The Singular Case of the Second-Guessing Prophet

John the Baptist was the second most important person of his generation. The angel Gabriel announced his miraculous birth. He lived a life that distinguished him from his contemporaries. Sinners came to him to repent. Pharisees came to argue with him. Roman soldiers came to hear what he had to say. He attracted a committed group of disciples who stayed faithful to him and to his teachings for years after his death. The Gospel writers have a tendency to look to Old Testament prophecy to explain his life. Everyone in Israel knew who he was, and had some opinion of him. People wondered if he was the reappearance of the prophet Elijah, or even the Messiah.

He wasn’t the Messiah. He was the Forerunner. He was the man who bridged the eras. He was the B.C. man who prepared everyone for the A.D. He was the MC of Israel, whipping the crowd into a frenzy of excited expectation before the main act. He was the last Old Testament prophet – he just happens to be in the New Testament.

And like all prophets, he ended up persecuted. In this case, imprisoned by Herod Antipas, son of Herod “the Great.”

In prison, he has time to reflect. His life’s purpose was to prepare the way – to announce the main act – to call the people to repentance in anticipation of The One Who Is to Come.

Matthew 11:1-6
After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee. When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"

Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not stumble on account of me."

The imprisoned prophet can preach no more. No more baptizing. His only audience is curious king, who at a moment’s notice might take his life. He must depend on his disciples for any contact with the outside world. His life’s work is essentially over.

And he had fulfilled his role. Or had he? Matthew, Mark, and Luke are curiously quiet about John’s reaction to Jesus’ baptism. There is his statement that it is Jesus, his cousin, who needs to baptize him. But they don’t really go into detail.

So the prophet needs to know, straight-up, no messing around, from Jesus – is Jesus the The One Who is to Come? Is he the one we have set our hopes on since the times of Abraham, and David, and the never-quite realized glorious return from exile? Is he The One who will change everything and set things right? John is nearly at the end of the line. He needs to know if he has backed the winning candidate. He needs assurance that what he had done mattered. He needs to know that his work has not been in vain.

And Jesus answers his question as only Jesus can do. “Watch me. Look closely at what I have done, and what I do.”

Apparently Jesus invited John’s disciples to travel along with him for a few days and report back what they saw. Jesus helpfully summarizes by quoting the book of Isaiah (he knew John would like that). It’s Isaiah 35 – the eyes of the blind will be opened, the deaf will hear, and Isaiah 61 – the poor have the gospel preached to them.

The case of the second-guessing prophet is not as singular as we might like to think. Anyone who has been called to be a prophet and proclaim the word of the Lord, and cry out in the wilderness in some sense or another will come to the point John came to. The place where you can’t do what you did before. Where you have to depend on the people you taught to carry on in the way you taught them.

And I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that every Christian will come to this point sooner or later. We want to know if the One we have put our hopes in is really who we hoped he was. We still want to know if He is the One Who is to Come. We need to know if was have baked the winning candidate, that what we have done has mattered. We need to know that our work has not been in vain.

And Jesus says, “Watch me. Look closely at what I have done and what I do.”

The last word today goes to the Chinese pastor, writer, and martyr Watchman Nee – “God will answer all of our questions in one way and one way only, namely, by showing us more of His Son.”