Ever feel down and discouraged? Do you fnd yourself wondering if the good fight is really worth it? We’ve probably all felt that way at some point in our life. In my small group Bible study we read a passage this week from Luke seven that shows our discouragement isn’t all that different from people in the Bible.
Herod arrested John the Baptist and had thrown him into prison. In Luke he sends two of his disiples to Jesus to ask him a question. Like us, he wanted to know if Jesus was for real. “Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?” John had peached to large crowds in the wilderness and baptised many preparing the way for the Messiah. His question indicates a man wondering if his life work was worth the current suffering he was in.
It is interesting to watch how Jesus responds to John’s question; his doubt even. Immediately (The New King James version says, “that very hour”.) Jesus cured many sick, cast out demons, and restored sight to blind people. Then, Jesus told John’s people to return John with a message.
I find it interesting that Jesus tells them to do three things. First, He said to tell John what they have seen. It would have been incredible to watch Jesus in action, to see the joy on people’s faces as their lives were made whole again. Then, He said to tell what they had heard. Can you imagine the sounds that would have accompanied that healing session? I’m sure it was something you wouldn’t easily forget. Finally, Jesus said to tell John that, “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
Jesus message to John is a message of courage. By his actions he signaled that he was the Messiah. He quoted the words of Isaiah in his message to reafirm John’s life work; what he had been preaching about was true.
Luke’s account of John’s discouragement reminds me to remember what God has done for me in the past. When I’m feeling down I can remember what I have seen Him do and what I have heard Him say to me. It’s a reminder to look at the ways God has led me in the past and to remember that I am blessed if I don’t allow my doubt to cause me to fall away from Christ.