No one is immune to doubt. It happens to us a,k. You’ve Judy got to know how to handle it when it comes. Even the greatest men and women of God recorded in the Bible had to deal with doubt. Jesus said John the Baptist.
Most certainly I tell you, among those who are born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Immerser; yet he is least in the Kingdom of Heaven, is greater than he.
Matthew 11:11
That means John was greater in the sight of Jesus than Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, or any Old Testament character you can name. Yet John doubted the most important thing of all by questioning whether Jesuswas really the Messiah.
John the Baptist had been cast into prison for criticizing Herod about marrying his brother’s wife, an incestuous relationship. He had been there sometime between six months and two years and became so discouraged that he asked two of his disciples to go to Jesus and ask Him if He was the Christ. It’s easy to read that and not think much about it, but the truth is, it was nothing but unbelief on the part of John the Baptist.
Think about who John was. He was separated unto God and filled with the Holy Spirit while he was still in the womb. Even Jesus wasn’t filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb. It is believed he lived in the desert near the Dead Sea with the Essens, the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls. They are alegalistic people who were super-legalistic who dogmatically practiced many rituals of self-denial. He certainly had not lived what we would call an easy life. John was separated and focused on his purpose.
His entire life was committed to preparing the way for the Christ. He spent 30- years preparing for a ministry that would only last six short months. John is the one who saw Jesus and said, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world” ( John 1:29). The anointing on his life had to be exceptionally powerful because his ministry defied logic. Thousands of people from many nations came to the middle of no where to hear this man preach, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And God had revealed to him that through a visible sign from heaven he would know who the Christ was. He would see the Spirit of God descending upon the Messiah in bodily shape as a dove. That came to pass when John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River.
At that time, John was absolutely certain that Jesus was the Christ. He had no zero doubt. He was so adamant about it that he said,
“I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God” in John 1:34. In Luke 3:16 he said, “One mightier than I come the, the latchet of shoes I am not worthy to unloose.” And in John 3:30 he said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.
However, after being imprisoned for a period of time, he began to doubt. This says a number of things, but an important one is the fact that anyone can doubt. How did Jesus respond to John’s doubt? Well, He certainly didn’t respond the way most of us do. He told John’s disciples to go back and the him of the miracles they had witnessed and the John would be blessed if he would just believe. That’s it. Jesus didn’t try and make John feel better by letting him know He understood his pain or by making a few complimentary comments . Jesus reserved those comments until after John’s disciples left (Luke 7:24-28).
This confused me for many years. Why didn’t Jesus say these things about John the Baptist in the hearing of John’s disciples so they could have brought him that word? It seemed to me like that would have helped John more than just telling him to look at the miracles, and he’ll be blessed if he believes.
Then I read Isaiah 35 and came across the scripture that says,
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
Isaiah 35:5-6
It suddenly struck me that this was exactly the answer that Jesus gave John’s messages. Look at what Jesus said in Matthew 11:4-6:
Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, 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. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
Matthew 11:4-6
Jesus performed all the miracles Isaiah prophesied He would do, and threw in the healing of a leper and raising someone from the dead just for good measure. What Jesus did was He perfectly fulfilled the prophecy about Himself, and then referred John the Baptist back to that word. Jesus reminded John of the scriptures, to deal with his doubts. That’s Jesus’s method to dealing with our doubts.
Many of us have Bibles lying around gathering dust, Some of us even carry one with us. But when we’re struggling with unbelief , we don’t want scripture; we want something tangible, something emotional that we can feel. We would rather have Jesus just put His arm around us and say “Everything will be all right.” That would make us feel better. But overcoming doubt isn’t just about feeling better; it’s about getting back into faith that only comes from the Word of God (Romans 10:17).
Maybe there’s a reason the Lord hasn’t used an emotional touch to deliver you from unbelief. Maybe it’s because He loves you so much that He’s trying to help you operate in the highest form of faith- faith that takes Him at His Word. If the least today are greater than John the Baptist was (Matthew 11:11), surely the Lord is wanting us to operate on at least the same level in which He dealt with John’s unbelief.
From Pity to Praise 