John the Baptist – Part 10

Two primary encounters in this portion of Scripture

Luke 7:18 Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things. 19 And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”

20 When the men had come to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’” 21 And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.

22 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. 23 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

First between Jesus and John the Baptist’s disciples

Regardless of how long or how strong your walk with the Lord is, there are still times when you need to ask for confirmation, “Is this You, Lord?”

        -seeking confirmation from God is not a sign of weakness

        -we are told in Scripture to “test the Spirits”

        -have heard interpretation of this passage as evidence of John’s

 faith waning as he is in prison

        -instead, John is seeking to confirm what he knows

        -John knows what God has told him

        -He knows what he has seen

-At this point, Jesus has not publicly revealed His identity as the Messiah – although His disciples knew that because of Peter’s revelation

Desire to let others experience firsthand what Jesus can do in a life

Regardless of how strong my testimony might be, I must also be concerned with helping others see and share their own testimony.

        - John the Baptist pointed them to who they needed to know

-way too many people keep their disciples dependent on them

-while we are called to make disciples, they are to be disciples of Jesus Christ and not disciples of us

-Last week we looked at John the Baptist’s words

“He must increase and I must decrease”

John the Baptist was in prison, so by sending his followers to Jesus, John directed them to Jesus but also testified to the crowd observing that he was pointing people to Him.

        At the end of the day – at the end of our lives, isn’t that what matters most – that we’ve not only followed Jesus, but that we’ve pointed other people to Him?

But there is more to this passage of Scripture, too. Jesus also talks to the crowd around Him about John the Baptist.

Luke 7:24 When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. 26 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is he of whom it is written:

      ‘ Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,

He first confronts them with their own curiosity –what were they looking for?

Instead, what drew them to John the Baptist was the realization that he was not a “reed shaken by the wind” but rather was someone sent of God.

And their response to John the Baptist’s truthful words and their desire to be right with God led to their repentant hearts.

Except for those who rejected the will of God. 

Then Jesus goes on to make an interesting comment. 

 33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 But wisdom is justified by all her children.”

He compares the men of that generation – the men and women who heard the testimony of John the Baptist and who needed to repent and have their hearts purified – to children.  Not just any children, but petulant, pouty, whiny children.

“We played the flute for you, And you did not dance;  We mourned to you, And you did not weep.’

What is the problem?  The problem is that Jesus is not willing to play the game that the Pharisees want Him to play.

They are offering their version of righteousness to God and God is not interested.

They are telling God what all they’ve done for Him and God is not interested.

Instead of sincerely seeking God’s reasons for His lack of interest, they remain steadfast in their childish behavior.

Jesus goes on to point out that the Pharisees criticized John the Baptist because of his austere lifestyle, his lack of human comfort and his lack of drinking.  But then they also criticize Jesus for not having the same austere lifestyle – for drinking and enjoying life.

Their hypocrisy is incredible, isn’t it?

But there are times when it is tempting to do the same thing, aren’t there?

Think about it – has there ever been a time when you’ve whined to God about how much you’ve done for Him, how you’ve sacrificed this and you’ve offered that  - and then your repayment for all of it is the end result you have?

If our desire is to be a witness for Jesus Christ in this world, then when the things of this world invade our witness, we must yield them to Jesus Christ instead of whining to Him about them.

Let me repeat that.

If we truly desire to witness to the world about the love and grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, then when the problems of this world invade our lives, our witness must be to respond in love and grace and mercy. 

We go to Jesus – but we go asking for His help, not whining that these things are happening to us.

There is nothing in Scripture that says if you become a follower of Jesus Christ, you are exempt from the horrible and terrible things this life can offer.  In fact, if you look closely at Scripture, you will see that those who follow Him can expect trials and temptations and persecution. 

Like whining, petulant children, they totally missed the point.

Now, I know there are times when our humanity cries out and asks God what in the world is going on.  That happened to Jesus, too, in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

But that’s not what I’m talking about here – I’m not talking about those gut-wrenching moments.

I’m talking about acting like pouty little kids and telling God just how He ought to be doing things.

If your desire is to point others to Jesus Christ, to be the voice crying into their wilderness, telling them of their need for Him, then you must be prepared to have a strong witness, one which holds up during times of trials.

I’ll confess that preaching this type of message is intimidating, because the enemy wants me to be afraid that by doing so, I’m setting myself up for him bringing these things my way. 

But I want you to know that I reject anything and everything the enemy has established for my life, for my family, for this church and for this community.  I want and I seek what the Lord Jesus Christ wants for my life, for my family, for this church and for this community.  I want to glorify God in all aspects of my life, my family, this church and this community.  I yield it all to God right now.

Next week we move on.  We move into the study preparing us for the harvest of souls we have been and will continue to pray for.

John the Baptist was specifically prepared by God to do a specific work of God.  And yet, so much of what he did impacts us as a congregation if we want to move ahead as God wants us to.

So there are questions this morning:

When you are uncertain that something is of God, do you ask Him to confirm it to you? 

Do you let your uncertainty draw you nearer to God, increase your witness to those around you or does it pull you away? 

Do you want to make disciples of Jesus or groupies for you? 

Do you respond when you hear the message to repent and draw closer to God?