No one is immune to doubt. It can and does happen to us all. You’ve
just got to know how to handle it when it comes. Even the greatest men
and women of God recorded in the Bible had to deal with doubt. Jesus
said of John the Baptist,
“Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist” (Matt. 11:11).
That means John was greater in the sight of Jesus than Abraham,
Joseph, Moses, David, or any Old Testament character you can name. Yet
John doubted the most important thing of all by questioning whether
Jesus was really the Christ.
John the Baptist had been cast into prison for criticizing Herod
about marrying his brother’s wife, an incestuous relationship. He had
been there sometime between six months and two years and became so
discouraged that he asked two of his disciples to go to Jesus and ask
Him if He really was the Christ. It’s easy to read that and not think
much about it, but the truth is, it was nothing but unbelief on the part
of John the Baptist.
Think about who John was. He was separated unto God and filled with
the Holy Spirit while he was still in the womb. Even Jesus wasn’t filled
with the Holy Spirit from the womb. It is believed he lived in the
desert near the Dead Sea with the Essens, the writers of the Dead Sea
Scrolls. They were a people who were super-legalistic who dogmatically
practiced many rituals of self denial. He certainly had not lived what
we would call an easy life. John was separated and focused on his
purpose.
His entire life was committed to preparing the way for the Christ. He
spent thirty years preparing for a ministry that would only last six
short months. John is the one who saw Jesus and said,
“Behold the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world”(John 1:29).
The
anointing on his life had to be exceptionally powerful because his
ministry defied logic. Thousands of people from many nations came to the
middle of nowhere to hear this man preach, “Repent ye: for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand.” And God had revealed to him that through a
visible sign from heaven he would know who the Christ was. He would see
the Spirit of God descending upon the Messiah in bodily shape as a dove.
That came to pass when John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River.
At that time, John was absolutely certain that Jesus was the Christ. He had zero doubt. He was so adamant about it that he said
“I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God” in John 1:34. In
Luke 3:16 he said,
“One mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose
shoes I am not worthy to unloose.” And
in John 3:30 he said, “He must
increase, but I must decrease.”
However, after being imprisoned for a period of time, he began to
doubt. This says a number of things, but an important one is the fact
that anyone can doubt. How did Jesus respond to John’s doubt?
Well, He
certainly didn’t respond the way most of us do. He told John’s disciples
to go back and tell him of the miracles they had witnessed and that
John would be blessed if he would just believe. That’s it. Jesus didn’t
try and make John feel better by letting him know He understood his pain
or by making a few complimentary comments. Jesus reserved those
comments till after John’s disciples left (Luke 7:24-28).
This puzzled me for many years. Why didn’t Jesus say these things
about John the Baptist in the hearing of John’s disciples so they could
have brought him that word?
It seemed to me like that would have helped
John more than just telling him to look at the miracles, and he’ll be
blessed if he believes.
Years after I first had these questions, I was reading from Isaiah 35 and came across the passage that says,
“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf
shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the
tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out,
and streams in the desert” (Is. 35:5-6).
It suddenly struck me that this was exactly the answer that Jesus
gave to John’s messengers. Look at what Jesus said in Matthew 11:4-6:
“Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those
things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are
raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is
he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.”
Jesus performed all the miracles Isaiah prophesied He would do, and
threw in the healing of a leper and raising someone from the dead just
for good measure. What Jesus did was He perfectly fulfilled the prophecy
about Himself, and then referred John the Baptist back to that word.
Jesus reminded John of the scriptures, to deal with his doubts. That’s
Jesus’ method of dealing with our doubts.
Many of us have Bibles lying around gathering dust. Some of us even
carry one. But when we’re struggling with unbelief, we don’t want a
scripture; we want something tangible, something emotional that we can
feel. We would rather have Jesus just put His arm around us and say
something about how everything will be all right. That would make us
feel better. But overcoming doubt isn’t just about feeling better; it’s
about getting back into faith that only comes from the Word of God (Rom.
10:17).
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Consequently, faith comes from
hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about
Christ.
Jesus sent the Word back with John’s disciples. He knew this would
stir up John’s spirit to overcome the doubt. Peter understood this about
faith when he wrote about it in 2 Peter 1:12-15, which says,
“Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance
of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present
truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir
you up by putting you in remembrance; Knowing that shortly I must put
off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.
Moreover I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have
these things always in remembrance.”
Peter was stating how important it was for his words to be received,
as they were, in truth, the Word of God (1 Thess. 2:13).
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For this reason we also thank God
without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you
heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in
truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.
To prove to
them that these were not just fables he made up, Peter refers to the
time they were with Jesus on the mountain. They saw Jesus shine as the
brightness of the sun. The Shekinah glory cloud of God overshadowed them
all, and they heard an audible voice out of heaven say,
“This is my
beloved Son: hear him” (Mark 9:7). They also saw Moses and Elijah
talking with Jesus. That is pretty impressive!
But Peter went on to say in 2 Peter 1:19,
“We have also a more sure
word of prophecy.” What could possibly be more sure than all these
supernatural signs?
Peter gives that answer in the next verse when he
talks about the Scriptures (2 Pet. 1:20).
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For this reason we also thank God
without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you
heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in
truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.
The Scriptures are more sure
and more faith building and doubt destroying than seeing Jesus
transfigured or hearing an audible voice from heaven. Hallelujah!
The only sure way to overcome doubt is to place your faith in the
Word of God and depend on that more sure word of prophecy.
Don’t allow
your five senses to dominate your thinking. You must come to a place to
where God’s Word is more real to you than anything you can see, taste,
hear, smell, or feel. When you’re in doubt, refer back to the Word of
God just the way Jesus told John the Baptist to do. Faith comes by
hearing and hearing by the Word.
There are only two times recorded in the Bible when Jesus marveled at
anything.
Once He marveled at the people’s great unbelief (Mark 6:6),
and in Matthew 8:10 He marveled at a Gentile soldier’s great faith. A
faith that made Jesus marvel is worth examining. What was different
about it?
The number one difference was what the centurion said,
“But speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a
man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man,
Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my
servant, Do this, and he doeth it.” (Matt. 8:8-9)
The centurion had a faith that was in God’s Word alone. He didn’t
have to have Jesus come to his house and wave His hand over the sick
servant. If Jesus would just give him a word, that was all he needed.
Contrast this centurion’s faith with the little faith of Thomas, who
was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. The first time the risen Christ
appeared to His disciples, Thomas wasn’t present. The other ten
disciples told Thomas that Jesus was resurrected, but it was eight more
days before Jesus appeared to His disciples with Thomas present.
“But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of
the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my
hand into his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25)
Jesus walked up to Thomas and told him to put his finger into the
print of the nails and thrust his hand into Jesus’ side and to not be
faithless but believing. Thomas fell on his knees and confessed Jesus as
his Lord and God.
“Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast
believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
(John 20:29)
Jesus placed a greater blessing on those who believe without seeing
than those who believe because they have seen. In other words, there is a
greater anointing on believing the Word than believing signs and
wonders. Don’t get me wrong. I believe in signs and wonders. Jesus used
them like a bell to draw people unto Himself and so should we. But the
ultimate, the more sure word of prophecy, is the written Word of God.
There is a greater blessing on just believing God’s Word than there is
on believing because of supernatural circumstances. Those who are
looking for circumstances to confirm their faith will fail when the
strong battles of unbelief come. We have to get our faith so rooted in
God’s Word alone that we can withstand a hurricane.
The reason Jesus didn’t try to make John feel better with a few kind
words, an emotional touch, was not because He didn’t care. He cared for
John so much that He gave John His best — the written Word of God.
That’s how Jesus dealt with own His temptations (Matt. 4), and that was
and still is God’s best way for us to deal with our temptations to not
believe.
Maybe there’s a reason the Lord hasn’t used an emotional touch to
deliver you from unbelief. Maybe it’s because He loves you so much that
He’s trying to help you operate in the highest form of faith — faith
that takes Him at His Word.
If the least of the saints today are greater
than John the Baptist was then (Matt. 11:11), surely the Lord is
wanting us to operate on at least the same level in which He dealt with
John’s unbelief.
