It’s always comforting to me when I see the great saints of the Bible struggling with the same kind of sins, doubt, and disbelief that I myself often struggle with. It comforts me, because it shows me that Jesus didn’t come for perfect people. He didn’t give His life for the righteous but for sinners, and I am in good company. Thus Abraham was forgiven his idolatry. David was forgiven his murder. Peter was forgiven his denial of Jesus. Paul was forgiven his Phariseeism. Even the virgin Mary herself was a sinner and confessed her own need for the Savior she carried. And in today’s Gospel text we see sin manifesting itself even in John the Baptist, as he struggled with doubt about Jesus.
If anyone knew who Jesus was, it was John the Baptist. He proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. John’s message was, “Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight” and “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He announced that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire, and that He would gather His wheat into His barn but burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. And John was not wrong in this proclamation. Jesus never corrected John’s preaching, but instead confirmed that John was indeed the messenger whom His Father had sent before Him to prepare His way. John knew who Jesus was, just like you and I do. And yet, just like you and I, who are often plagued with doubt ourselves even though we know who Jesus is, John, too, having been locked up in prison by King Herod, was led into doubt as to whether Jesus was indeed the coming One, the promised Messiah that he proclaimed Him to be, and he sent his disciples to question Jesus about this and ask Him whether they should look for another.
You see, even though John’s proclamation regarding Jesus was correct, John did not yet have all the information. He did not know how or when all these things about Jesus would be fulfilled. For example, in teaching that Jesus would gather up His wheat into His barn and burn up the chaff, John expected that this would happen right away. John was expecting Jesus to do His Last Day, final judgment things right now. He preached as if Jesus were immediately going to pour out His vengeance and wrath upon all unbelievers and take all believers to be with Him in paradise. And having heard that Jesus Himself had preached that He had come to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, while freeing those who were oppressed and proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor, John was certainly under the strong impression that the Last Day had now come.
But then as time went by, John remained locked up in prison. If Jesus had come to free the captives and the oppressed, why wasn’t he free? Was he mistaken about this Jesus? Maybe Jesus Himself was just a forerunner of a Messiah yet to come. Because Jesus had not fulfilled John’s expectations, it made John doubt whether He really was the Coming One that John had proclaimed Him to be, and John began to wonder whether he should be looking for someone else.
The problem was that John had not yet realized that before Jesus would come to pour out God’s wrath on the earth, He first had to experience that wrath Himself on the cross, so that all who believe in Him might be set free from a captivity much greater than any earthly captivity - the captivity to sin, death, and the power of the devil. Before the day of God’s vengeance came, the day of God’s mercy had to come. But God’s mercy came at the expense of His Son, who in John’s day had not come to make all things new and usher in the new heaven and the new earth, but to take away the sin of the world. The age is coming, when there will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain, when all the effects of sin will have come to an end. And during His earthly ministry Jesus previewed this with His miracles, showing that He is the One who has the power and authority to usher in this new age. Jesus assured John and his disciples that, yes, He was the Messiah, who was foretold by the prophets and whose words He fulfilled. When John’s disciples asked Jesus if He were the Coming One or whether they should look for another, Jesus pointed to the things He was doing, the things that the prophets, speaking by the Holy Spirit, said that the Messiah would do. Those things included healing the sick, casting out demons, giving sight to the blind, curing the lame, cleansing the lepers, opening the ears of the deaf, raising the dead, and proclaiming the Gospel to the poor. All these proved that Jesus was the promised One and that John and his disciples should not look for another. John would be released from his captivity under sin now, and in the age to come he would be freed also from his earthly bondage. But for the time being, he must remain in prison and learn not to take offense at Jesus, because He wasn’t doing what John expected Him to do right away. John had to learn to cling to God’s promises even in the midst of his suffering, while Jesus Himself would head for Calvary to suffer the vengeance of God, which both John and we deserved, in order to set us free.
Now apply this to your own life today. Put yourself in John’s position. From the Word of God you have heard of all the miraculous things that Jesus did. With the eyes of faith you have seen Him cast out demons, heal the sick, and raise the dead. You believe John’s message that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, who takes away your sin. You believe the testimony of the eye-witness accounts that Jesus was crucified for you and raised from the dead on the third day. Everything that you confess in the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds you believe. You know who Jesus is and what He came to do, and you could give an answer to anyone who asks you about Him. And yet, in spite of all the promises, in spite of all the evidence, in spite of all the eye-witness testimony of those who heard, saw, and touched Jesus, it often feels like you’re still imprisoned - imprisoned to sin, sickness, the devil, and death. You know that Jesus came to set the captives free, but like John, it seems like you’ve been left out. And so you begin to have doubts about Jesus, just like John did. Jesus may be setting others free, but not me. Maybe Jesus has failed to keep His Word in my case. Maybe He has forgotten me. Maybe He has turned His back on me. I feel like I’m going through life bound by these chains that Jesus refuses (or maybe can’t) loose. Do I have the right Jesus? Maybe I should be looking for another, one who will do what I expect a Messiah to do.
But just as Jesus did for John, so He also does for you. He may not free you from the effects of sin now. In the case of the thief on the cross who was crucified with Him, Jesus didn’t miraculously set him free from that excruciating suffering and death. The thief died with Jesus, but he died with the Lord’s promise that that very day he would be with Him in paradise. Jesus didn’t free John from his imprisonment, but assured him that He was indeed the One who was to come, who through His suffering, death, and resurrection has set all believers free from their spiritual captivity under sin and the devil right now, and will on the Last Day, when He comes again, release us from all other forms of captivity once and for all when He raises us from the dead. John was eventually beheaded in prison, yet he held onto Jesus and His promises and did not go looking for another, but lived under the Lord’s words of blessing to all those who aren’t offended by Him.
And Jesus gives you those words of promise and blessing today, even in the midst of your suffering and immanent death. You may feel bound by some kind of physical ailment. You may feel bound by some sin. You may feel like you’re still a slave to the devil. You may feel like Jesus has abandoned you. But look to His Word, which tells you that even the demons, sickness, and death are all subject to Him and have been overcome by Him. It may not be today, but someday you will see these things with your own eyes. You will released from every form of physical ailment, when God raises you from the dead and gives you a new body fit for eternity with Him. You will released from all demon oppression, when the devil and his angels are thrown into the Lake of Fire. And you will experience the freedom of life without a sinful nature, life without temptation and the bondage of habitual sin, when the Lord takes away the leprosy of sin once and for all on the Last Day. In the meantime, He preaches the good news to you, freeing you from your sins with His words of forgiveness, as well as assuring you that you who eat His body and drink His blood have eternal life and that He will raise you from the dead on the Last Day.
Jesus and no other is the Coming One promised in the Scriptures. By way of His cross and His resurrection He gives you a sure sign that He alone can and has set you free from all things that have bound you. His Gospel is your emancipation proclamation. His Sacraments - Baptism and the Lord’s Supper - are the seals of this promise. And His Holy Spirit is the deposit whom He has given to you who believe in Him, guaranteeing your inheritance to come. So, bear your cross with His help. Don’t stumble over the fact that Jesus doesn’t take away all suffering now or that the Christian life is one of cross-bearing. The suffering and bondage you feel in this life can’t harm you any longer in Christ. You may even look at them as gifts, through which He is conforming you to His image, strengthening you in the faith, and causing you to run to Him and His Word for help. And when He who came in the flesh to give His life for you on the cross comes again, you too will enter into paradise to be with Him forever. Blessed are those who aren’t offended by Jesus. Amen.