He could’ve used one himself, a miracle of deliverance
from prison, something like Peter would experience some years later, which we read about in Acts 12. An angel
got Peter out of prison. But no angel ever came to deliver John. His path lay along a different route. He was to
die a martyr in that stinking prison! But when he was having doubts, the Lord allowed some of his friends to see
the miracles and report back to him, so he could have faith. He didn’t get to see them with his own eyes. He had
to accept the testimony of others, and the testimony of the Word of God given through prophets, centuries
before. This is exactly the reason God had Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all write their gospels – so that we
might understand that Jesus is the Christ and come to believe or trust in Him. (Jn. 20:30, 31)

Don’t get me wrong. Jesus said, “These signs shall follow those who believe, they shall speak with new
tongues, lay hands on the sick and they’ll recover, cast out demons, etc.” As charismatics, we believe God still
does miracles in our day. Most of us have either experienced one ourselves or we know someone who has.
That’s why we believe as we do. But even in Jesus’ day, everyone wasn’t healed or delivered. John wasn’t. The
apostles healed people Jesus had not reached, but they only healed the ones God told them to heal, the ones who
had faith for it or were sovereignly chosen of God for such miracles. And we have to realize that, for whatever
reason, miracles died down some time after the first century, and only occur sporadically ever since.

We also must recognize that there are times when people are delivered miraculously, and there are other times
when they’re not. Peter was delivered supernaturally from prison, but was later crucified upside down. Paul was
never delivered. He was decapitated by the Romans after years in prison. John was never delivered. He was
decapitated as well. He spent time in prison as a persecuted saint. He sat in the darkness, not seeing any
miracles. He had to accept God’s will for his life, even though it wasn’t what he would’ve chosen naturally. He
didn’t see the Kingdom come. He didn’t see Jesus bring peace to the earth. He didn’t see injustice righted and
corruption rooted out. He had to believe that God was good and was working out His plan, even when it looked
like it would never happen, even when that plan, for him, wasn’t very pleasing at all. He had to learn to not
doubt in the dark what he had learned and heard and seen in the light. And the truth is, so do every one of us!

Mat. 11:7-11
7As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the
wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft
garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9But what did you go out to see? A
prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. 10For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My
messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.’11“Assuredly, I say to you, among those
born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of
heaven is greater than he.

John’s representatives headed back to the prison to tell him what Jesus had said, to reinforce his faith. They
didn’t go back to say, “Don’t worry John. Jesus has a plan to break you outta here! He said He’d be coming for
you soon.” We all surely know He could’ve gotten John out if that had been His plan. But it wasn’t to happen.
Not because Jesus wasn’t doing miracles any more or because John didn’t believe or was in sin. It just wasn’t
the plan for that time. Jesus then turned around to the crowds and made them understand how great John was.


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He asked these people, most of whom had gone to hear John and be baptized, what it was they’d gone to see.
Was John a reed shaken by the wind, an unstable man, easily moved by winds of circumstance? The answer is
an emphatic no! He was strong and tough, a man of convictions, far stronger and tougher than most anyone
they’d ever heard of. Was he clothed in soft garments, a man of comfort, indulgence, luxury? Absolutely not.
He was an ascetic man, not given to comforts of the flesh at all. He was a man of self-discipline and iron will.
Kings, nobles, they were the indulgent ones in soft clothing. Not John. He was a man of character and integrity.

Had they gone out to see a prophet? Absolutely, and most of them listening to Jesus that day would surely have
said as much. The Word of the Lord had come to John, and people recognized that. With no advertising or PR,
John was drawing people from all over Israel to hear his message and prepare their hearts for the coming of
Messiah. He was a prophet alright, with a powerful anointing of the Holy Spirit to do what he did. He did no
miracles like Elijah, Elisha, or like Jesus. The words he proclaimed and the revelation of Messiah were the
miracles God gave him to do. And John was the greatest of all the prophets, because his message was closer and
clearer than any before him. He wasn’t just predicting the coming of Messiah, he was pointing directly to
Messiah, setting the stage for Him. No one could perform a more important or significant function. What an
honor to be the one chosen of God to prepare the way for His Son! Jesus made this crystal clear to reinforce, not
only John’s function as the forerunner, but to let people know he was not a failure for having doubts in the
darkness. He let us know that no one greater than John (besides Jesus Himself) has ever arisen.

It might seem mysterious to say that he who is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than John. But I think
the explanation isn’t that hard. John was the last prophet of the Old Testament dispensation. He prepared the
way for Messiah. But Messiah was the Messenger of the New Covenant, the One who initiated a whole new
way of relating to God. Since His death and resurrection, when people come to God through Him, they are
actually regenerated or born again. The Holy Spirit lives in them and gives new life to their human spirits. God
writes His laws in their minds and hearts. The veil in the Temple was torn, signifying they have direct access to
the very presence of God. They have both Old and New Testaments, which greatly expands their understanding
of God and His ways. We can point others to God through Jesus in a way that is much clearer and more
accessible than anything Old Testament saints had. So even though John was a great man, a man of tremendous
self-discipline and devotion to God, what we have today is better, it’s greater, it’s superior even to John the
Baptist’s relationship and understanding of God. What a privileged position we have in Christ!

Nevertheless, John was, humanly speaking, about as great a man as has ever lived. He was a deeply spiritual
man, deeply committed to God. He was obedient and dedicated as few have ever been. He had a tremendous
impact upon the people of his day in the short period of time he had among them. He had a high calling.

Yet even John the Baptist went through times of darkness and doubt! Even he had a hard time understanding
what God was doing when his way got really difficult. Even he had a hard time trusting that things were under
God’s control and working out as He intended them to. It was hard for him to believe he mattered to God, that
God cared about him or even knew about what he was going through.

Jesus understood that, and gave him an answer that must’ve worked for John, and it must continue to work for
us today. John knew in his heart what God had told him, and what he’d experienced. He needed to remember in
the dark what he’d first seen in the light. Nothing had changed! Jesus fulfilled the OT scriptures by the signs
and wonders He performed. He did these signs in front of John’s messenger friends, and had them tell John
about what they’d seen and heard. And Jesus referred them to Isaiah and other prophecies of the OT, which had
predicted exactly what Jesus was doing right then. Let this be a lesson to us all. Remember what God has done
in your life in times past. Cling to what you’ve learned of Him. Cling to what’s written in the Word of God. It
was written for you and for me. Know that if a sparrow doesn’t fall to earth without your Father, and if all the
hairs of your head are numbered, He knows what you’re going through. He is still in control, even when it
doesn’t at all look like it! We won’t get all our questions answered this side of heaven. But we can trust God!


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