“Are You The One?”
Jesus, His Encounters (5)
I Am Jesus – Message 33
To a people who didn’t know why things were going so bad in their nation. To a people who wondered why everything seemed to be falling a part all around them. To a people who were not experiencing the life they had expected. To a people who when they looked at where they were had a hard time adding things up. God sends His prophet Isaiah with these words;
”For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:8,9
AND – 3,000 years ago a king, a writer and really wise guy who had a lot of trouble living and figuring out life wrote…
God’s ways are as hard to discern as the pathways of the wind, and as mysterious as a tiny baby being formed in a mother’s womb. – Ecclesiastes 11:5
SINCE – August the 14th we have been taking a look at some of the people that God the Son encountered when He put on flesh and walked this earth 2,000 years ago. AS – I said when we began these talks I have always loved watching what happens when ordinary men and women like you and me, met Jesus.
AND LISTEN – through these encounters with Jesus I get to; stand in the presence of, hear the voice of, look into the eyes of and fall at the feet of the Lion of Judah. AND – when I do I get to hear Him tell me, like he told the woman at the well… “Steve, if you only knew who I am and the gift of God I have for you, you would not simply ask me to fix this or straighten out that… NO – you would ask me for living water so that you would NEVER thirst again…”
I get to be lowered before Jesus on my 3ft by 6 ft world just like the guy in Luke 5… AND – have Jesus remove ALL; my fears, regrets and ALL my doubts about being someone different… I get to kneel at the feet of Jesus like Mary in John 12 and pour out my lifebefore Him declaring his infinite worth… AND – like the cripple guy in John 5 I get have the King of glory not only restore my body but restore my soul…
THIS – morning we are going to take a look at another encounter… IT’S – found in Matthew 11… THE – title for today’s message is, “Are You The One…”
Prayer…
After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee. When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" - Matthew 11:1-3
QUESTION…
• Have you ever been disappointed?
• Have you ever been confused?
• Have you ever been discouraged? Disillusioned?
• Have you ever wondered (after you have traveled down the road a pretty good piece) if the choice you made was really the right one?
• Have you ever pulled out the calculator of your life… started punching numbers and found out that things were not even close to adding up?
• Have you ever wanted something really bad. So bad that you launched an all out pursuit just to get to it. YOU – expended all kinds of energy, made all kinds of sacrifices just to have it… AND – now you have (that job, that relationship, that new home, that promotion…) YOU - are on that new path, you are living that new life, experiencing those new things… and it is not all what you expected.
• Do you ever have doubts? ABOUT; your choices, your decisions, about your life?
• Do you ever have questions about God? (Like… Why does He move & act in some lives and in other lives ‘seem’ to be detached and indifferent).
• Have you ever sat in your own prison… AND - thought, “Father, I don’t get it… I don’t understand, this is not at all what I expected…are you the one?”
NOW – this encounter that John has with Jesus from his prison cell has always intrigued me. BUT – this is the first time I have ever shared a message on it… AND – all week long I struggled with it… I had a hard time getting my brain around it. I had a hard time getting words down on paper. Early Thursday morning I wrote 2 questions on a blank piece of paper – 2 questions that helped me begin to figure this thing out…
#1 – What am I trying to say?
#2 – What does this encounter reveal?
IN – our time remaining… I want to share with you 4 things that this encounter that John the Baptist had with Jesus reveals… #1 that…it reveals that;
Even Godly People At Times Will have Doubts…
NOW – I don’t know about you… BUT – if I were asked to pick someone who would question whether or not Jesus was the Messiah - John the Baptist would be the last person I would choose… I MEAN – they were family, cousins, they grew up together… AND EVEN – before John was conceived an angel appeared to his dad Zechariah (who was a priest) as he light incense at the Temple and said to Him…
God has heard your prayer, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son! And you are to name him John. You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice with you at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or hard liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. And he will persuade many Israelites to turn to the Lord their God. He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah, the prophet of old. He will precede the coming of the Lord, preparing the people for his arrival. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will change disobedient minds to accept godly wisdom. – Luke 1:13-17 (NLT)
YOU - wouldn’t expect a man who an angel from God said was going to be;
• Great in the eyes of the Lord
• Filled with the Holy Spirit
• Have the spirit and power of Elijah
• Who was chosen to prepare the way for the coming Messiah
TO – one day doubt that Jesus was the Christ… BUT – he did…
WHEN - John was still in his mother womb (6 months after conception), Elizabeth’s cousin Mary who had just become pregnant with Jesus came to pay her a visit; and as soon as Mary walked into her home, and said ‘hey” Luke records these words…
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
– Luke 1:41-44
YES – in the womb John the Baptist knew who Jesus was… BUT NOW - 30 years later he was starting to have some major doubts. AT - the age of 30 John began thundering in the Judean desert… Great multitudes came out to see this wild man who wore clothes made of camel’s skin (not the height of fashion even in Jesus day) and who ate nothing but locust and wild honey (I guess the wild honey was to help get the locust down). John’s message was that the kingdom of God was at hand that the Messiah was here and that they best get ready…. He told them to repent of their sins and be baptized…
AND GUYS – let there be no doubt about it John was one bold dude… I MEAN – when the religious leaders and Pharisees came out to the desert to checkout what all the commotion was about John look at them and said; “You brood of vipers! (AND – in case you are wondering the term brood of vipers is not a term of endearment…) Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”
-Matthew 3:7,8
NO – you wouldn’t expect John, the camel skin wearing, locust eating, truth proclaiming, Pharisee slamming, coming of the LORD preparing man to question, to doubt, whether or not Jesus was the one… I MEAN – John seemed pretty sure of who He was when Jesus came to the Jordan River to be baptized… He said, ‘Look there He is the one I told you about… The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World.’ John saw the heavens rip open, he heard the voice of the Father thunder… "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
UNDERSTAND… FOR - 30 years starting in the womb John boldly cried out to Jesus; “you are the one!” AND NOW – he is not so sure… Why? What’s going on?
UNDERSTAND – a lot has happened to John in the last year or so… REMEMBER – I said that John was bold, that he held back no punches… WELL – one day his boldness got him into some deep trouble…
One day John was preaching a message on marriage and divorce, and King Herod came up in the sermon. AND JOHN – basically told King Herod that stealing His brother Philip’s wife and sleeping with her while he was married to another women was not a good thing…
The day after this message reporters from The Jerusalem Constitution’ streamed out into the desert asking John if his statement condemning the marriage of Herod were true. JOHN - being unskilled in the politics of spin said. “yeah that’s what I said and that is John spelled J-O-H-N.. THE – headline the next day read, “Wild Preacher From The Desert Takes On King Herod & His Wife.” Something had to be done. SO - Herod had John arrested and thrown into prison. NOW - the prison was located in a 2360- foot mountain fortress on the north eastern shore of the dead sea.
JOHN - the man who had lived his entire life in the open air of the wilderness is now confined to a small, damp prison cell… With barely even a ray of light streaming from the lone narrow window above him.
PUT – yourself in that cell with John… AS – the hours turn into days… The days turn into weeks… As the weeks turn into months… And as the large crowds John had preached too became only a distant memory.
AND – that small cell John eventually began to wonder, “why hasn’t my cousin Jesus done something to get me out of here. I’ve always been there for Him. I mean, isn’t the Messiah supposed to free those who are being held captive? How can the Kingdom of God be here while I’m rotting in this smelly, dirty prison cell? Where is he? Doesn’t He know I need His help? Doesn’t He even care? OR – was I wrong and Jesus isn’t the Messiah after all?”
AND - the months turned into a year… LISTEN - when you’re going through a period in your life like this, and seems that God is nowhere to be found. YOU - begin to have doubts…
ON – the flap of James Dobson’s book; ‘When God Doesn’t Make Sense,’ are these words;
When we are young and health is good and we have not yet encountered disease, disappointment, and sorrow, it is easy to believe that life will always be rather carefree and happy. But every person who lives long enough will eventually experience difficulties that are not easy to understand. At those times the pieces simply will not fit, and God just doesn’t make sense…
[Tim, Laurie…] – have you ever been there? HAVE - you ever tired to arrange the pieces of life that have been handed to you and no matter how hard you try… nothing really seems to fit… nothing adds up, nothing makes sense…
I don’t know about you… BUT – like John the Baptist I have a few Matthew 11:3 moments in my life. IN FACT - 10 years ago this December… I had one of my biggest Matthew 11:3’s. To make a long story short;
• I was in San Diego California
• My wife was dying of cancer
• All conventional treatment had failed
• So we left our 9 year old son and 11 year old daughter (the day after Thanksgiving) for a month so that we could get alternative treatment in Mexico.
We had only been there for 4 days… When Judy’s pain level went off the charts. SHE – couldn’t lay down, sit up or stand up without being in unbearable pain. AND – the hour bus ride across the border into Mexico nearly killed her… I CAN – remember literally falling facedown before the LORD in the little kitchenette in our hotel room crying out to God…
“Father nothing make sense here… What are you doing? Where are you? We left a career in the Navy to go to Bible College, we sold nearly everything we had… AND - you let Judy get cancer, and you are doing nothing to make it go away… AND - now you bring us 3,000 miles away from our home, our family, our friends and our doctors…just to sink us. Father, why did you bring us out to this desert just to die…are you the one?”
THIS – encounter that John has with Jesus in Matthew 11:3 reveals first of all the even godly people at times have doubts…
SECOND – it reveals that;
There Is Only One Place We Can Go To Have Our Doubts Answered
TIM - where do you seek answers? WHERE – do you seek comfort from your problems? WHERE – do you go when you have doubts? WHERE – do you turn when you are in your own Matthew 11:3…
UNDERSTAND – John the Baptist did not sit and sulk. AND – he didn’t have philosophical debates with other prisoners… INSTEAD – he went right to the source… When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
Let me be as straight with you as I can be… WHEN – you are in a Matthew 11:3 there is ONLY one place, there is ONLY one source you can go to, to have those doubts answered… Almighty God… Don’t sit… Don’t sulk. Don’t get into philosophical debates with other prisoners… GO – to THE SOURCE…
I want to read some words that a couple of guys in the O.T. wrote. Two guys that went through more than their share of Matthew 11:3’s. The first guy is Job… NOW – I think Job is probably the patron saint of Matthew 11:3’s… TALK – about things not adding up… This dude; loved God, he served God, and he did well, I mean even God bragged on him… BUT – then God allows it all (his kids, his wealth, his health to go way).
AND – in his pain and confusion he went to the source… Yeah sometimes he even question the God… (and God was cool with that) BUT – checkout some of things that he was able to write (and share with us) because He went to THE SOURCE… I’ll just read them and let the Word speak for itself…
Job got to his feet, ripped his robe, shaved his head, then fell to the ground and worshiped: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked I’ll return to the womb of the earth. GOD gives, GOD takes. God’s name be ever blessed. – Job 1:20,21
I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
- Job 19:25-27
David also went through a lot of Matthew 11:3’s… IN FACT – nearly every Psalm of David is product of David seeking God in the midst of a Matthew 11:3. Remember in 1 Samuel 16 God told David (who was probably about 11 years old) that he was to going be the next king… He didn’t become king until he was 30… AND – spent 10 of those 19 years in between on the run trying not to get killed by the jealous king Saul.
I want to read one of those Matthew 11:3 inspired Psalms… AND – if you are in you own ‘Are you the one” Matthew 11:3, I encourage to really listen, because The King of Glory just might have something to say to you through the words of David…
Psalm 56 (247 words)…
The 3rd thing that this encounter reveals is that;
Our Doubts Usually Spring From Wrong Expectations…
QUESTION – have you ever had wrong expectations… WHAT – I mean by that is you have these expectations… let’s say of a relationship. For a long time you kind of loved them for afar. YOU – dream about how great life your life would be if the only the 2 of you could get together… AND – then 2 things happen. #1 – you get together… AND #2 – your expectations hit reality. IN – other words you find out that being with them is not exactly the fairy tale that you thought in would be. EVER – happen to you? ANYONE HERE – ever find out that the job; the promotion, the relationship, the vacation… wasn’t at all what you excepted?
I think that’s what happened between the actress Renee Zellweger (Jerry Miquire, Bridgette Jones, Chicago, Cinderella man) and country singer Kenny Chesney (Country Music’s Entertainer of the year… ‘She thinks my tractor’s sexy)… They met in January of 05… Were married in May. And 4 months later Renee has field to annul the marriage. NOW – I have no idea what happened but I do know that when her expectations hit reality… it wasn’t real pretty… UNDERSTAND – unrealistic expectations of your spouse, your kids, your job, your church, your ministry and your God set you up for trouble & disappointment
John goes to the source and here is what the source tells him…
Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." – Matthew 11:4-6
(AND – let me say up front I am indebted to Erwin McManus and his book, ‘The Barbarian Way,’ for a lot of the stuff I am about to share with you)
NOW - at first glance it seems like Jesus is trying to inspire John. YOU KNOW – something like; “Don’t sweat it cuz… I’ve got everything under control. I am doing everything you would expect from a Messiah…”
AND – you’d have to admit Jesus did have a pretty impressive resume. The blind seeing, the lame walking, people with leprosy being healed, deaf ears opening and the dead being raised. AND – to top it all off the good news is being preached to the poor.
I MEAN – how do you argue with that? You’d expect John to hear that; become overwhelmed with joy, come back to his senses and wonder how in the world he ever doubted Jesus to begin with… BUT – the problem is John already knew all about that stuff… REMEMBER – the words from Matthew 11:2; “when John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him…” AND – we already know the question he sent them to ask, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
APPARENTLY – the amazing & inspiring work of Jesus didn’t eliminate John’s doubts… INSTEAD - they fueled them… QUESTION – why would Jesus doing so much good jeopardize John’s faith? AND WHY – after giving such a powerful summary of all the stuff that He was doing, would Jesus say… “Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of me…” NOW - the Greek word (scandalizo) that is translated “does not fall away” is the word that we get our English word scandalize from and in the original it referred to the part of a trap that the bait was attached. QUESTION – why would Jesus add that? Why would Jesus think that the awesome and miraculous stuff He was doing might cause John to fall away?
I MEAN – I can’t imagine someone walking up to me and saying… “Steve if one more blind person gets their sight back – I don’t think my faith will be able to take it… and if one more crippled person gets up and walks or one more poor person hears the good news and receives Christ, I want you to know that I am out of here…”
NO – great waves of miracles don’t usually result in someone cashing in their faith… "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."
QUESTION – do you see what Jesus is saying here? HE – is telling John, “I love you cuz, I really do… but I am not going to get you out of prison… YES – I know I’m doing amazing things for so many other people… BUT – I have chosen a different path for you…John don’t get caught in the trap of your own misconceptions ”
UNDERSTAND – when John’s expectations hit reality he found himself in a Matthew 11:3… AND – in this reality John went to only place he knew to go to… THE SOURCE… AND [Tim, Laurie…] – that’s what you and I need to do when we are in our own Matthew 11:3…GO – to THE SOURCE (God and His word).
AND – when you go to the source you expectations will get adjusted. AND LISTEN – we need this adjustment because if we continue in the path of wrong expectations long enough… chances are that like Renee Zellweger we will one day want to annul our relationship with God..
NOW BASICALLY – there are 3 adjustments that THE SOURCE makes to our expectations…
Adjustment #1 – THE SOURCE reminds us of what we were actually called too…
I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.
– John 16:33 (NLT)
For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. – Philippians 1:29
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
– 1 Peter 4:12,13
• IN – this world you will have what?
• We have been given the privilege of what?
• What should we not be surprised about?
Adjustment #2 – THE SOURCE reminds us that God has a different plan for each of us…
AND - some get the Peter plan. Others get the John (the apostle John) plan. WE – find both of these plans in John 21;
The truth is, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked and go wherever you wanted to. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will direct you and take you where you don’t want to go." Jesus said this to let him know what kind of death he would die to glorify God. Then Jesus told him, "Follow me." Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved following them--the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, "Lord, who among us will betray you?" Peter asked Jesus, "What about him, Lord?" Jesus replied, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You follow me."
- John 21:18-22
Erwin McManus writes the following in the barbarian way (page 36,37)
Faith was a risky business for John the Baptist he had to embrace God plan for Him…
Adjustment #3 – THE SOURCE reminds us of what we can expect…
We can expect;
• A peace beyond understanding
• Contentment in EVERY situation whether well fed or hungry, living in need or in want.
• A purpose behind our hardships… to be made mature, complete not lacking in anything
• Christ to be with us always even to the end of the age.
• The God comfort of God when we hurt
• To in all things be more than a conqueror
• A high priest who is able to sympathize with our weakness
• A hope that is living and inheritance that can fade, spoil or pass away…
• That our present suffering is not worth comparing with the glory that one day will be revealed in us.
• That one day the trumpet will sound and the Lord will come, wipe every tear from our eyes and take us home to a world without; sorrow, defeat, disappointment, death, disease, crying, pain… to a world where we will see Him face to face…. To a world that will EXCEED our every expectation!!!
(advise to minimize Matthew 11:3’s; we need to lower our expectations about life here and raise them about life there!)
NOW – there is one more thing that this encounter with John reveals and I need to hit it really fast… IT reveals that;
Doubts Do Not Negate Who We Are…
MAN – I love what Jesus does right after John’s disciples head back to give him the message from Jesus. YOU SEE – Jesus knows that some of the people who were there were starting to think that John blew it, that he failed, that his doubts made him a loser… BUT – Jesus quickly and powerfully blows any such thoughts out of the water…
When John’s disciples had gone, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. "Who is this man in the wilderness that you went out to see? Did you find him weak as a reed, moved by every breath of wind? Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? Those who dress like that live in palaces, not out in the wilderness. Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet. John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say, `Look, I am sending my messenger before you, and he will prepare your way before you.’ "I assure you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the most insignificant person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is! – Matthew 11:7-11
LISTEN – John’s doubt (his Matthew 11:3) did not negate who he was… HE was a bold prophet of God… The greatest man that had ever lived up until that time…
AND – the good news is that our doubts do not negate who we are… AND [Tim, Laurie…] – we are even greater than John… WE - are not merely proclaiming the message of the King… we are children of the King… AND - we do not only speak for God but we are filled with the very presence of God in the person of the Holy Spirit.
TO – the question “Are You The One”
Jesus answers, YES – I am the ONLY one!
“Blessed are the Jobs, who suffer, yet stay faithful. Blessed are the Josephs, who endure unjust treatment yet refuse to live in bitterness. Blessed are the Hoseas, who continue to walk in obedience even though their spouses leave them. Blessed are the Pauls, who pray for relief from the thorn in the flesh yet also respond, ‘His grace is sufficient for me). Blessed are all those who can live with unanswered questions, who can rest in what they see, and who can wait patiently for God to reveal what they can’t see.” - Chuck Swindoll
