Are You He That Should Come

Are You He That Should Come?

Matthew 11

There are 2 people that are noted as being foreordained/predestined in the OT to come in the NT. One obviously was Jesus, and the other was John the Baptist. It is interesting to see the correlation between these 2 men, as Luke says they were kin folks (cousins). John was not supernaturally conceived as Jesus was, but it did take a supernatural miracle for him to be born, as his father Zechariah and his mother Elizabeth were already getting old in years, and were way beyond their natural biological timeclock. But God had a plan of how he was going to use John the Baptist. For, he was called to be the forerunner of the Messiah. Listen to the words of Matt. 3 READ QUOTE.

John came in the spirit of Elijah, and had many of his same character traits. He was very straight forward in his proclamation, and didn’t get along well with dignitaries, which would end up sealing his fate of being beheaded.

In Mark 6, Bible says that Herod had ordered for John to be arrested, and had him tied up and put in prison. Herod did this because of Herodias, whom he had married, even though she was the wife of his brother Philip. John began to condemn the fact that King Herod Antipas married his brother’s wife. So Herodias held a grudge against John and wanted to kill him but she couldn’t because her husband Herod wouldn’t let it happen. Herod was afraid of John because he knew he was a good and holy man, and so he kept him safe. Herod liked to listen to John, even though he became greatly disturbed every time he heard him. But one day Herodias got her chance. It was on Herod’s birthday, when he gave a feast for all the top government officials, the military chiefs, and the leading citizens of Galilee. Salome, Herodias’ daughter came in and danced, and pleased Herod and his guests. So the king said to the girl, “What would you like to have? I will give you anything you want”. He kept saying to her again and again “I promise that I will give you anything you ask for, even so much as half of my kingdom”. So Salome went and asked her momma what she should ask for, and Herodias responded to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter. This made the king very sad, but he could not refuse her because of the vows/promises he had made in front of all his guests. So he sent off a guard at once with orders to bring John’s head to them. The guard left, went to the prison, and cut John’s head off; then he brought it on a plate and gave it to the girl, who gave it to her mother.

You have to understand that the ministry of John Baptists was unparalleled to anyone else in history. Jesus even said that among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John Baptist. He was a mighty man of God, filled with the spirit in his mother’s womb. He preached repentance, and people did. He baptized the very living son of God! Surely a man of this stature would’ve been given a long, luxurious ministry with a peaceful retirement. But not so; he would be imprisoned and executed for his service to God.

In the text we find him in an all too familiar place for most of us. After preaching to and baptizing literally thousands of people from all around he is now bound up and seemingly helpless, while in the mean time the one that came after him is rising to stardome, as folks are flocking around him just to him speak or perhaps see him perform a miracle. And even though John knew his role, and even confessed it in times past, now he sets looking at the fact that after all he did to prepare the way for the Messiah, this is what he gets in return. So he sends his disciples to go ask Jesus “Are you the one who should come, are you really the messiah, are you really the one sent from God, or should we be looking for someone else?” Think about it: this same John pointed Jesus out of a crowd of folks by the Jordan River, saying ‘behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’, and now he is questioning if Jesus is really who he claimed to be.

Listen, we have all seen the miracle working power of God before our very eyes. We saw last week how God grew legs/arms out, loosened up stiff arms/knees, and healed this body of mine. We’ve witnessed the saving power of Jesus reach down and grab a hold of some very vile, sinful folks and clean them up, making them brand new. We’ve seen how God has gloriously baptized some people with the Holy Ghost. Some of you have been involved in it; you were the ones that got touched. But still yet, despite all of this, there is a pit, a dungeon that Satan has for all of us. It’s not made of brick and stone, but it’s a spiritual prison with an ultimate purpose to destroy your spirit, passions, desires, hopes, dreams, and eventually your soul. It’s bondage, and if you’re not careful that place of bondage will become so overwhelming that Satan will try and get your mind to wondering is Jesus really who he said he is, does he really have a miracle for me, is he really going to answer my prayers, is he really going to touch my life, etc. I’m telling you, he wants to ruin your life!