The Danger Of Isolation And The Delight Of Fellowship

Theme: The Danger of Isolation and the Delight of Fellowship.

Text: Matthew 11:1-3. Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities. 2 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples 3 and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” John made this statement partly because he was isolated.

Isolation is one reason behind the increase in crime, domestic violence, suicide and mental health illnesses during COVID 19. We all have been affected by the isolation due to this Pandemic, so we have some insights into what may have happened and see some parallels in our situation that coincide with John’s experiences when was isolated in Herod’s prison.

1. Isolation breeds doubt. In other words, it can destroy faith.

John was isolated, and He began to doubt who Jesus was. Our text reads, that “when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples 3 and said to Him, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” John was quickly losing his faith. This was the same John who Isaiah and Malachi prophesied about that would become the forerunner of the Messiah. This was the same John that God dispatched an angel to tell his father that his elderly wife, Elizabeth would have a son and that they should call him John. This was the same John who as a baby, leaped in his mother’s pregnant belly when her cousin Mary the mother of Jesus went to visit her. This was the same John who when he grew up, became known as John the Baptist. This was the same John, that “the word of God came unto in the wilderness preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. This was the same John of whom Jesus said, “that among those who are born on the earth, there has never arisen a greater man than John the Baptist.” This was the same John that baptized Jesus in the Jordan River and heard the voice of God say, “This is my beloved Son in whom, I am well pleased,” and saw the heavens opened and the Spirit of God in the form of a dove come down upon Jesus. This is the same John that announced to the people that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God and they should follow Jesus. This was the same John that commanded the Scribes and Pharisees to repent for their sins. This was the same John that even rebuked King Herod, the Tetrarch of Galilee telling him repeatedly that it was wrong, unlawful, and sinful to have Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, who was actually his niece, as well, rebuking Herod for adultery and incest. This was the same John that had the respect and honor of the people of Galilee. This was the same John. But that was then, and this is now. Now he is arrested by Herod for speaking out. Now he is in Herod’s prison. Now Herodias, the adulterous, incestuous wife of Herod, named Herodias is pressuring her incestuous, adulterous husband, named Herod to execute John. This is the same John, now. Now he is in a cold prison dungeon. Now, he cannot see daylight anymore. Now, he has lost track of time and lost track of the days. Now, he does not have the clean fresh water of the Jordan River to drink and to wash himself. Now he does not get his chosen foods: locusts and wild honey. Now, he can’t sleep comfortably under the open skies or any place of his choosing. Now he is afraid. Now he is alone. Now, he is isolated, and Jesus’ disciples went to visit him and he asked them to ask Jesus, the shattering question of our text “Are You the Coming One, or should we look for another?”

You see, John was in prison, and it was while he was in prison he became isolated and began to question what he had believed. Isolation is very dangerous. “According to the American Psychological Association, Staff writer Kelis Scott in an article titled, “Walls around your mind,” isolation can … cause “depression, poor sleep quality, impaired executive function, accelerated cognitive decline, poor cardiovascular function and impaired immunity at every stage of life.”

An April 2020 article by Professional Development Resources titled, “The Psychological Effects of Social Isolation,” studying COVID 19 quarantine, cited studies that argued Social Isolation causes Increased aggressiveness towards unfamiliar others, persistent fear, and hypersensitivity to threatening stimuli. In another study they cited they said that social isolation could be linked to increased inflammation in the body and increased risk of poorer health. They also discovered that Social Isolation is a “Silent Killer” These researchers found that when people are able to develop and maintain more interpersonal connections – remotely or otherwise – the effects of social isolation were not nearly as powerful. In other words, Isolation is dangerous, so: