“Nagging
Doubts, Second Guesses, and Last-Minute Jitters”
Luke 7:18-23 (SBC,
Sligo IE)
3 June 2018
INTRODUCTION:
There is a commercial on TV that you
have probably seen about “nagging doubts.” It is an advert for Swinton
Insurance. But rather than me describing it I will just show it to you. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j2EdiAmVr0]
Have you ever suffered from “nagging doubts?” Have
you ever done something and then almost immediately began to second-guess
yourself and to doubt whether you did the right thing? The more you thought
about it the sorrier you got that you had done that. You said to yourself, “What was I
thinking? How could I have been so stupid? Why do I get myself into these kinds
of situations?”
This has happened to me many times,
especially when I have made large, expensive purchases, or signed papers to buy
property. I always get cold feet right afterward and obsess about whether I did
the right thing. When we were getting our affairs in order so that we could
move to Ireland we had to sell our home in Milwaukie, Oregon. That involved a
lot of painful decisions and negotiations. That was bad enough, but then we had
to decide what to do with the money from the sale of our house. In the end it
seemed like the best option was to reinvest the money in another house and
property, but I agonized over that decision. To make a long story short, we
ended up buying a house and 5-acres of property 12-miles out of Baker City
where we plan to retire someday. In the meantime, we are renting out the house
and using it as an investment property.
But why did I tell you this story?
Just so you will understand that I know what it is like to second-guess
myself, to wonder if I have made a big mistake, to fear that I have been
taken in by bad advice and done something foolish. I know what it is like to
get cold feet at the last minute, just before I commit myself to something,
knowing there is no turning back. I have experienced those 11th hour
nagging doubts, and you probably have too.
TRANSITION:
This morning we are going to read
about a man who had some last-minute doubts, who got a case of the jittery nerves
and suffered from cold feet, wondering if he had made the right choice. His
Greek name was, Ioannes. In Hebrew he was called, Yohanan. You know him best as
John, the Baptist. Please turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 7.
Two weeks ago, I taught from Luke 7:1-10 about how
Jesus healed the Centurion’s servant. Then last Sunday Matt led you in a study
of Luke 7:11-17 that tells how Jesus raised up a dead man from the village of
Nain, the only son of his widowed mother. Both miracles were witnessed by large
crowds of people who went away telling everyone with whom they came in contact
what they had seen and heard. The news spread quickly in every direction. We
read in verses 16-17: Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A
great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His
people!” 17 This
report concerning [Jesus] went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding
district. So that is the context for today’s study. Let’s move on
from there.
MAIN BODY:
Verse 18: The disciples of John reported to him about all
these things.
·
There
are two points of interest in this verse. First, we need to ask, “Who were these disciples of John?” When
John the Baptist first appeared on the scene, as described back in Luke chapter
3 he had men (and probably women) who followed him everywhere he went, hanging
on his every word. They became his disciples. He was their mentor. In fact, at
least two of Jesus’ disciples, Andrew and John, had originally been disciples
of John, the Baptist. [You can read about this in John 1:35-42.]
·
The
second thing we need to address is, “What
does Luke mean by ‘about all these things’?” The immediate context
answers this. Luke is obviously referring to the healing of the Centurion’s
slave and the raising of the widow’s son in Nain. Both miracles were performed
in the presence of a “great multitude” of eyewitnesses who were anxious to tell
what they had witnessed and heard.
Verses 19-20: Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them
to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone
else?” 20 When the men came to [Jesus], they said, “John the Baptist
has sent us to You, to ask, ‘Are You the Expected One, or do we look for
someone else?’”
·
You
are probably thinking, “Why didn’t John
just ask Jesus himself? Why send messengers to talk to Jesus?” What you
need to know is that by this time John had spent many months languishing in a prison
cell awaiting execution. Herod Antipas had John arrested for speaking out
against his adulterous relationship with the wife of his brother, Philip. From
the Jewish historian, Josephus, we learn that John was imprisoned in Herod’s
fortress at Machaerus located in the wilderness east of the Dead Sea [cf. Luke
3:20].
·
Somehow
the story of Jesus’ miraculous healings had penetrated even through the walls
of John dungeon cell. The long tedious hours of his imprisonment must have
played on his mind causing him to become discouraged, so that he began to
wonder if Jesus was the Messiah after all. As a result, at the earliest
opportunity he sent two of his disciples to inquire of Jesus if He was indeed “The
Expected One.”
·
Although
John was in prison awaiting his execution he apparently had some visitation
privileges. I do not know if you have ever visited someone in prison, but I
have, and I can tell you that it is a nerve-wracking experience, and one which
requires some courage. And even more so in the First Century where John was in
an actual dungeon, probably somewhere in the bowels of the fortress. Those two
disciples had to hold John in very high esteem to be willing to do such a favor
for him.
·
“…or do we look
for someone else?” In this phrase John used the Greek word, heteron,
from which we get the English prefix, hetero-, meaning “another of a different
kind.” John meant, “Should we look for a
different kind of person or are You really the One?” John needed some
reassurance.
·
Several
explanations have been offered for why John seemed to experience these 11th
hour jitters. Some say that because of the harsh treatment during his
imprisonment his faith was starting to fail. That is possible. Others
say that because it was taking so long for Jesus to reveal Himself as the
Messiah John’s patience was starting to fail. Again, a possibility.
Still others postulate that John was just plain puzzled. He had prophesied that
the Coming Messiah would do great works of judgement (cf. Luke 3:16ff) but
Jesus was doing nothing of the sort. He seemed to be spending all His time
doing works of mercy and compassion. So now maybe John was just asking if
somebody else would come to do those works of judgement he had read about. Who
knows? The Bible does not specify, and Jesus does not enlighten us about what
John was thinking. But it is important to remember that John was just a man, like
us, human in every way, and he needed a word of encouragement. Even
though he was a great giant of the faith it should not surprise us that he
might have had dark moments when his faith wavered. I think all the Apostles
experienced such doubts at one time or another.
Verse 21: At that very time He [Jesus] cured many people of diseases and afflictions
and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind.
·
The
chronology of these events is interesting. John sent the two messengers to
Jesus with his questions. Here in verse 21 it says, “at that very time Jesus was curing
many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits...”
Apparently, when the two guys showed up to talk with Him, Jesus was up to His
elbows in sick people needing His help, so John’s disciples got to see Jesus in
action, up close and personal. That must have been quite an eye-opener for them!
·
Jesus
did not come to earth primarily to be a healer, but to be the Saviour.
He did a lot of healing, to be sure. He cured people of all sorts of
sicknesses, diseases, and infirmities. He even raised people from the dead. But
that was not His primary ministry. It was just a sideline, so to speak.
He did it out of compassion, but He also did it for another reason:
namely, to cause people to believe in Him as their Saviour and thus be saved
from eternal damnation, which was a much more serious issue than their physical
illness or disease. Sickness, if left untreated, can kill the body. But sin, if
left untreated, will certainly condemn the soul for all eternity.
·
Near
the end of the Fourth Gospel, John reveals why he wrote his account of the life
and ministry of Jesus. He says in John 20:30-31, “Many other signs [i.e. attesting miracles]
therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not
written in this book; 31 but these have been written that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you
may have life in His name.” In other words, Jesus did not
perform miracles of healing just to pass the time or as an end in themselves.
These attesting miracles, these signs, were His calling card, the summary page
of His CV. They proved who He really was, the Son of God.
Verses 22-23: And He answered and said to them [i.e.
John’s two disciples], “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the
blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed,
and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the
Gospel preached to them. 23 Blessed is he who does not take
offense at Me.”
·
The
very best kind of witness is an “eyewitness,” someone who has seen
something for himself. The next best kind of witness is a “forensic witness,”
someone who has researched an event and come up with irrefutable evidence and
proofs that something really happened. These men sent by John had now seen many
miracles with their own eyes. Other things they had learned and verified from
reliable sources, being able now to attest to their veracity.
·
Notice
that Jesus’ answer to John is rooted in the Scriptures. He refers to Isaiah
35:5-6 and 61:1. These passages would have been very familiar to John, for they
were Messianic passages referring to the evidentiary works that would mark the
Messiah’s ministry. Jesus was telling John, “Just
look! I am fulfilling every one of these prophecies to the letter.” The
content of Jesus’ preaching coupled with His healing miracles provided the
divine accreditation of Jesus’ mission and proof that He was indeed the Messiah.
·
So,
what were the identifying works of the Messiah described by Isaiah? Here is
Isaiah 35:5-6, “Then
the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be
unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb will
shout for joy.” And in 61:1-2 we hear Messiah say, “The Spirit of
the Lord God is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to bring good news to
the afflicted; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty
to captives, and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the
LORD.”
·
By
the way, this is not the first time we have heard Jesus quoting this Isaiah
passage and applying it to Himself. You might remember that He did the same
thing back in Luke 4:16ff when He read this Scripture and then explained it in
the synagogue in Nazareth. You also might remember that that did not end well.
The men from the synagogue accused Jesus of blasphemy and tried to throw Him
off a cliff.
·
“Blessed is
he who does not take offense at Me.” The Greek word here translated in the
NASB as “to take offense” is the verb, skandalidzo. It means “to cause to
stumble or go astray,” or “to entrap.” It has nothing to do with being offended
or displeased. Jesus was saying, “Happy
is the man who believes in Me and does not stumble over the way I am carrying
out My mission.” He was encouraging John to stay the course and to hold on
to his faith in Jesus despite not understanding exactly why Jesus was
doing what He was doing.
CONCLUSION:
So, what do we learn from this
passage? Have you ever experienced doubts about God? Have you ever gone through
rough patches when you could not see what God was doing? Have you ever felt
like He was not hearing your prayers or that maybe He just did not care about
what you were going through? I think all of us have gone through times when our
faith was stretched to the breaking point.
John’s long imprisonment caused him
to begin to have doubts. But in dealing with those doubts, he demonstrates to
us how to handle them. John did not start asking other people what they thought
of Jesus. He did not poll the religious experts to get their opinions. Nor did
he keep mulling it over himself. Instead, he did what every Christian needs to do
when doubts arise. He went to the Source that could answer his questions. He
posed his questions to the Lord Himself.
So, how do we overcome doubt? First,
we need to take an honest look at why the doubts have arisen. Second, we
need to take our doubts to the Lord because He is the only One who can help us.
We need to ask Him for wisdom to deal with the doubt and its causes. Third,
we must go back to the Scriptures to search out the truth. Begin with the
basics of the things you know are true even if other things do not make sense
at the moment. God’s Word tells us that tribulations will come but we can
weather the storm if we fix our hope on the Lord and on His promises. When
doubt arises about God, remind yourself that God has already proven His love
for you for time and again. That truth forms the foundation to overcome any
doubt regardless of its source. Your faith will be tested, but in Christ you
have a sure hope that will fortify your faith and cause those doubts to flee.
Do not pull away from Him when you are attacked by those nagging doubts.
Rather, do what we are commanded in James 4:8 – “Draw near to God and He will draw near to
you.”
