#
"The disciples of John the Baptist told John about everything Jesus was doing. So John called for two … and sent them to the Lord to ask him, 'Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?' … At that very time, Jesus cured many people of their diseases … Then he told John’s disciples, 'Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard –the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.' And he added, 'God blesses those who are not offended by me [who take no offence at me]'. After John’s disciples left, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. 'What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? … Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet … Of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he!'" (Lk 7:18-28).
"God blesses those who take no offence at me." "God blesses those who do not find fault with me in anything I say or do; or in my character or priorities." "The verb translated 'take no offence' derives from the trapping of birds, and refers to the action that depresses the bait-stick and so triggers off the trap. It is a colourful way of referring to the cause of trouble" (Leon Morris). We know that the devil's main objective is to sow seeds of doubt into our minds about Jesus himself. Without Jesus we are eternally lost. (I have just learned that Jews are not allowed to study and read the book of Isaiah in their own Scriptures as it so clearly points to Jesus and to a suffering Messiah.)
We might ask: What sort of Messiah were the Jews expecting? What sort of Messiah was John expecting? Did Jesus represent the kind of God they both wanted? But more to the point: What kind of God do we all need? The answer to that is the One Jesus portrayed through his compassion, acts of mercy and care for the poor, not in spectacular victories over Roman armies.
What else might have made John doubt Jesus' identity? His own personal circumstances were harrowing. He was in prison. He was suffering. He might have felt he had failed in his mission. He was puzzled and confused. And he had prophesied that the Messiah would "separate the chaff from the wheat … clean up the threshing area … and burn the chaff with never ending fire" yet Jesus was carrying out acts of grace and mercy not works of judgement.
John might be doubting Jesus, but Jesus was far from doubting John. "Of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John." But he went on to say: "Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he!" John needs to be seen as the brightest light shining under the Old Covenant and entrusted with the greatest commission of introducing the Messiah to the world. Those who are in Christ are part of the New Covenant, and even the least of us, have become participants of God's divine nature and are his own precious children.