to ask Him, “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?”and said to him, “Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?”And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?and said unto him, Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another?
6 sermons cite this verse
… He's the one. We see a great illustration of this in Matthew 11, verses 2 to 4. Remember John the Baptist? He was Jesus' cousin. He was the one who was the forerunner. The Old Testament said he would proclaim that the Son of God had come. there was nobody greater in the kingdom of God than John the Baptist. And yet, did you know what? John the Baptist had moments that he doubted the Messiah. If you ever have moments of doubt as a Christian, don't condemn yourself. Don't think it means necessarily that you're not a believer. Even John the Baptist had doubts. And that's why in Matthew 11, 2 to 4, it says, when John, John, while imprisoned, heard of the work of Christ. He sent word by his disciples and said to him, are you the expected one or should we look for someone else? John's disciples were being polite to Jesus, but they said, Jesus, you know, you claim to be the Messiah and yet your own cousin, the person who believed in you most is in prison. …
Herod is still on the throne, flooding the zone. Are you the one that should come or do I keep on looking? I like that. That's a question that has faith, but it's disoriented faith. And, oh, it's a question. It's a question. Uh-oh. It is a question. Because a lot of us, including me, have been brought up to believe you don't question God. Uh-huh. I was told that after my dad died. I'm 14 years old. His death made no sense to me. How could he die at 46 with kids to raise and a wife to love, a church to lead? It made no sense. And I questioned God and well-intended saints there at my home church, Third Baptist in San Francisco said, you don't question God. Never question God. God never makes a mistake. I couldn't clap back, but I did in my mind. Well, he made one here and he needs to explain it to me. And y'all can judge me all you want to, but if life hurts you enough and you prayed and God is deafening in his silent response, there are moments when you will find yourself having some questions for God. …
… verse 2. When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, He sent his disciples to ask him, Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else? Luke tells you what he asked. Are you the one? Matthew tells where he asked it from. Prison. Now I understand something. You can't understand my doubt if you don't understand my dungeon. This prison was built by Herod, and it was built on a mountain cliff. On one side of the property, you had the palace where all the parties would happen, and then beneath the palace carved into the cliff, you had a prison. John was a desert preacher. He wasn't used to dungeons. He was used to open air. Before you judge him for being in prison, he was there for preaching. sometimes you're wrong because you've sinned sometimes you end up in a tight space because you did something wrong and hey there's grace for you there when you get it wrong and god shows you that you're wrong by the way learn to look for god's warnings in your life as blessings, not curses. When I drive my car and I'm backing it up, sometimes it starts to beep at me, and it kind of annoys me that it beeps, but I'm glad that it beeps because the beep means that I'm about to back up into something. Even if it's annoying, I don't want it to go away because it is telling me, hey, you might want to slow down. The faster it beeps, …
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ. May you have a seat. so if there's anything that we've noticed i don't know if you noticed this about this season right now the season of advent the season leading up to christmas um it seems like the season this season what we're doing right now what we're in the midst of is marked by so well so much is marked by so many things but it is marked by being in a hurry right it's being rushed being frenzied that we talk about them frenzy shopping or or being harried in fact the the term hustle and bustle. We've heard the term hustle and bustle. I think the only time I've ever heard the phrase or the term hustle and bustle is in relation to this season we're in right now. It's so unique. It's such a busy time. In fact, I looked, I asked a little internet, like, what's the busiest time of the year? And they're like, now, basically, now is the busiest time of the year. And there's so many people who are in a hurry. Like last week, we talked about this. Last week, Advent, this time of waiting or life of waiting is marked by worry. This week we recognize that waiting, for so many of us, is marked by hurry. And yet we ask the question, like right now you might be, again, frenzy, tussle and bustle, in a hurry. But how strange it is to be in a hurry and how …
… as John the Baptist is asked from his disciples, are you the one who was to come or should we look for another? And so in the background of the Old Testament is this question, this waiting because a promise is made right there after the fall into sin. Genesis chapter three, we hear of a forthcoming descendant from Eve. One of her seed is going to be able to crush the serpent's head. And this promised one who is to come, we're looking to him, looking for him. I think of a children's story that I would read to my kids, and perhaps some of our listeners are familiar with this, called Are You My Mother? And in the story, there's a little bird, a little fledgling that gets knocked out of its nest, and it's lost sight of its mom. And it's looking everywhere, and it's going to all these different creatures. And what's fun about the story is it's going and it's asking a cow, are you my mother? …
… and he sends a messenger to Jesus saying what? are you the one who was to come? Or should we look for somebody else? Which indicates that John did not fully understand, even at the baptism, the identity of Jesus, because he had his own expectations. He figured the Lamb of God would come and drive the Romans out just like everybody else. And when Jesus is just going around preaching, John's confused, and John's languishing in prison, and Jesus says, what? Go and tell John. that the blind are seeing, the deaf are hearing, and the poor are having the gospel preached to them. What did Jesus mean by that? What was Jesus really saying to John? What he was saying was simple. He said, John, do you remember Isaiah 61? The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to proclaim freedom to the captives, to give healing to the sick and so on. He said, John, if you really study your Bible, you shouldn't be having to ask, are you the one who is to come. You don't have to look for another one. You had it right the first time. I am the Lamb of God. But this is true of the disciples in Tessariah Philippi, the great confession when Peter says, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. What a wonderful confession of faith five minutes later when Jesus said, okay, that's wonderful. …