Daily Devotions – Questions from John the Baptist

Daily Devotions – Questions from John the Baptist

Matthew 11:2-6 (ESV)

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.”

In his ministry, Jesus would often refer back to his message to the synagogue at Nazareth. In this scene, disciples of John the Baptist ask if Jesus is the Messiah. Notice how verse 11:5 summarizes what Jesus said he would do in Luke 4:18. Then meditate on verse 11:6. We may fool ourselves into thinking that we are not offended by Jesus, but our actions betray us. Most of the time, we stew inside if somebody else gets something that they don’t deserve. But that is God’s grace – God giving us better than we deserve. Because of our sins, and our constant tendency to ignore God and do whatever we want to do, we deserve nothing but wrath from God. But because of Christ, God gives us mercy and love and blessing – none of which we deserve. When we begin to recognize and appreciate this Good News, we become ready to live the jubilee lifestyle. We become ready to give our blessings to others, and ready to even celebrate when others are blessed.