Reactions to the Messiah: Doubt (Matthew 11:1-6)
Notes
Transcript
Cornerstone Church Creed
Cornerstone Church Creed
The Bible is the Word of God.
The truth of the Bible will change my life.
Lord open my heart and awaken my mind and give me grace to respond.
Change me for your glory and my joy. Amen.
(Preface)
(Preface)
We are 11 chapters into the Book of Matthew, moving verse-by-verse and seeing Matthew’s account of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
If we were to step back and look at all 28 chapters of Matthew writing, which was inspired by the Holy Spirit, we can see that Matthew has set out to answer one question.
Who is Jesus?
In fact, over the 10 chapters he has identified who Jesus is, he IS THE MESSIAH. He shows that he is God in the flesh, the Son of God, the Savior of Israel, the anointed one. And he backs it up with evidence. Like a lawyer in a courtroom, he presents evidence that Jesus is the promised Messiah.
He presents the genealogy showing that he would come from the line of David (Matthew 1:1-17)
Then he presents the testimony of the virgin birth (Matthew 1:18-25)
He highlights fulfilled prophesies about his birth and going to Egypt. (Matthew 2)
Matthew then points to the words of John the Baptist as a testimony to who he is (Matthew 3)
Also in Matthew 3, he points to the testimony of God the Father and the Holy Spirit showing that Jesus is the Messiah (Matthew 3)
In Chapter 4, Matthew points to the power Jesus over his enemy the devil in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11)
Matthew continues to present evidence of his power by the words of Jesus in chapters 5, 6 and 7. Words of truthfulness, power, and authority as he says who he is. (Matthew 5, 6, 7)
In Matthew chapters 8 & 9, the author presents the power of Jesus through his works: healing, casting out demons, raising the dead and forgiving sins. These acts of his power point to his deity.
In chapter 10, we saw the testimony of his disciples. They believed that he was the Messiah, in that they would even stand to the point of death for Him.
All of this evidence that has been put before us, surely answers this question. WHO IS JESUS? The Answer, he is the Messiah. The one that the Law and the Prophets have spoken about for thousands of years. The one that the Jewish people had been waiting for. Jesus said here I am.
Reactions to the Messiah: Doubt
Reactions to the Messiah: Doubt
But even with all of this evidence, there are different reactions or responses to the evidence that has been presented. And through Matthew 11 and Matthew 12, we are going to see these reactions.
Now this morning we are going to talk about the first reaction: doubt.
Something very important as we start at talk about doubt. In the New Testament, when the word doubt is used it is primarily focused on the doubt of believers. So this morning, as we talk about doubt, it isn’t pointed to those who don’t believe, or even doubt that Jesus was God. The doubt that we will see comes from those who believe.
****Peter
Matthew 14:30–31 (ESV)
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
***The disciples
Mark 11:22–24 (ESV)
22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.
24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
***Again his disciples
Luke 24:36–39 (ESV)
36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.
38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
***James
James 1:6 (ESV)
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
Seeing these verses should comfort us today. Because I know, I doubt, and I’m sure you doubt as well. We all doubt from time to time…but what is important is that we refocus our eyes on the one who saved us, and it is then that when can move from doubt to dependance.
So this morning we are going to look at a reaction of doubt, and you may be surprised where the doubt comes from, who, the doubt comes from.
Matthew 11:1–6 (ESV)
1 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. 2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 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. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Chapter 11 begins where Chapter 10 ends. After calling them together, giving them instruction where to go, what to do, who to go to, and what to expect, in the first verse of Matthew 11 we see what Jesus does after he sends them out… he goes out as well.
Matthew 11:1 (ESV)
1 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.
This verse reminds how important it is for the teacher to be willing to do just as he is asking the student. What the Master expects from the disciple, needs to be expected of the Master. And Jesus showed us. At the conclusion of these life-changing words of instruction that he gives his disciples, the fact that they might be persecuted for their faith. They might be beaten, or even killed. But Jesus led by example. He was prepared to experience everything that could happen to them. And he did.
The path that he instructed his disciples to walk, he walked himself. He told them that when they stand up for him, people would come against them. The same happened to Jesus. He said that they would be dragged into the courts. Same for him. He said that they would be beaten. The same for him. He said that it could even be to death. Same for him.
Do you realize that the Jesus you serve, has already experienced everything that could happen to you, when you stand up for him? That’s why he said in Chapter 10:16 that “a servant is not above his master,” and why I said last week, if we want to be like him, we need to expect to be treated like him.
He is our ultimate example on how to live the life he has given us.
So he sent them out, and then goes into their cities and towns, the places in which they made their homes to do the same thing he instructed them to do.
In verse 2 we see a name we haven’t seen for a while. And that is the name of John the Baptist.
2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
So up to this point, we know that John was mentioned in Matthew in two different places. The first in Chapter 3. Turn me me back to Chapter 3.
John 3 begins with an introduction of man named John the Baptist. If we go to Luke 1, Luke records that John’s parents were Elizabeth and Zechariah and he was born around the same time as Jesus. But John the Baptist was not just an ordinary child. He was created for a specific purpose. The prophet Isaiah spoke the words of God 700 years before he would be born:
3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ”
or another translation says it this way...
3 The prophet Isaiah was speaking about John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him!’ ”
And we see in chapter 3 that that is exactly what he did. He was out in the wilderness, proclaiming the forgiveness of sins and baptizing people who came to hear and responded to the words he was saying.
He was preparing the way. He wasn’t the way, but he was preparing it for the true Messiah.
But he also, was not afraid of speaking the truth, in any circumstance, in front of anyone. Look at Matthew 3:
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
He wasn't afraid to call people out. To tell them of their sin. And that standing up under any circumstances in how he ended up in jail. Back to Matthew 11:
2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
He was sending his disciples to ask Jesus a question…from jail.
We have already seen that if you stand up for Jesus, people are not going to like it. People may feel uncomfortable and if they have any power, the will try to quiet you, to shut you up. This is what happened to John the Baptist. When he spoke truth to someone in authority, he was thrown in jail.
That is all we know was that he was thrown in jail. The Bible doesn't tell is what jail, only he was thrown in jail. About the same year Jesus died, there was a man born in Jerusalem, and he would become a historian. Throughout his life he would write history books and record what happened in years the first century, up until around year 100. His writings give us a look into Christianity and the early church in history. He was a historian. In his writings he stated that John the Baptist was thrown into prison at a place called Machaerus (Ma_care_us)
Machaerus was first a castle, then turned into a prison. It sat near the water of the Dead Sea.
(present day photo) John was thrown down deep into a pit where he spent almost 2 years before his death. He was there because he called out sin and stood up and said something. And maybe as he is sitting down in that pit, he begins to question, he begins to doubt. So he send some of his disciples to Jesus to ask a question.
3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
John wants to know, are you truly the Messiah, or is someone else coming?
How could he doubt? How could he question this? Wasn’t he the guy who stood up in the wilderness and proclaimed...
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
How could he get from proclamation to doubt?!!!
Matthew 11:3 (ESV)
3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
In verse 3 the words that John uses are very important. He mentions two phrases: (1) the one who is to come and (2) look for another.
“one who is to come” = The Coming One
The woman at the well: “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” (John 4:25)
Feeding of the 5,000: “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said ‘This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!’” (John 6:14)
Words of Martha after Lazarus’ Death: “Yes, Lord; I believe that your are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into this world.” (John 3:15)
But even before Jesus came to this earth they were expecting the Coming One.
From the earliest writing of Moses in Genesis, throughout the Old Testament the people of Israel were looking for the Coming One, the Messiah, their Savior. So when John ask the question in verse 3, “are you the one to come”? he is asking, are you the true Messiah who I said would take away the sins of the world? Or “shall we expect another?” (Matthew 11:3) Another prophet? Why would he say this? Some Jews believed that there would be a line of prophets leading up to the Coming one. That’s why when Jesus asked the disciples, who do they people say I am? What was their reply?
2. “shall we expect another?” = another prophet
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
Why did people not see Jesus as the Messiah? Because the people were looking for a King that would kill their enemies. And the enemy of the Jewish people in Jerusalem in the first century was the Roman government. The taxed them, they stole money from the them, they oppressed them, so yes, they were looking for the Coming One, but this Coming One was not doing what they expected him to do.
So doubt entered the mind of John the Baptist. Alone in prison with nothing to do what think, John’s mind began to wonder, and I’m sure he was thinking, if he’s the one, then why am I here? Why am I going through this? Why isn’t he rescuing me?
Look at Jesus’ answer to John:
4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 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. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Jesus says tell him what you see. Tell him about the blind who are now seeing, the lame who are now walking, the lepers who are now without spots, the deaf who can now hear, and the dead who are now alive. Tell him! Tell him you have proof! You have seen it with your own eyes.
Luke also records this conversation between Jesus and the disciples of John the Baptist, and Luke gives us a little more that Matthew does.
21 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight.
In other words, Luke add that when they asked the question, is he the coming one, Jesus turn around and performs one miracle after another right there in front of them, and in verse 22 says now, go and tell John these things you have seen and heard.
At that time, John’s reaction to Jesus was doubt. And the thing is, we have doubt as well. There will be moments in your walk with Christ when you will doubt. Someone close to you will die unexpectedly. You work real hard to get a good grade in school. You don’t get admission. Things don’t turn turn out the way you think they should in your life. And we ask ourselves, God where are you? Do you even love me? Do you even care? Are you even real? Doubt can creep in.
You see I believe that doubt can come from four different areas.
Difficult Circumstances
When we encounter difficult circumstances, our attention can be drawn away from God and we focus on the circumstances more than we focus on God. Look how this happened to John the Baptist. The reason that he was in jail is because he called out the sin of Herod..
Matthew 14:3–11 (ESV)
3 For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”
5 And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. 6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, 7 so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.
8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 9 And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given.
10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, 11 and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.
Before his death, John sat in that pit of a prison for 2 years. 2 years of not being outside. 2 years of not being able to walk around. It was a difficult circumstance. And it was in that time that doubt began to surface. It it really him? Did I get it right?
As a believer, you are going to face difficult circumstances, You are going to face times when, in your mind you are truly going to question God. When those time come dealing with difficult circumstance, our natural reaction is to doubt. Even for the Christian, doubting can happen. It happened to John the Baptist, and what did Jesus say about him?
Matthew 11:11 (ESV)
11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.
Up until this time, jesus said no one was greater who was born among women. Even in doubt.
Doubt can come from Difficult Circumstances, but it can also come from the Influence of the World.
2. Influence of the World
Matthew 11:2–3 (ESV)
2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ,
John is sitting in prison, and he is hearing about the things that Jesus is doing… the teachings, the healings, all these things. And maybe in that moment he is asking what is going in. Where is my King? Where is justice for Israel? Where is the Savior that would tear down the oppression of the Romans? Even John in that moment has driven by doubt. He had even joined in with the influence of his Jewish world at the time… their thinking wasn’t someone to save them forever, it was someone to save them for now. This is a worldly thinking, not a heavenly, eternal thinking.
John was being like the multitude when he fed them. Their response was to make him King. This King would give them health, wealth and happiness. That was the expectation, and when it didn’t happen…doubt entered in. John was right there in it as well, allowing worldly influence to bring doubt.
It happens to us to, Have you ever heard someone say that the Bible is just a stories from the past and has no bearing on real life? What about ‘if Jesus loved us so much, how could he let our friends or family die? If God cares for us so much, how can he allow corruption, kidnapping and killing of innocent people?
I can understand when those who do not believe say these things, but when doubt creeps the minds of believers, we must remember that God does have a plan and a purpose, even when we cannot understand it.
But this is what we need to do in times of doubt, just like John did...
Matthew 11:2 (ESV)
2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples
We need to go straight to the source. John did. He was doubtful and confused and he went to the Savior. What are the things that bring us doubt? Why did this happen, or why did that happen. Instead of sitting in your pit of doubt and allowing the influence of the world to keep you there, go to the source. Spend time with him in prayer. Ask him why. And depend on him to give you a heart of understanding.
Doubt comes about by difficult circumstance, worldly influences, also Incomplete Revelation.
3. Incomplete Revelation
For John, he is locked in a pit, not being able to see with his own eyes what Jesus is doing, so he sends out a few of his disciples. They then go back to give John a first hand account of what Jesus was doing. That was what John needed to know in the moment.
But remember, John wasn’t sitting down in that pit with a copy of the New Testament. He did not have the luxury to look into the New Testament Scriptures to see what Jesus had done… one of the reasons for his doubt could have been incomplete revelation.
But we DO have complete revelation. We do have everything that we need to know know to function in this life as a true disciple of Jesus Christ. When doubt comes up, we can go to the Bible, When temptation begins, go to the Bible. When we want to know how much he loves us, go to the Bible. We have complete revelation, and the best source to beat doubt, is truth.
The Psalmist writes:
9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
Doubt will come to you, and when it does look to revelation (the Word of God) that he has preserved for you.
Doubt can come from Difficult Circumstances, Influences of the World, Incomplete Revelation, and
4. Unfulfilled Expectations
3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
When John spoke of the coming of Jesus, his words pointed to the fact that he would come in a very big way. Very grand. Look what he said back in Matthew 3...
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
He uses word like fire, winnowing fork, separating the wheat from the chaff, burn, unquenchable fire. These words draw a picture of harsh judgement in our minds. Abd yes, there will be a time of judgement, there will be a separation of the sheep and the goats, there will be a time for the sword like we read last week… But John was expecting all of this when Jesus came, he was expecting a message of judgement from Jesus, but Jesus was on a mission of mercy.
He had expectations in his own mind of how things were to be, and when they didn’t happen in HIS mind, he began to doubt. ---Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? (vs 3).
It happens to us as well. We expect life to be easy, we expect this in our lives or that, we expect to always have the people around us that we love, and the moment our expectations don’t happen, we begin to doubt.
Proverbs 3:5–6 (ESV)
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
God never changes. The Bible says, he is the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
We are human. We are sinful people. Doubt will creep into our lives, even the doubt about Jesus. It did for John the Baptist. So, what ever happened to his doubt, his questioning about Jesus, was he ever assured? Yes, I believe it was. In the Apostle John’s account of John the Baptist and the end of his life this is what he wrote:
Turn over to Chapter 14 (Read Matthew 14:1-12)
Those last few words:”And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.”
How does this show that his doubt and his unfulfilled expectations became fulfilled?
This is what I see. The disciples went back and told John what Jesus said and what he did (miracles/proof), and his doubt was taken away. And because his doubt was taken away, they believed as well, and when John died, they wanted to make sure that Jesus, the most important person to John the Baptist knew what had happened.
CLOSE
As a follower of Christ, there are times when we will doubt. Even if we have proof in our our lives. We remember a time when our hearts were first drawn to him and we recieved salvation. Even if we have seen him work in our lives and there is no doubt that he loves us… doubt can come. And when we do, God doesn’t throw us out because of our doubt. Paul writes:
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.
In others words, if we doubt HE remains faithful to his own. He won’t deny one who has chosen him, even in their periods of doubt. So when doubt arises, if we trust in him, go to him, he will give you the assurance and the answer you need.
And Jesus promises a blessing for those who don’t allow doubt to take over their lives...
6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
This word “offense” is also translated as “to stumble.” Jesus is telling John’s disciples then, and his disciples today, that even though we dont understand, even though we may doubt, if we hold on to what we first believed about him, there will be a blessing for those that do.