Faith And Expectations.

What happens when our faith and expectations don’t match? Stephen recalls an incident from the life of John the Baptist.

John the Baptist

We’re going to go to the New Testament for this installment of Stepping Out, to look at one of the more prominent figures of the gospels, John the Baptist.  We first find John in Luke’s gospel, when he is born to Zachariah and Elizabeth, a relative of Mary, the mother of Jesus. 

Actually, our first introduction is before he was born, in Luke 1:44, when he leapt for joy in his mother’s womb because Mary, who was carrying Jesus at the time, came for a visit.  We learn in Luke chapter one, that John the Baptist, from an earthly standpoint, was a relative of the Lord Jesus.

The Bible then fast-forwards us about thirty years, to when Jesus is ready to begin his ministry to the world.  It begins with John.  Here is what we read in John 1:19-34

And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

John the Forerunner of the Messiah

John had been born for this purpose, to be a forerunner of the Messiah, Jesus.  His mission was to prepare the people of Judah, the Jews, to receive their promised deliverer.  In doing so, he was given the high honor of announcing or introducing Jesus to the world.  As such, God had given John special insight into who the Saviour was. 

We see that in the passage when John reveals that God had said to Him, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.”  Jesus alludes to the significance of this event in Luke 7, which we will look at shortly, saying about John “I tell you, among those born of women, none is greater than John.”  If you think of the prophets of the Old Testament, many of them spoke of the coming Messiah, but John revealed Him to the world. 

In a way, it is like a journalist who gets to be the one who breaks an era or culture defining story.  They become the esteem of their peers, this is of course on a much grander scale.  Still, with all the insight given to John regarding the identity of the Messiah, some of the details regarding the mission of Jesus were still a bit hidden from him.

John Arrested and in Prison

Let’s look now at Luke chapter 7.  Before we do, it is important to note that by this time, John has been arrested and thrown in prison for the so-called disturbance he has caused.

Here is what we read in Luke chapter 7:18-28

The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, “‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

A Contrast With Chapter 1

There is quite a contrast between what we see here, and what we saw in John chapter 1.  In the wilderness, we saw John as bold and emphatic, declaring with certainty that Jesus was indeed the Christ, the anointed of God who had come to deliver the Jews.  Now, we find John questioning whether Jesus is indeed the person he thought He was. 

What’s changed?  Well for starters, as mentioned, John is now in prison, and so I am sure he may be thinking “Wait a minute, I was His forerunner, His prophet, His cousin, why is He not saving me from this fate.”  At the same time, he could be seeing that on a larger scale, nothing has changed.  The Romans are still in power, the religious leaders have not been turned back to God, what is Jesus doing?

Trials Can Affect Faith

This is understandable doubt, and something that anyone can deal with, no matter how long they have trusted in God, or how spiritual they are.  Trials come, things don’t go the way we want them too, life is messy sometimes, and in that messiness, it can be easy to lose focus of who God is and what He has done and instead think about who He isn’t and what He’s not doing.

That is what is happening here with John the Baptist.  In his heart, he still knows who Jesus truly is, but his faith has become clouded by the current situation he finds himself in, and the fact that Jesus isn’t coming to rescue him.  It was also the attitude that prompted Christ’s very specific response;

“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind see the dead are raised up, the poor have the good news preached to them.” 

This is actually a quote from the Old Testament, from the book of Isaiah, where the prophet is speaking of all the things that the Saviour, the Messiah would do when He comes.  The message that Jesus is giving to John is to remember what the Scriptures say of the Christ, and see that He, Jesus, is doing all of it. 

God Doesn’t Work to Our Plans

As much as we sometimes would like Him to, God doesn’t work according to our plans.  And while I think we know this in our hearts, we can often allow the circumstances we find ourselves in to cloud our understanding of who God is, and how much He does love us and care for us.  We’re not alone in that either. 

We just read about John the Baptist, who even though he had been given divine confirmations about who Jesus was, still doubted when sent to prison.  The prophet Habakkuk would cry out to God over why He would allow evil practices to continue in Judah, and why God would use a wicked and idolatrous nation to defeat Judah and prosper over them.  Elijah miraculously sees God consume his water-drenched altar with fire in front of the 450 prophets of Baal, only to run, hide and pray God would take his life after being threatened by Jezebel, the queen.

Suffering is Confusing

Suffering is confusing.  It is something that happens to everyone, in one form or another, and oftentimes we can search and search for a reason, a cause for our suffering, and not find anything.  When that happens, our natural, human instinct, is to declare that whatever it is that is happening to us, simply isn’t fair.  Combine that with an idea that God is supposed to be loving, and wanting what is best for us, and it can cause us to become discouraged, because we think what is best for us, is what we want. 

When that happens, we can lose hope, because the God who loves us beyond all measure, in our eyes, becomes the God who is not helping us now, when we need it most.  John the Baptist had done nothing wrong; he was serving the Lord.  As a result, he had been thrown in prison by Herod, and whether he knew at this time where the path led, he would eventually be executed because Herod’s wife didn’t like the things that he said.  This hardly seems fair for such a servant of God.

John Struggles to Believe

That appears to be John’s thoughts as well.  As he sits in prison, he sends two of his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the One, or should we still be looking for another?”  John struggled to believe Christ’s agenda would differ from what he thought it would be.  Perhaps he joined the masses in believing that the Messiah would free the Jews from the Romans.  But Jesus’s mission was bigger, He came to free mankind from sin. 

Jesus’ Gracious Response

We see also in Jesus’s response, an incredible amount of grace.  Even though John was in error, Jesus didn’t rebuke him, or publicly chastise him, he simply gave him a gentle reminder of exactly who He is and what He came do.  The last part of His response to John, “blessed is the one who is not offended by Me”, is meant to be an encouragement to John and to us. 

God will never do anything to drive a wedge between Himself and us.  But we will sometimes do that.  What Jesus is saying is that yes, there will be times when we don’t understand how God is working in our life, we may even feel like He isn’t there.  I think of the old footsteps poem, where the man is walking on a beach with God, and he looks back and sees two sets of footprints, His and the Lord’s, except in the times hen he went through struggles, then he saw just one set.  He said to God, “where were you in those difficult times,” to which God responds, “Those were the moments that I carried you.”

Trials Designed For Good

The Bible has so many places where it reminds us that our trials are designed for our good.  To help us grow and mature spiritually. 

Romans 5:3-5 says,

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.”  

It is also possible that our trials come to present us an opportunity to be a witness and a testimony to the grace of God that we have received through Jesus Christ. 

Our Options When Suffering

What Jesus is saying to John here is that when we suffer, we are faced with two options. The first option is to remember God’s goodness to us, how He has provided everything we need, and how He has promised to bring us safely to our home in heaven, and even the promise in James 1 that if we ask for wisdom in our trials, he will give us wisdom. 

This is the option that leads to blessing.  The pain, the suffering is real, we still have to endure it, but we endure it with Him, in His strength, and we come out on the other side with the blessing of wisdom and growth and a strengthened relationship with our God.

When Faith and Expectations Don’t Match

The other option is to complain, to bemoan our situation before God and accuse Him of not helping us in our time of need.  When we do this, it’s like we put up a wall between us and God, we still go through the trial, we still suffer and experience pain, but we do so without the blessing of knowing the nearness of our Lord, we strain our relationship with him, and we risk losing out on the blessing that God intended us to have through the trial we are experiencing. 

That is why Jesus said to John,

“Blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.” 

It is as if he is saying to John, “I know that what you are going through is hard, but don’t lose hope, don’t lose faith, know that I am the Saviour of the World, and that what you are suffering, while difficult, will bring both honor and glory to God, and blessing to your soul.”  Jesus had said in Matthew 5:10

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Don’t Lose Heart

Jesus was doing the work of His Father, the work only He, as the Messiah, could do, a work which included giving Himself up to die on a cross for the sin of mankind, and rise again, so that the Kingdom of Heaven could be opened, and made accessible to man through faith in Jesus Christ. 

Don’t lose heart.  Tough times will come, they can beat us down and make us weary if we let them.  But God always loves us, and is always with us, and has given us a way through the trials. 

Hebrews 12:3 reminds us to consider [Jesus] who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself. So that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.  It is in Christ, and Christ alone, that we can find strength to endure all of life’s challenges, because He is the Son of God, the Saviour of the world.

Is it possible to have faith and expectations that don’t match up? What’s preventing you continung to have faith when you facing trials? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.