31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity — Day 13
February 12th, 2008 Posted in 31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity, Growth
LEARNING FROM CHRIST — Input for a Man Named John
We’ve all found ourselves in frustrating, difficult, painful, or confusing circumstances. I doubt, however, that we’ve had things as difficult as John did. John was known as John the Baptizer; we call him John the Baptist. He was the forerunner of Jesus, pointing Jesus out to people as the Messiah. However, there came a day when John had doubts. He was imprisoned for saying what God wanted him to say as a prophet. In fact, he knew that there was a good chance that he’d be executed, which is what eventually happened to him. Sitting in the dark, damp dungeon, he apparently began to question whether Jesus was indeed the Messiah. He sent a couple of his disciples to ask Jesus point-blank if He really was the Messiah.
Jesus answered, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” (Luke 7:22-23)
Jesus told John’s followers to go back and report on what they’d seen Him do and what they’d heard Him preach. John would know that Jesus was asking him to recall all he had read in the holy Scriptures (our Old Testament) about what the Messiah was to say and do. Jesus’ self-description made obvious allusions to prophecies, particularly those of Isaiah. John’s knowledge of the Scriptures should have confirmed to him that Jesus was the Messiah.
This is a great example of how important knowledge can be. John the Baptist was to find confidence and comfort in what he knew about the Messiah from Scripture and from what he knew about Jesus from observation.
You and I probably won’t find ourselves in a dungeon, but life’s a challenge nonetheless. Trying to live right - trying to live the way our Lord wants us to - is no easy task. We need more than good intentions: we need to know what we should think, do, and say. God hasn’t left us without direction on this journey of life!
It was Jesus’ intention that John the Baptist would find help from what he knew. It was good that he knew so much of God’s Word! We’d do well to follow John’s example. The fact is that we all can still learn a lot about God and His ways!
Dave
