2 Now when John in prison heard about the activities of Christ, he sent a message by his disciples 3 And asked Him, Are You the One Who was to come, or should we keep on expecting a different one? [Gen. 49:10; Num. 24:17.] 4 And Jesus replied to them, Go and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed (by healing) and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have good news (the Gospel) preached to them. [Isa. 35:5, 6; 61:1.] 6 And blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is he who takes no offense at Me and finds no cause for stumbling in or through Me and is not hindered from seeing the Truth. Matthew 11:2-6 AMPC
I’ve read this passage numerous times, but never before did I receive a revelation concerning this passage as I did on this occasion. To understand the brevity of this passage relating to John the Baptist’s question, and Jesus’ response, we must 1st understand the role of John the Baptist and Jesus.
John the Baptist and Jesus were cousins, and John the Baptist was only 6 months older than Jesus (Luke 1), yet he had been ministering to the “lost sheep” of Israel for years prior to Jesus beginning his earthly ministry. John had lived for years in the wilderness, and preached that the kingdom of Heaven was near, and that everyone (Jews and Gentiles alike) needed to repent from their sins before they could enter the kingdom of heaven. John spoke of the Messiah who was coming after him who would baptize believers in the Spirit unlike the symbolic water baptism he was giving people in the Jordan river (Matthew 3). John had been criticized as being a wild man, fanatic, crazy, and disregarded by those who sought a more “acceptable” leader to save them from Roman oppression.
Jesus began his ministry at the age of 30 after being baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan river (Matthew 3). From this point forward Jesus began to teach throughout Israel that God was fulfilling his old covenant with Israel and beginning a new one that would be available to anyone who simply had faith. Those who believed in his teachings experience healing, observed miracles, and walked in a power that had never before been seen on Earth. Many people, mainly the elect Jews (Pharisees and Sadducees) rejected Jesus because he was “uneducated,” fellowshipped with “sinners,” and was from a less popular area of Israel (Nazareth, Galilee). He preached that Heaven had come to Earth, yet he wasn’t leading an army or asking Jews to pick up weapons, he was preaching faith and peace. Jesus was very unconventional which caused people to doubt who he was and not recognize his divinity.
Now that we have that quick backstory out of the way, lets address the passage above. John the Baptist was arrested and imprisoned by Herod because he openly preached against his marriage to his brother’s wife, Herodias, and even criticized Herod’s claim to being king of Israel. In Matthew chap 11, Jesus sent out his 12 apostles to preach the gospel, heal the sick, and gave them power over unclean spirits. John the Baptist hears of this activity, and quite possibly thought that this could be a sign of Jesus rounding up the troops to begin his fight against Rome for the deliverance of Jews from oppression. John quite possibly thought he must be getting ready to free me if he is going to save Israel considering the fact that John the Baptist had faithfully served God throughout his lifetime, had baptized Jesus which began his ministry on Earth, and was now in prison for speaking God’s truth to an unholy man and woman in Herod and Herodias. John possibly considering these thoughts sent a coded, but clear message to Jesus, “are you the one who was to come, or should we be expecting another one?” This message simply means are you the Messiah, savior of Israel, or is that another man who’ll come in the future? This is a very interesting situation because you have to understand that John the Baptist had been a miracle baby, similarly to Jesus (John the Baptist was born to Zechariah and Elizabeth in their old age), he had also been consistently and faithfully ministering before God his entire life, he witnessed the sign of Holy Spirit descending on Jesus like a dove following his baptism, and hearing God’s voice as he performed Jesus’ physical baptism (Mark 1). To have experienced all of this and now find oneself sitting alone in prison as the one who you believed would save you and your people is walking amongst the people freely, and saving everyone……BUT you!
Jesus handles John’s question well, in that instead of rebuking John, he tells John’s disciples to report back the evidence of his works which for a spiritual man such as John, it should provide all the answers and justification he needs. In Jesus’ answer is the evidence and fulfillment of everything that John the Baptist believed would happen when the Messiah came, and also fulfillment of old testament prophecy, that nobody previously had done before. Jesus even closes his statement to John’s disciples with a righteous clap-back
And blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is he who takes no offense at Me and finds no cause for stumbling in or through Me and is not hindered from seeing the Truth.
Matthew 11:6 AMPC
Reflection Time
I ask you to ponder on Matthew 11:6, and ask yourself has/is anything hindering you from seeing the truth? Has anything in your journey with Christ caused you to stumble and lose faith, caused you to take offense with Jesus because he didn’t move or perform a task as you desired him to. Be honest with God, and trust that he understands your situation, and concerns. Like John, our moments of weakness aren’t disqualifying unless we lose the faith and turn our back on Jesus. As a matter of fact Jesus enjoys our questions because they give him an opportunity to allow his fruit/works to testify on his behalf, and oftentimes if we would take the moment to pause and reflect on his word and acts, we’d see very clearly that he is who he says he is, and has fulfilled his word to each of us.
