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!
The devil will speak to your mind and say ‘you’ve done all the right stuff, invited folks to church, prayed, fasted, praised, been prayed for, fell out in the spirit, read/proclaimed the Bible, etc. and still yet nothing’. And if you aren’t careful, you’ll begin to give up on your miracle. But I’m telling you, no matter what the end result, God is still God, and he is still the healer, the miracle worker, the life transformer, the deliverer, and your ever present help in time of trouble. Lift your head and be glad because he will always be God, no matter what happens in your life!
Jesus tells John’s disciples, “go back and tell John what you hear and see. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them”. In other words, let him know that the proof that I am who I say I am is in the fact that miracles are happening everywhere you look. *But then he throws this in, “Also, don’t forget to tell him that blessed is the person who is not offended in me”. You see, it was obvious that the mentality of John right then was that if he really was all that, then why is it that I am in here?
Let me tell you something. I was diagnosed with severe Scoliosis almost 20 years ago. Since that time, I have been prayed for in prayer lines for healing, I have confessed my healing, I have brought my x-rays out into the auditorium thinking that I was about to get my miracle, etc. more times than I can tell you. Each time I was confident that was my night, but it never happened until last Sunday. I even reached a point I quit praying/getting prayed for about it. But at God’s appointed time, he did it. Some of you know what I mean, for you’ve been through the same routine. Can I tell you something, just because for the last 20 years I never got healed didn’t ever mean God didn’t plan to touch me, it just wasn’t his timing. And you don’t need to think that because your in a pit of sickness, poverty, travail, or sorrow that God isn’t interested in you. Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised)”
And let me say this, when John asked this question, he was at a low point and Jesus happened to be at a high point in the ministry. He had to be careful not to be offended at the Lord because of this. *It is easy to say, ‘I don’t want to hear about someone else’s miracle, when I didn’t get mine’, and it will seem like Satan is rubbing it in your face. But don’t grow bitter/offensive at God or other people. Rejoice with those who have received now, because your day is coming when they are going to rejoice with you!
Now, notice that after the disciples walked off, Jesus begins to speak great things about John Baptist. He called him more than a prophet, a great man of God. He made these statements because the folks around needed to hear that just because John was struggling with his faith didn’t make him a bad person. Just because he wasn’t living in victory at that moment doesn’t mean he was any less of a called, anointed child of God. *For all of us who are living the miracles of God right now, we must be careful not to be prideful/arrogant about it. We don’t need to have the attitude to those who haven’t received yet that ‘they must not have the faith, must not be right with God, must not be doing the right things, etc.’ Folks, I’m telling you God has a plan! Let him be God in Jesus’ name!
