When John the Baptist Doubted: A Question Rooted in Faith

Introduction: when certainty wavers

Maybe this has happened to you before: you were sure of something, and then you started to doubt it. A friend promised to come see you tonight, you were certain of it, and then a storm breaks out. You wonder if he'll really come. Or he told you he works in IT, yet every time you see him, all he talks about is his fish. And a small voice whispers: is he really who he says he is?

We all know this kind of questioning. And it's not only the circumstances of ordinary life that trigger it. Our doubts sometimes creep into our faith too. That's exactly what John the Baptist experiences in Matthew 11:2-10, from the depths of his prison cell. And the way he walks through this moment is a wonderful model for us.

Sermon outline

1. A troubling question from a man in prison

Rémi LUBIN brings us straight into the text: "Now when John heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to him, 'Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?'" (Matthew 11:2-3).

The question is surprising. John the Baptist is no beginner in the faith. Remember what he had already declared about Jesus in John 1:29-34: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ... I have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God." Hard to be clearer than that. How can the one who proclaimed those words now ask, "Are you really the one?"

2. What John the Baptist expected from the Messiah

To understand his question, we need to go back to what he proclaimed on the banks of the Jordan. In Matthew 3:7-12, he announces a Messiah who judges, and who judges without delay: "Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that doesn't produce good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire." He speaks of a winnowing fan, of a fire that is not quenched. An imminent judgment.

But when John looks at what Jesus is doing from his cell, he sees something completely different. Jesus doesn't overthrow Rome. He doesn't judge the wicked. He heals, he blesses, he teaches. The contrast is striking between what John had announced and what Jesus is doing right in front of him.

3. A doubt, or rather an act of faith?

You might quickly conclude: "John the Baptist is doubting, his faith is wavering." But Rémi LUBIN invites us to see the scene differently. If John no longer had faith in Jesus, he would simply have kept his questions to himself, alone in his prison. Instead, he sends two of his disciples to go and question Jesus himself.

That's the exact opposite of giving up. This is a man who, in suffering and in the darkness of prison, decides to go get his answers straight from the source. His faith is still alive enough to bring the question to the right place. "Here's a beautiful example for us," Rémi LUBIN points out, "for when we sometimes have questions about the person of Jesus."

4. Jesus's answer: prophecies being fulfilled

Jesus doesn't simply say "yes, it's me." He answers through the Scriptures: "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them." (Matthew 11:4-5).

This answer weaves together two prophecies: Isaiah 35:5-6 ("Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped") and Isaiah 61:1-2 ("The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me, because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble").

5. The detail that changes everything: what Jesus doesn't read

Here's the point Rémi LUBIN highlights as central. When Jesus quotes Isaiah 61, he stops just before the end of verse 2. He doesn't say "the day of vengeance of our God." We find the exact same choice in Luke 4:16-21, in the synagogue at Nazareth: Jesus reads Isaiah 61, stops at the same spot, closes the book, and sits down.

This is not an oversight. It's a message. Jesus is telling John, and through him the whole crowd: "For now, I have come to fulfill the first part. Not to judge, but to save." As John 3:17 reminds us: "For God didn't send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him."

Does this mean Jesus will never judge? No. Acts 17:31 says it clearly: "because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained." And 2 Timothy 4:1 speaks of "the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom." Judgment will come. But at his first coming, it wasn't yet time.

6. "Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me"

Jesus ends his answer with a striking statement: "Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me" (Matthew 11:6). To understand it well, Rémi LUBIN points us to John 7:40-44: the crowd rejects Jesus because he "comes out of Galilee" and not from Bethlehem, as the Scriptures foretold. Yet Jesus was indeed born in Bethlehem. It's their preconceived ideas that keep them from recognizing the Messiah.

The risk is there for all of us: that our own expectations hide the real person of Jesus from us. Unlike the crowd, John the Baptist takes the time to check with the source. He refuses to be scandalized simply because things don't first line up with what he had announced.

7. Jesus defends John before the crowd

In verses 7 to 10, Jesus turns to the crowd to speak about John. "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man in soft clothing? ... A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet."

Jesus then quotes Malachi 3:1: "Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you." Despite his questions, John was indeed the messenger sent to prepare the way for the Messiah's coming. His doubts didn't disqualify him. His faith, which sent him seeking the answer from Jesus, confirms him instead.

Key takeaways

• The Messiah has indeed come. His miracles, his death, and his resurrection show that he fulfilled the prophecies concerning him. Like John, you can be fully reassured of this.
• Doubt is not the enemy of faith, if it leads you to Christ. John the Baptist, alone in prison, did not let himself be trapped by his questions. He brought them to Jesus. His question was an act of faith.
• The answer comes through the Word. Jesus didn't answer John with a spectacular display, but by quoting Scripture. Even today, that's where Christ answers us.
• Today is not yet the day of judgment, but it will come. Jesus came the first time to save. He will return to fulfill everything that remains of the prophecies.
• Watch out for preconceived ideas. The crowd went wrong by looking for a Messiah who matched their own expectations. Don't let your own expectations keep you from receiving the Jesus of Scripture.

Personal application

• What question or doubt are you carrying today about Jesus, one you've never dared to bring directly to him?
• When a difficult circumstance shakes your certainty, what's your first reaction: to stay silent, to talk to others about it, or to go to Christ in prayer and in his Word?
• Do you have, maybe without always realizing it, expectations of Jesus that could become an obstacle to receiving him as he truly is?
• How does your regular Bible reading help you check, like John the Baptist, that your faith rests on what Christ has said and done?
• What prophecy or promise of God are you waiting to see fulfilled in your life, and how does that waiting feed your perseverance?

Verses cited

• Matthew 11:2-10 · the sermon text
• John 1:29-34 · John the Baptist's earlier testimony
• Matthew 3:7-12 · the judging Messiah John announced
• Isaiah 35:5-6 · the eyes of the blind opened
• Isaiah 61:1-2 · good news to the poor
• Luke 4:16-21 · Jesus reads Isaiah 61 in the synagogue at Nazareth
• John 3:17 · come not to judge but to save
• Acts 17:31 · the day when God will judge
• 2 Timothy 4:1 · Jesus judges the living and the dead
• John 7:40-44 · the scandalized crowd
• Malachi 3:1 · the messenger who prepares the way

FAQ

Did John the Baptist really doubt Jesus?

His question in Matthew 11:3 is troubling, but Rémi LUBIN suggests we should see it more as a question born out of suffering than an abandonment of faith. If John had stopped believing in Jesus, he wouldn't have sent his disciples to get the answer straight from the source. His very approach is an act of faith.

Why doesn't Jesus read the whole prophecy of Isaiah 61?

Isaiah 61:2 speaks both of a "year of favor" and of "the day of vengeance of our God." Jesus deliberately stops before the second part, both when answering John and at Nazareth (Luke 4). At his first coming, he fulfills the year of favor, not the day of judgment. That will come at his return.

What should I do when I have doubts about Jesus myself?

The sermon offers two possible responses: staying stuck in doubt and doing nothing, or doing what John the Baptist did and bringing your questions to Christ, through prayer and through reading his Word. That's where Jesus answers, just as he did for John by pointing to the prophecies being fulfilled right before his eyes.