The Expected One!

Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hears, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.” (Matthew 11:2-6 NASB95)

This passage has always interested me, why is John asking if Jesus is the one to come? Earlier in Matthew John wanted to be baptized by Jesus, but Jesus refused, John would’ve been present when the spirit descended upon Jesus and He would have heard the voice say, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matt 3:13-17)

In The Gospel of Luke, the baby (fetus) John “leaped in the womb” when Mary came near with the baby (fetus) Jesus in her womb. In The Gospel of John, When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming, he declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

So why in Matthew 11 is John the Baptist, the one who first proclaimed the identity of Christ, questioning if Jesus was who He thought? As we can see in John's sermon in Luke 3, the Christ that John was hoping for, the one he expected was the same as what every other Jew expected, a King one that would take back the world by force! John says, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Luke 3:7) and “Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so, every tree that does not bear good fruit will is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:9).

John was preparing the way, he was proclaiming the coming of the Lord, it is logical to think that as John was thrown in prison that he probably after some time began to wonder if Christ was who he claimed to be, since at least from John’s perspective the triumphant king, hadn’t cut down and throw anyone into the fire.

John’s question is the same question we must all ask ourselves. Is Jesus who we want him to be, or is He who He came to be? We can try to spin Jesus and any number of ways, the fluffy love dove feel-good Jesus who doesn’t care about sin (as much of the world wants him to be) or the Angry King coming to burn the chaff in the unquenchable fire (as many Jews, including John the Baptist, though he was) or we can take Jesus as he was, fully man, fully God. The one who came to bring life abundant (John 10:10) the one who desires compassion not sacrifice. So who do you make Jesus, the person you want him to be or the man he was?