Prison Break

So Disappointing!

Matthew 11 is a picture of a life slipping away. John the Baptist is rotting away in prison, so he sends a message to Jesus.

Are you the one?

How disappointing life must have turned out for John. He was fulfilling an age-old prophecy to foretell the coming of the Messiah, whom he had baptized in the flesh only months beforehand (Matthew 3). But now John is sitting in prison wondering if everything he had believed in is a mistake…a sham.

Did I really hear the voice of God?
Was I really called by God to do what I did?
Am I crazy?

Have you ever felt these feelings? God, I thought I knew the path you were leading me on, but now everything is out of kilter!

Don’t wait up for me…

Jesus responds to John’s question, but probably not in the comforting way John would have liked. Jesus didn’t send a cryptic message promising a prison break. Jesus didn’t promise a new empire lead by Jesus and the Jewish people. Jesus didn’t even say, “I know it must be hard; I’m sorry.”

Jesus points to all of the miracles he’s performed over the last few months (blind receive sight, deaf hear, dead raised!). Then Jesus makes an odd statement so typical of Jesus,

“Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

In other words, Jesus says, “You bet, I’m the Messiah, but I’m not the Messiah you expected me to be. If you continue to believe in me, you will be blessed.”

Blessed are you…

What about you? Will you continue to follow and trust Jesus in the midst of pain? Will you believe Jesus is your Messiah and Savior even when he doesn’t do what you expect him to do?

Be guaranteed of this, Jesus won’t always meet our expectations because Jesus doesn’t exist for our pleasure. Quite the opposite, we exist for God’s pleasure, and it pleasures God most when we follow Him when our knowledge and understanding of Him is hazy at best.

The words recorded here are the last known words or thoughts of John the Baptist. We don’t know how he received Jesus message. Was he encouraged? Was he disappointed even further? Did he give up? Did he continue to believe?

We do know John was beheaded only months later. We know Jesus was deeply affected by this news.

We also know Jesus was indeed the Messiah. He died and rose again. He lives today.

I pray you will continue to follow, serve and trust Jesus in the midst of pain and frustration. You will be blessed!