EVEN THE BEST HAVE DOUBTS

John the Baptist was a man with a very specific mission from God. Isaiah had prophesied of his ministry centuries before John was born. “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make ready the path of the Lord; Make a straight way in the desert, a clear road for our God” (Isaiah 40:3). He was the forerunner. The one assigned to prepare the multitudes for the appearance of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

When he arrived on the scene, John was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15). He knew exactly who he was and what he was put on earth to do. When asked by the Pharisees in John chapter 1 who he was, he quoted Isaiah‘s prophecy and affirmed that he was the one Isaiah was talking about.

He also knew without a doubt who Jesus was. He knew he was the Son of God. Consider these words he said to the religious leaders and see if you can detect even an ounce of uncertainty. “And John testified, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He rested upon Jesus. I did not know He was the coming one, until the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, The one upon whom you see the Spirit descending and resting, this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. I saw this happen and I testify that Jesus is the Son of God” (John 1:32-34).

John was incredibly bold in announcing that the Messiah had come and that Jesus was He. Matthew chapter 3 records his very sharp words to the religious leaders concerning their rejection of Christ and the judgment of God they would face as the result. It also tells of Jesus coming to John at the Jordan River to be baptized by him. John tried to stop him saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and are you coming to me?” He had already said that he was not worthy to untie the sandals of Jesus, and he certainly knew he was not worthy to baptize Him.

So John was fearless and bold. Until…

Herod the king hated John the Baptist because John preached against his sins. John, as usual, was bold in calling him out. So Herod arrested him. But he was afraid to kill him because the people believed John was a prophet and he did not want a revolt on his hands.

While John was in prison, he had a moment of doubt that is quite perplexing. “And when John, while he was in prison, heard about Christ’s works, he sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus, Are you the one who was to come, or do we look for someone else?”

This is an absolutely mind-boggling question coming from John the Baptist. If anyone on earth knew that Jesus was the promised one, the coming one, and that God was not sending anyone else after Him, it was John. He had seen God prove it by sending the Holy Spirit upon Him. He had heard God speak out of heaven proclaiming that Jesus was His beloved Son. What has happened to John the Baptist? Where has his faith gone?

This is a story that probably would not have been written if the Bible were a work of human fiction. The Bible often makes its heroes look bad, because they were human and the Bible does not cover that up. John was now facing tremendous doubt and there is a very simple reason why. He was in prison and Jesus had not come to get him out. He has heard about the “works of Jesus.“ Which means he has heard about all of the miraculous, powerful things Jesus has done. And it makes no sense to him why Jesus would not rescue him from prison.

Now picture it. Here is a man who was a wilderness man. A man who was used to the great outdoors. He did not preach in the cities. The people of the cities went out to the wilderness to him. And now his freedom has been taken away and he’s staring at four dungeon walls. So what happens to him? He forgets all of the amazing things he has seen and his doubts take over.

Many times people say, “I wish I could just have some sort of miraculous experience to help me with my faith.” That would not help you with your faith. Because as soon as the enthusiasm and excitement of it wore off, you would be right back to having to take the word of God and trust in Him. Faith is a decision. The power of experiences do not last. No, what we need is faith in the word of God.

John was human. What was the real problem here? Well, you can see it in Jesus’ answer. He does not rebuke John, but He does remind him of an important truth. “Jesus answered and said to John’s disciples, Go and report to John the things you hear and see happening: The blind can see and the lame can walk; the lepers are made clean and the deaf can now hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who does not fall away because of Me” (Matthew 11:2-6).

Notice that: “Blessed is the one who does not fall away because of me.” What does that mean? His message to John the Baptist was simple and clear: “Everything is going exactly like it’s supposed to, John. I am doing the work that I have been sent to do. And you are blessed if you don’t give up faith in me because of the way I do my business. Don’t lose faith in me because I don’t do what you think I should do.”

How many people lose faith in God for that very reason? God does not do things the way that we think He should and we give up on Him. God had allowed something that John did not understand, something terrible, and John was struggling with that. A lot of people abandon faith in God completely when God allows things or does things they don’t understand.

The message of Jesus remains clear for us as well. God knows what He is doing. He is not always going to do what we think He should. He is perfect, makes no mistakes, and knows the end from the beginning.

I know there are a lot of people who wish that story ended with John being released from prison, but that’s not how it ended. John never got out of prison. He was beheaded. And from a human standpoint, much of that does not make sense. But we must also remember that Jesus himself died. And we have got to make a decision. Do we trust God or not? If we really trust Him, then that means we trust Him no matter what. No matter what He does, no matter what He allows, we trust in His love which He has already shown through the cross of Christ.

There is some very good news at the end of this story. It was inexcusable for John to doubt Jesus. Considering all he had been privileged to see and the role that he was privileged to serve, there is just no way you can excuse this. This is human weakness at its worst. But after Jesus sent John’s disciples away, He turned to the crowd and talked about how great of a man John was. And He did not amend it because of John’s weakness. Of John he said “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has never been anyone greater than John the Baptist…” (Matthew 11:11).

Jesus looks at the overall direction of your life, not at isolated moments of weakness. John was, according to Jesus, as great as any man who ever lived, excluding Himself. That means he was as great as David, Abraham, Moses or anyone else. And he was just as great in God’s eyes after his questions and doubt as he was before. So God is patient and understanding even when we struggle. Remember that and trust Him no matter what.

Dewayne Dunaway