Dear Explorer,
Do you remember John the Baptizer – born to Zechariah and Elizabeth? The next time we saw him, he was preaching and baptizing out in the wilderness. Then we read that Herod had put John the Baptizer in prison. In today's passage, he's still in prison and we see that John the Baptizer sends his disciples to ask Jesus a question.
Read Matthew 11:1-6
and
Read Luke 7:18-23
What was John the Baptizer's question?
I want you to see that John the Baptizer, after spending time in prison, got discouraged and began to wonder if he was just imaging all this. So, he took his questions to Jesus. That's a great example for us. There will be times when we are discouraged or depressed or hurting and we will need some reassurance. We need to know who to run to for answers!
What answer did Jesus give him and did Jesus fuss at him for needing reassurance?
The way I imagine this passage is that John's disciples asked the question, and Jesus listened and then walked away from them and began healing. After a while, I think He returned to them and told them to report what they had seen Him do and to give John the message.
Why do you think Jesus answered John this way?
You need to know that this was a direct quote from Isaiah, an Old Testament prophet and Jesus knew that John knew all the Messianic prophecies from God's Word.
Would you come near believing that Jesus was the Messiah by what He said, or by what you saw Him do?
Read Matthew 11:7-15
and
Read Luke 7:24-30
What words of praise does Jesus have for John?
In Matthew 11:14, Jesus says that John is the Elijah (Elias) who came to prepare the way for the Messiah. We discussed this on Day 28 if you want to review it. Luke doesn't call him “Elijah”, but he does quote the prophecy from Malachi 3:1.
Read Matthew 11:16-19
And
Read Luke 7:31-35
I think Jesus was saying that some people make up their minds to reject truth before they begin looking. They criticize everything and are not open to truth. We would call them close-minded.
Jesus says if you are searching for wisdom – look for its results (children) or off-spring.
An old American saying is “the proof is in the pudding”. You can talk about recipes or theories all you want, but you need to taste the results to determine which recipe is best.
What results have you seen in other followers of Jesus' lives that make you want to follow Him?