I wonder if any of the people in the Bible ever had doubts about their faith. We know Peter did before the crucifixion, but I
wonder if he ever did after the resurrection. We know Thomas got saddled with the nickname – by US – “Doubting
Thomas.” No one back then ever called him that. But that was before he saw the risen Jesus. We can see lots of OT
people who had doubts – Elijah, Jonah, Abraham. Some of these doubters really struggled with whether God was real and
whether God cared about them or the world. Even David, in a few of the psalms, expresses some doubt about whether
God even heard his prayers or cared about his life.
Today we’re in Luke 7, and we will be looking at a situation between Jesus and John the Baptist. John was a real human
being – just like you and me. And he came face to face with a reality that I don’t think he anticipated about Jesus – the HE
was a real human being. As we go on today in our series in the Gospel of Luke – A REAL Human Life – we get more
insight into what it means to be a follower of Jesus – a person who follows Him with his life. As we get ready to hear from
God, let’s ask for His help to understand. PRAY
Before we go to our passage today, I have to finish something up from last week – oops, I did it again – left off the end of
the story. Last Sunday we looked at Jesus and how He demonstrated His true humanity by doing what the Father told Him
to do and healing a centurion’s servant and then raising a widow’s son from the dead. Just a reminder, He is still God and
He was then, but He did not use His God powers to do anything He did while He was on earth. He only did what He saw
the Father do and He only said what He heard the Father say. And He only did those things by God working through Him
– the same way God wants us to live.
After Jesus raised the widow’s son from the dead, look at the response of the people who witnessed this amazing thing.
Luke 7:16,17. READ. Fear came upon the people who saw Jesus raise this young man from the dead. Came upon is
kind of a nice way to put it. Other versions say that fear “seized” all of the people. Grabbed a hold of them and carried
them away, kind of. I don’t know what my reaction would have been if I had been in that crowd. How about you?
“Whoa – that was kind of spooky…” No, I think it would be, “ - -!”
When God gets a hold of a human being and is able to do His God stuff in them and through them, that person and others
who see will be shocked and awed – amazed at God and His power and drawn to glorify Him. Look at your life for a
minute – in fact, for longer than a minute. Are people drawn to God? Are people glorifying God because of what they see
in you? What does that tell you? Our mission – the reason God has us here – is to proclaim Christ Jesus, presenting every
person complete or mature in Him as God works His power in us (Colossians 1:28,29). If we don’t see that, we need an
adjustment.
Like a chiropractor – if things aren’t in place, an adjustment is in order. Things need to be put in the right place for stuff to
be right. God is no chiropractor, but He is always seeking to help us adjust our lives to His ways – to trust Jesus and do
what He says. So if we rarely or never see the work of God in our lives, we know things are out of adjustment. God did
not call any of us to do nothing for His Kingdom. God did not call any of us to be ineffective for His Kingdom. He has
God-sized plans to accomplish and He desires to use us to accomplish them. God WANTS us to join Him in what He’s
doing.
The reaction of these people to Jesus raising this young man from the dead focused either on Him or on God – “a great
prophet” or “God has visited His people.” We can’t really help how people respond to what God does in us or through
us. We can make sure we tell them, “This is the work of God” so that they know where WE are coming from. I think it
would be great if, as people watched and saw God at work in you and me, they responded, “God has visited His people!”
May that be true!
So, let’s move on.
Apparently there in the city of Nain, there were some disciples of John the Baptist. We haven’t heard from John for a
while. Back in Luke 3:20, we see that John had been thrown into prison by Herod because John wouldn’t leave the issue
alone that Herod had stolen his brother’s wife. Both Matthew and Mark also mention this account in Matthew 11 and
Mark 6. In Luke 7, John is in prison, and some of his followers (of whom Andrew the Apostle had been one before he
followed Jesus), some of John’s followers had witnessed Jesus raising this young man from the dead, so they went to tell
John in prison.
Luke 7:18-21. READ. Of all the people I would think might have doubts about Jesus, John the Baptist would not be one
of them. John was the messenger sent to prepare the way of the Lord. John baptized Jesus, after protesting that it was he,
JOHN, who needed to be baptized by Jesus.
After baptizing Jesus, John heard the voice of God proclaiming that Jesus was His beloved Son in whom He was well-
pleased. John is the one who referred to Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John told
people that Jesus would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire. How could he doubt who Jesus was? What had
happened to him?
Do you ever have those thoughts of doubt and wondering? Is Jesus REALLY the only way? Is all this Jesus stuff really
true? Did He really pay for my sins? Does He really forgive me when I DO sin? What if this is all a fairy tale? Ever had
thoughts like that? Most of us have – some of us do a lot. John the Baptist had some of those same doubts and we’ll see
that Jesus addresses those doubts.
But how did John get to that point? There are a couple of possibilities. In Matthew 3, it is fairly certain that John
considered that Jesus was coming for judgment – “the ax is already at the root.” He may be wondering, as he sits in prison,
why judgment hasn’t happened. Things didn’t seem to be happening the way John thought they would. Another possibility
is that as John sits in prison for telling the truth of God about Herod – and he may wonder why Jesus hasn’t broken him out.
Even though John had said, “He must increase and I must decrease” it seems like he was discouraged that Jesus let him
remain in prison and didn’t at least talk to someone about his release. John was discouraged that he had to live in a
confined cell – this wild man who had lived out in the desert and wore weird clothes and ate strange food. John was
discouraged that he was not able to continue his calling of proclaiming repentance to the people of Israel. I think he was
also discouraged that he couldn’t kind of be Jesus’ right hand man out there.
Do the issues of life cause you to doubt? When things don’t go the way you expected them, is your trust in Jesus
diminished? Did you come into the life of faith under false pretenses that everything would be happy and comfortable if you
asked Jesus into your heart? You should come to the men’s Bible study – sorry, ladies – you’ll just have to keep struggling!
So John wondered if maybe he had missed something or ought to be looking for someone else. Jesus clearly responds to
him by doing all kinds of, what we call, miraculous stuff. Curing sickness and dealing with afflictions and driving out evil
spirits and restoring sight to the blind. I was talking to a brother this week about these kinds of “miraculous” things. We
are going to stop referring to them that way – they are just the things God does. Jesus was doing what God does.
Jesus tells the disciples of John, “Go and tell John everything you are seeing – God is restoring people, putting things right in
people. THIS is why I came. This is what I offer to those who believe in Me. John shouldn’t stumble or get tripped up
because I’m not out dispensing judgment – he should rejoice in the mercy that God is showing to people. He should
rejoice and celebrate the restoration God is making available. The proof of who I am is in the things I DO.”
Is the proof of who YOU are in the things you do? Actually, that’s kind of a dumb question – the answer is obviously
YES. The extent of your belief is shown by your actions. The extent of your belief is heard in the words that come out of
your mouth. Does that make you uncomfortable? If so, we need to go back to our loving, non-condemning God and get
an adjustment. We need to see things and do things as HE sees them and does them. Just like Jesus did. Jesus did
everything the Father called Him to do – study this in John 5, 7, 8 and 14). If we are not proving the truth of God with our
lives, it is obvious that God is not in control. Give up – surrender – yield – BELIEVE!
So the disciples of John took that message back to John. We don’t know how John responded. We DO know that on
the occasion of Herod’s birthday, Herod forced himself into a corner and had to chop John’s head off. But look at what
Jesus tells the crowd about John. Luke 7:24-28. READ.
Jesus asks the crowd – people from every walk of life, “When you went out to John to be baptized, were you going out to
see and hear a reed shaken by the wind? Did you go out expecting to hear and see a thing that was weak, brittle, empty
and whistling, but worthless. NO. Did you go out there to see a star – a famous person – a beautiful specimen of a human
being? NO – not in the world’s eyes. Who did you flock to? A prophet – one who speaks for God? YES – that’s
exactly who you went to see and hear. And he was MORE than a prophet. He was the messenger of the Messiah, he was
the one who prepared the way for the Messiah to come.
John’s followers came from John asking if Jesus WAS the Messiah. Jesus responded to them that His actions showed who
He was – and yes, He was the Messiah. They could confidently go back to John and tell him, “There is no doubt – Jesus is
the Messiah.”
In verse 28, Jesus continues on about John. Jesus says that John was the greatest of all the prophets. How can that be?
He didn’t write any books of the Bible. He didn’t give us any amazing accounts of end times events. He did not call fire
down from heaven and sweep away the false prophets of any other supposed gods. What made John the greatest of all the
prophets according to the Son of God?
His purpose for being sent was the greatest purpose – prepare the way of the Lord. John was the final messenger before
God put the New Covenant into motion. It was John who got people ready to hear the amazing things Jesus would say
and respond to the amazing things Jesus would do under the power of God. John had the greatest prophet job ever.
BUT, Jesus says, the person who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John. That’s a strange statement. Are
there degrees of acceptability or importance in God’s Kingdom? How do we reconcile that? Actually, it’s not a mystery.
Who IS the least in the Kingdom of God? I know. Who deserves it the LEAST? It’s me – and it’s you. We bring
nothing to God, nothing He needs, nothing that causes Him to worry any less about getting His work done.
How does that make us greater than John the Baptist? This is where we need to define the term “Kingdom of God.” Most
of us probably automatically define Kingdom of God as heaven – the place. The Kingdom of God, as Jesus talks about it,
is not only heaven. It is right now – where people trust God and do what He says. Jesus says in Luke 17:20,21 that the
Kingdom of God is within you. It is something that happens inside those who believe. Trusting Jesus and doing what He
says – that’s what it is. It’s not difficult to understand.
The response of the people listening came in two different ways. Luke 7:29,30. READ. To those who had responded to
John’s call to repentance, and had been baptized by him, it was a thrill. They declared that God was and is righteous. John
had come preaching a baptism or an identification of people with repentance because their sins could be forgiven. This is
the baptism the people in verse 29 experienced – we can be free from sin through God’s power. We don’t know how
many of these people actually lived out their belief, but Jesus tells us that they were in better shape than those who didn’t
respond to John (study Luke 5:31,32).
The other response, from the religious people, was that by rejecting John’s message, they had rejected the will of God for
themselves. John’s message was to repent, to turn away from sin and to follow God’s way, especially following the
Messiah who was coming. The religious leaders rejected this – and that was literally rejecting God’s will.
What is your response? Are you a sinner who sees the righteousness of God now cleansing and saving you OR are you a
person who sees yourself without need and already good with God? Answer that carefully.
Jesus addresses the religious people – those who don’t think they needed what John talked about. Luke 7:31-35.
READ. This assessment by Jesus is kind of like, “There’s no way to give you what you need, you religious people.” You
ask for this kind of person – someone completely held away from the cares of life, like John, but when God sends him, you
reject him and ask for someone who is more real and involved. When God sends that person – Me, Jesus – you reject
Him because you won’t deal with your real battles and issues of sin. To what shall I compare this generation? You won’t
dance when I send music and you won’t mourn when I play a dirge.
Are any of us in this group? Do we ask God for clear leading and guidance and direction, but reject what He sends us? In
areas like finances – God help me handle finances the way you want me to. But when we do Dave Ramsey Financial
Peace or we talk about interacting with God consistently about giving, that wasn’t what I meant. Or how about – God lead
me in my relationship with my wife/boyfriend/girlfriend – and we had the Truth about Sex study and we mention biblical
insight in church. Well, that’s too hard or that’s too restrictive.
Or we ask God to give us connections within the church family, but we don’t come to Circle of Friends or to small groups
or men’s breakfast or even to have snacks in the basement after church is over.
It’s like the old story – Man caught by a flood is stranded on his roof. He prays to God, “O Lord, please rescue me.” His
neighbor comes by in row boat and offers the man a lift. “No thanks, I’m waiting for God to rescue me.” so the neighbor
rows off. The water keeps getting higher all time, so the man prays to God, “O Lord, send an angel and please rescue me.”
Soon a teenager on a jet ski comes by, and offers to rescue him. “No thank you, I’m waiting for God to rescue me.” Now
the water is nearing the top of the roof, so he prays even more fervently to God, “O Lord, I need a miracle – please rescue
me.” A helicopter swoops in and hovers above roof, offering to pull him up, but he refuses, saying, “I’m waiting for God to
rescue me.” So the helicopter flies off to help others. Eventually the man drowns.
When the man wakes up with Jesus, he immediately gets mad – “Why didn’t You answer my prayers? I believed, but You
let me down?” Jesus lets him have his rant, and then answers with a question, “Didn’t you see the row boat and the jet ski
and the helicopter I sent to rescue you?
God is always seeking to draw us in and answer our prayers. We sometimes miss the answers because we put
expectations on how God ought to do His work. And sometimes, we may not have because we haven’t even asked. Or,
as it says in the book of James, we might ask amiss. God is not obligated to give us what He knows is not best for us and
best for His purposes. He’s too smart for that.
So, as we close today, we need to adjust ourselves to God. He loves us, He wants good for us, He desires to accomplish
His will in us. Sometimes we are inflicted with doubts. When those times arrive, we need to realize that it is not God’s fault
– He never changes and always does what is right. If we see things that cause us to doubt, we need to have our vision
corrected. We need an adjustment of our understanding. And He is able to do that in us – and He will do it in love and
with patience.
Trust God and do what He says. Jesus says that we show our love for Him by our obedience to Him. As we examine our
lives – if we see shortfalls – we can come directly to the throne of grace and find grace and mercy to help in our need
(Hebrews 4:12). If we keep ourselves away, Jesus says we are rejecting God’s will for us. That’s not God’s fault – and it
doesn’t have to be that way.
If you find it difficult to trust God this way, He has already put some things in place to help you. One is His Word, the
Bible. God’s Word is TRUTH. Toss out Dr. Phil and Oprah and Joel Osteen. Trust God in His Word. But I don’t get
anything out of the Bible. Then He has given us another help – the family of God – the church. Start asking people to
study with you and look for answers with you or come to the existing studies. You’re not going to get godly insight at the
bar or from TV or in self-help books. Use the tools God has put in place.
And the family of God can be used by Him in another way – people who trust Jesus have gone through experiences in life
that CAUSE them to trust Jesus the way they do. Talk to them, get their insights and testimonies of God visiting His
people.
God has the power and the ability and the desire to deliver all of us from our doubts and our failures. But it doesn’t happen
by avoiding the answers He’s given us. Trust Him, do what He says – if you SAY you believe in Him, put that belief into
action. Take a step of faith – even a tentative one. We see over and over that Jesus responds to the faith He sees in
people. What if He responded to YOU?