1 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.
2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 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. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is he of whom it is written,
“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you.’
11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,
17 “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
It appears that John the Baptist is having doubts. He is in prison and things don’t seem to be turning out the way he expected. He had been the one to introduce Messiah but Jesus wasn’t doing what He expected. He, and many others, expected Jesus to be coming to bring peace by opposing the oppressive rule of the Romans. But Jesus had not done anything to speak against the Romans at all. John sends two of his disciples to ask if Jesus was, in fact, the Messiah they had been waiting for. Jesus responds by pointing to the work He had been doing, restoring sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and even raising the dead. These were the things that the Scriptures had prophesied that Messiah would do. At that time they didn’t understand that Messiah would come in two ministries, first as suffering servant, and second as conquering king.
Jesus turns to the crowd and gives them reasons why they should not think less of John. John was strong and courageous, he was not a reed shaken by the wind. He had boldly and consistently called for repentance of the nation in face of opposition. He was not self-indulgent. He had not dressed in the finest clothes or lived in luxury. He had dressed in a robe of camel’s hair, a leather belt and ate locusts and wild honey. He lived a life appropriate for a prophet with his mission. Finally, John was the greatest Old Testament prophet. He was the coming messenger of Malachi 3:1. He was the forerunner that would lay the groundwork for Messiah’s coming. He was the only prophet to have the privilege of introducing the Messiah. Had that generation accepted him as the prophet who came in the spirit of Elijah and repented as a nation (Mal 4:5-6) then things would have turned out quite differently, Jesus would still have had to die but the kingdom would have come. Instead, we see a generation who are like children who can’t make up their minds.
Jesus’ story is of two groups of children. The first say, “let’s play ‘wedding’, we’ll play the flute, and you dance”. But the second group won’t dance because the game is too happy. So the first group says, “okay, we’ll play ‘funeral’ and we’ll sing a dirge (a mourning song)”. But the second group doesn’t want to mourn because that game’s too sad. That generation of Jews behaved in the same way, not being satisfied with the ministries of either John or Jesus. They criticised John for fasting and Jesus for feasting. John was too simple and Jesus to social. They didn’t want to hear the warnings of John or the good news of the Son of Man. But both John and Jesus were purposeful in their ministries and the wisdom of God’s plan would be seen in how both fulfilled their missions.
Sometimes we may have doubts as we consider how God is working. Sometimes things just don’t make sense. But God doesn’t do things our way (Isa 55:8-9). When we doubt, we need to go back to the Bible. What does the Bible say about God’s character and how He can be trusted to be holy, righteous, good, and sovereign in all things, at all times?