Where Many Stumble

Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?   Matthew 11:3

It’s time to pause and ask some honest questions. That’s what John the Baptist did when things didn’t make sense. Remember, John announced that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand, and when Jesus began his ministry, John identified him as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

But then something happened that must have shaken John to the core: he was arrested and thrown in prison. When that happened, the man who had preached with such great faith found himself surrounded with doubts and questions. If Jesus really is the Christ, then why is this happening to me?

So, John sent messengers to Jesus with the question “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?” (Matthew 11:3). You can see his point: if God was fulfilling his promise through Jesus, he was doing it in a strange way.

We have similar questions. If God’s promises are true, what are we to make of the war, violence, and greed in the world? As we look at the church, what are we to make of the compromise, confusion, and complacency that are so prevalent? When I look at my own life, how am I to make sense of my ongoing battle with sin?

Jesus sent messengers to John: “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” (Matthew 11:4-5). He was saying, “Yes, John, God is at work.” It’s not easy to live in the tension of what God has done and what he will do when Christ returns. This is where many stumble.

When Christ returns in glory, sin will be no more; sickness will be gone, and the church will be everything God has called her to be. God’s Kingdom has come, and it is advancing. You will face many difficult circumstances and live with many unanswered questions, but what you have in Christ is more valuable than you can fully grasp now; it’s only a foretaste of what is to come.

For further reading, see Matthew 11