Are You Who I Think You Are?

Are You Who I Think You Are?

Your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you. And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!

Isaiah 35:4-6

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, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor. And tell him, ‘God blesses those who do not turn away because of me.’”

Matthew 11:2-6

Have you ever played a game where you had to guess a person’s identity based on asking yes or no questions? It was no game when John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, sent some friends to ask if Jesus was the Messiah. At the time, John was in prison.

John had baptized Jesus and called him “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” So he seemed to understand that Jesus was the Messiah. But like many other Jewish people of his day, he expected the Messiah to do some things Jesus just wasn’t doing. He had expected fire and judgment from the promised Messiah. But instead of leading a political revolution or shaping up the religious system, Jesus was far from Jerusalem carrying on a ministry of healing. So John sent some of his friends to ask Jesus if he was the Messiah.

But Jesus didn’t give them a yes or no answer. He told John’s friends to report what they saw: “The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” John’s question was answered. John knew the Scriptures and recognized this quote from Isaiah about the Messiah. He recognized that Jesus was saying he was the fulfillment of the prophecy.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

Perhaps you want to play a “Who am I?” game around the table, with everyone assuming the identity of a biblical character. Take turns asking each other yes or no questions until you can guess who each person is pretending to be.

What do you think John’s reaction was when he got his disciples’ report in prison?

In what ways is Jesus different from what people today might expect God to be like?