We are looking at having hope and examining Jesus response to Johns disciples.
It seems from scripture that, initially, Jesus ignored Johns disciples and made them wait while He healed many. He then turns around to them and says: Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard: how the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the Gospel is preached.
This statement made by Jesus was extraordinary. When the disciples left, Jesus then turned around to the crowd and said, But what went ye out to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. This is he, of whom it is written: `Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee.’ For I say unto you, among those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he that is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he.
Jesus is telling the crowd that of everyone, no one is greater than John the Baptist. Why did Jesus not say to Johns disciples, Go and tell John that no one born of a woman is greater than him? Surely those words would have encouraged John, he would have felt comforted. Instead, Jesus tells the disciples to tell John how the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the Gospel is preached.
Have you ever given this idea some thought: John must have known Jesus was performing these miracles? How could this knowledge encourage John? Here is what I believe. Turn to Isaiah 35:5-6: Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
You see, what Jesus said to Johns disciples was a direct quote from Isaiah, except Jesus added that the dead are raised. You see, John knew the Scriptures; he grew up with the Essenes, who spent their lives in the Scriptures. So John must have known what Jesus was talking about. But why quote a Scripture to John and not tell him how great he was?
Post published in: Opinions