Daily Devo W/ Pastor Eric October 13, 2021
Seeing the Forest for the Trees - John the Baptist
Edition
Matthew 11:1-5, NLT - When Jesus had finished
giving these instructions to his twelve disciples, he went out to teach and
preach in towns throughout the region.
John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the
things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you
the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”
Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him what you
have heard and seen— the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are
cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being
preached to the poor.” And he added,
“God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.
Poor John is beginning to have his
doubts. The bold wilderness preacher has
been keeping tabs on what Jesus is doing. He hears about the miracles, but he
was expecting judgement. Remember back in chapter 3, just before Jesus’s
baptism, John proclaims, “Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to
sever the roots of the trees.” (3:10)
What John is hearing about is not judgement. Healing, resurrections, and the Word being
preached are all well and good, but the Messiah is also supposed to bring
judgement. Are you the one to bring it
or are we waiting for someone else?
Jesus’s message to John doesn’t seem
to address the question because He simply tells John what John already knows –
the miracles. But Jesus is quoting
prophecy in Isaiah:
“Blind eyes will be opened, deaf
ears unstopped, lame men and women will leap like deer” (Isaiah 35:5-6)
“He sent me to preach good news to
the poor” (Isaiah 61:2)
John does already know these prophecies too, but we all need
to reminded of things we already know when our heart seems to be set on
something else. John has been fighting
with the authorities since he began his ministry and needs to know that those
with whom he has been fighting are going to “get theirs.” The reality is that the inbreaking of a new Kingdom
does bring judgement on the old, but it does so by ushering in such good news
that people begin to embrace the new with their whole hearts, dropping the old
in the process. Jesus’s message to John
(and the crowd gathered) is that what John is hoping for is indeed happening,
but maybe not in the way John imagined.
We all
need that reminder sometimes. We all get
discouraged and long for vindication from time to time. In those times, it can be easy to begin to fixate
on our enemies being exposed for what they are.
But Jesus’s words here remind us that our focus should not be primarily
on our enemies, but on what God is doing.
Good things are happening, but we will overlook them if all we are
thinking about is what is not happening.
It was a good Word for John and it is a good Word for us as well.
Question: Is it
possible that you are missing something important that is happening right now
because you are focused on something that is not happening?
Prayer: Lord Jesus,
help us not to confuse our expectations with Your Will. Gently remind us today of the goodness in our
lives to which we should be paying attention.
Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for people in prison today
Song: Accentuate the
Positive – Dr. John
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