What type of Person has Doubts (Matthew 11: 7-15)

Jesus Talks about the Importance of John the Baptist

Let me remind you where we left off last time, John the Baptist has been thrown in prison and he sends messenger to Jesus asking the question, are you the Messiah or should we keep on looking out for Him. So, it appears John the Baptist whilst in prison was struggling with doubts. And Jesus’ response is to send back the two of his disciples and say listen to what Jesus taught and look at the miracles he has done, and how these events line up with the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah. The blind see, and the lame walk; the deaf hear; and the dead are raised, etc. Then decide if he is the Messiah. Let’s pick up the text in verse 7

”7 As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind. 8 But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. 10 For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.  (Matthew 11: 7-10)

If you look at the passage three times he says, “what did you go into the wilderness to see”, he says it here and he says it again verse eight, and then he says that in verse 9. Three times he says what did you go into the wilderness to see. Now there were plenty of reads in the wilderness and there was there’s plenty of wind out there also. So, Jesus is using this as a figure of speech. He’s saying did you go out to see a man that was weak someone who was blown by every wind or breeze, someone that he was fickle and feeble. Remember, John the Baptist was this guy who came thundering in with the message about repenting for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. He was a strong proclaimer of the message of God.

Furthermore he certainly was not a man dressed in soft garments. If you will recall way back in chapter three, we were told how John was dressed in camel hair with a belt of made of leather, which was a sign of a prophet. So, Jesus is saying, John didn’t go out into the wilderness like some soft-hearted individual dressed in the finest softest garments trying to impress the king by saying what the king wanted to hear. Someone trying to flatter people into the kingdom, is that what you expected to see. Somebody who said all those things about me because he was trying to flatter me, is that what is that why you expected to find out there. Was he a prophet, or a a weak branch blowing in the wind.

Jesus says, No, he is a prophet, in fact more than a prophet, he is the one of whom it was written, “behold I send a messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you”. Jesus is saying John the Baptist was a prophet yes, but he was greater than the ordinary prophets, he was the prophet talked about in Malachi chapter 3 verse., the one who would come to prepare the way of the Lord.  He also says John is no ordinary prophet, John is/was the forerunner of the Messiah. So, he was not feeble, he was not using flattery, he was the forerunner in fact Jesus says in verse eleven 

’11 “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  (Matthew 11: 11)

Now the point of these verses is to say that John the Baptist’s position is that of an exalted prophet who is the forerunner and if people much less than him get to enter the kingdom of God, how much more so shall he. So although John is now sitting over in prison the point this is what we dare not miss is Jesus is saying to the people that John still holds the position as the greatest prophet ever born of woman to humankind. Now yesterday and today I divided this passage into two parts, there was this first section that talked about the question John asked via his followers, questions that reflected his doubts considering the place he now found himself in (Jail)

However, we now have Jesus himself saying that he’s one of the greatest men, and the most important prophet in the history of Israel. High recommendation indeed.  Put these two things together, which is what Matthew intends for us to do and what he is saying is this. Even this great man, a great messenger and prophet who is assured a place in the kingdom of God has doubts, mainly because of his circumstances. He has doubts regarding the Messiahship of Jesus, but these doubts were not the doubts of an unbeliever; they came from a prophet. Somebody that we would say today was a mature servant of Jesus Christ. I’d like to simply suggest to you that even mature seasoned Christians can sometimes have doubts. Even those who’ve served the Lord a long time can have that happen to them. 

Perhaps the classic illustration is none other than the disciple called Thomas, his very name has come to be associated with doubt. But think about who Thomas was. He was one of the 12 apostles he walked with Jesus for three years. Yet when Jesus was crucified and came back from the dead and appeared to some of the apostles and Thomas wasn’t amongst them. When he was told about it later he said, I will not believe it until I see nail marks in the hand and that spear wound in his side. Later on, the gospels tells us Jesus appeared to him and said, alright here’s the nail marks stick put your hand on them and here is the wound in my side. Thomas did that and then bowed down and said, “My Lord and my God”. So, here’s another one who went from great doubter, and he ends up with tto someone who makes the great declaration, “Jesus is Lord”.

I simply saying to you John the Baptist doubted, Thomas doubted, and I think we could throw Peter in there as well. When Jesus said he was going to die and be raised from the dead, Peter said no, rejecting out of fear the very essence of the good news of Jesus in regard to his death and resurrection.

In his book spiritual depression Martin Lord-Jones the famous English medical Dr and Pastor wrote, and I quote, “Doubts are not incompatible with faith, some people seem to think that once you become a Christian you should never be assailed by doubts but that is not so”. Doubts can attack us at times but that does not mean that we should not be able to master them. Interesting to me is that when Jesus says next.

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.  (John 11: 12)

People look at that verse and say what in the world does it mean? It’s a notoriously difficult verse, but in the final analysis it’s simply saying that since John came on the scene with the message of the Kingdom of God he has been violently opposed and it will be always so thereafter.  It seems to be the fundamental nature of how the world responds to the gospel being preached and the attempts of people to spread the kingdom of God on earth. 

13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!  (Matthew 11: 13-15)

It’s almost as if Jesus is saying I just told you that he was the forerunner, if you’re willing to receive him and his message about how the prophecies concerning Jesus, we can identify John the Baptist who is the one who came in the Spirit of Elijah, as a forerunner and one like him will come again before the second coming. He seems to be saying, look John’s coming and if the nation of Israel would receive it the Kingdom would be established but that not everyone will have an ear to hears that 

In summarizing this passage, it starts out with a question from John via two of his followers and Jesus answers that question by saying, let me first tell you about the one who is asking the question. He then talks about John’s position, and he talks about John’s significance in history and Gods plan for humanity. The answer Jesus gave to that question is to say the one asking it is important, but not as important as the question itself.

I would sum it all up by saying this, when no less than the greatest prophet ever lives asks him, are you the Messiah or should we be looking for someone else? Jesus said the proof that I’m the Messiah is that I fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament and that is the plumbline to use. And I believe that same principle still applies to us today. From that I would like to make a couple of suggestions.  

We may at times have doubts, you might have some already and you will very likely have some in the future. However, when that happens you can either feed your doubts, or doubt your doubts. You can listen to them or listen to what some other people are saying but the more you listen to them, the more you focus on them the more you might be drawn to that their critical viewpoint.

The Answer to Doubt

But if you want to really answer any doubts you have, then simply go to the scripture, and seek answers. The main way people fall down in dealing with their doubts, I would say is that they focus the doubt without exploring the scripture. When dealing with an intellectual doubt I believe if you direct your attention back to the scripture that all those doubts begin to evaporate. I believe there is no question that is important in life to which I believe that the scripture does not have the answer. Also, when dealing with a personal doubt, having in my experience dealt with scores, perhaps hundreds of people who have doubted their salvation it’s always because they are looking at themselves. But when they reach outside of themselves, at God and his word they get assurance, and the doubts begin to dissipate. When they look at the scripture and see what it has to often say the truth of this passage is where they find the vitally important answers to their questions.

May I repeat myself, that the answer to doubt lies in seeing what God says about the issue. The Hebrew scriptures were written hundreds of years before Christ came, there is simply no question that the Hebrew scriptures were teaching that there is a Messiah coming. There are many, many more prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the coming of the Messiah and my point is this you want proof that eliminates doubt that’s objective and not subjective that’s rational, not emotional, look at the scriptures and see how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Messiah as recorded in the scriptures. 

There is nothing like that in existence anywhere on the planet, no philosophy, no religion, nothing can even come close to claiming anything hundreds of years before the Messiah we were told when he would come and where he was born that he would die and that he would die for us and not himself. So, if you ever doubt Christianity visit Isaiah 53, visit Micah chapter 5, visit Daniel Chapter 9, saturate your mind with the scriptures and those doubts will simply disappear.

Illustration - G Campbell Morgan

One last point. One the greatest expositors of the scriptures Bible preachers of the 20th century was a guy named G Campbell Morgan. He was born at the tail end of the 19th century and had famous ministry for over 60 years. He grew up in a Christian home and preached his first sermon at 13, by the age of 19 this man already had very successful preaching and teaching ministry. 

He then went to university and said, and I quote, “the whole intellectual he was confronted with world was under the control of the physical sciences, and the materialistic and rationalistic philosophy of people like, Darwin, Huxley and Spence, and there came a moment when I was not sure of anything anymore. As he listened to all the debates, things for him became more and more complex. This man that had grown up in a Christian home, had already had a successful preaching ministry and was now in college he was beginning to doubt the truthfulness of his Christian faith. He cancelled all of his speaking engagements he put all of his university and theological books in a cupboard he locked the door, and he bought a brand new Bible for himself. He then said to himself, I quote.

“I am no longer sure that this is what my father claims it to be, the word of God, but this of this I am sure if it is the word of God, if I come to it with an unprejudiced and open mind it will bring assurance to my soul”.

So, for months he began just to read the scriptures, the result of this time alone with the Word led him to emerge from that experience saying, and I quote. “The Bible found me”, G Campbell Morgan went on to become probably the greatest expositor of the scriptures during the period covering the two world wars. He became the pastor of the famous Westminster Chapel in London from 1904 to 1919, pausing for 14 years to teach at Biola University in in Los Angeles, and returning to the Chapel from 1933 to 1943. When he retired, he handed over the pastorate to his renowned protégé Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who I mentioned earlier, who in turn was succeeded by R T Kendal.

I mentioned all these great men for one and one reason only, they all at times stated they had doubts, but when the directed the posture of their lives towards the scriptures and the Bible the doubts vanished and the answers, no more than that, the solution, to all that their questions or anything that troubled them was found there. I recommend when you have doubts or problems to try and find a solution too, that you lean that way also.