What do we do when things go sideways, especially when that sideways challenges what we thought we knew about God? How does faith find a way forward? The story of John the Baptist may help us find our way when life is unpredictable and God doesn’t do what we thought he would.
Jesus Playing Favorites?
Jesus was handing out miracles. From fevers to demon possession to raising the dead, everyone in line seemed to be getting just what they came for.
John the Baptist, however, (Jesus’s cousin) was stuck in prison. John was in jail for Jesus in a real way – for preaching against the immoral behavior of the king. John knew of Jesus’s reputation, the things he was doing. It’s not hard to imagine John scratching his head wondering where his miracle was. If the sick were getting their miracles, surely he would be rescued. The passing days forced him to send his disciples to ask Jesus a simple yes or no question “Are you the one, or should we expect another?”
Up to this point, John had seemed to know better than anyone who Jesus was. He knew that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world when he (John) baptized him (Jesus) – which means he knew Jesus was the Messiah. But despite this, John sends his own disciples to ask Jesus if he is the Messiah.
Messiah was supposed to usher in God’s kingdom, to set things right for Israel. How am I sitting in a Gentile ruler’s prison? Others are getting their miracles. The things Jesus does sound like Messiah, but it doesn’t make sense that I’m here. If he is who I think he is, the kingdom should be coming back to Israel . . . and I won’t be sitting here in prison. Something didn’t seem to be adding up. Perhaps John’s expectations were being brutally disassembled. Perhaps he simply wondered: What’s going on? If the kingdom really is coming, why am I sitting here? Not unreasonable questions—if he shared some assumptions about the Messiah.
Despite his initial certainty about Jesus, his imprisonment was giving him doubts, at least he seemed confused and unsure. Here he is, sitting in a jail cell for doing God’s work, and the one bringing God’s kingdom was here! To top it off, all these others are getting what they want and need from Jesus. The kingdom seemed to be coming and everyone was getting in except him.
Jesus’s response almost seems to make things worse. “Tell John what you see, the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor hear the good news” (all signs of the Messiah). Translation, The kingdom and good things are coming to everyone . . .
But John hunched in his prison cell—which is even more odd when we remember that Jesus started his ministry by reading about freedom for prisoners (see Luke 4:18-20). Fast-forwarding the story, John never got his miracle—others in the New Testament were released from prison (Peter was escorted out by an angel and an earthquake set Paul and Silas free). Not only did he stay in prison, eventually he was killed and his head offered as a gift to a young girl and her mother.
Celebrating Yours, and Waiting for Mine
Sometimes we wait and wait for something that never comes. We may even think we deserve what we are waiting for (John couldn’t be blamed if he had thought he deserved a miracle—or at least a little help), and so we expect and we wait. And the disappointment that comes from those dashed expectations can be crippling. We may even watch those around us get things they are seeking Jesus for, and the unfairness starts to make us ask if we might have missed something in understanding Jesus.
But that wasn’t all Jesus said. After Jesus told John’s disciples to tell their imprisoned, confused, and suffering leader that the hopes and longings of others were being fulfilled, he ended with “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
That’s an odd follow up. Why would anyone stumble because such good things were happening? But this is the part that was perhaps just for John, and may be helpful for us too when we face the disappointment of missed expectations. Maybe Jesus was telling John not to give up hope in the kingdom or the Messiah because others were experiencing the miraculous—and he wasn’t. Jesus’s encouragement was (and still is) this: Even though you don’t get what you want, even though this may not be exactly what you were expecting, it doesn’t mean I am not who I am. Don’t lose hope or faith in me.
That’s a hard lesson. It’s hard to accept good things for others when we want, when we need some good to come our way too. We can become bitter, we can lose faith; we can decide that we are better on our own. But it’s a lesson we need to be careful to listen for in our own times of frustration. God is still God, even when we are confused, frustrated, disappointed, and just waiting. Don’t lose faith when others receive a blessing and you feel left in the cold and dark. The fact that others are receiving is evidence that Jesus is Jesus, the Messiah, even if the way he works is not exactly what we expected, or wanted.
