How
do we deal with the doubts that come our way as pertains to our faith? We will continue on in Matthew 11:2-6 for the
answers.
Jesus’ Response
John
sent his own disciples to Jesus to ask if He was truly the Messiah. Jesus offers this answer: “Go and tell John
what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers
are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have
good news preached to them.” (Matthew 11:4-5) [1]
We
recall that the previous chapters of Matthew’s Gospel record the healing of the
blind, the lame and the leper and the raising of the dead. But Jesus is not simply saying, ‘Look at what
I’ve done’. Jesus wants John to consider
His work, certainly; but more important is that John recognizes Jesus’ work as the
fulfillment of the work of Messiah as predicted by the prophets.
The
blind see; the lame walk; the deaf hear: Isaiah 35:5-6 says, “Then the eyes of
the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the
lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.” A wider reading of the context reveals that
this is a text with connections to the end times![2] Isaiah 35 begins: “Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees. Say to
those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God. He will come and save you’” (35:3-4). In connection with this vengeance and divine
retribution comes healing and wholeness!
The
lepers are cleansed; the dead are raised: Isaiah 42:6-7 reads, “I am the Lord;
I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I
will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open
the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the
prison those who sit in darkness.” This
is a text which promises the coming of the Messiah. When He appears, Messiah will release those
who are bound by sin, disease and death.
He will set them free!
The
Good News is preached to the poor: Isaiah 61:1 tells, “The Spirit of the Lord
God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” Isaiah 61 is also a Messianic text[3]. Verses 2-3 go on to declare that the days of
preaching and healing would also bring the Day of God’s judgment.
By
making these connections, John would be able to see that Jesus was truly the long
awaited Messiah. There was no need to
look for any other. In Jesus, the One
and Only Savior had come. Once he
understood this, John would be able to see that not only did reality match his expectations
but reality was in fact much better than what He expected.
As
mentioned at the close of the last post, when we face doubts regarding our
faith, one of the first things we need to do is check our expectations. The next step is to dig into God’s Word to
correct our misconceptions; to see exactly what God has revealed about those
areas where we are struggling.
In
the concluding entry of this series I will offer some final thoughts on facing
up to and overcoming our doubts and walking away with a stronger more stable
faith.
[1] English Standard
Bible. Copyright © 2000, 2001 by
Crossway Bibles, A Division of Good News Publishers, 1300 Crescent Street,
Wheaton, Illinois 60187, USA.
[2] Isaiah
34:1-4 speaks of the Lord’s anger at the nations and His coming wrath. 4All
the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like
shriveled figs from the fig tree.
[3] This
text was also quoted by Jesus in His synagogue sermon in Luke 4
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