John the Baptist

Mat 11:2-3 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,  and said unto him, art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?

While it might be easy for us to think we would recognize Christ when he shows Himself to us, it is interesting to me that John the Baptist was wondering what was happening while he was in prison, and we could say he even doubted. Jesus said of John “among them born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist”, and here in Matthew 11 we find John sitting in a prison for his confronting Herod (after having baptized Christ and proclaimed Christs arrival in unbridled enthusiasm), and John basically asks his disciples to make sure this was really Jesus The Christ – I mean – waitaminute – what am I doing in prison? Where is the victory, heraldry, pageantry…and what am I doing here in this rotting cell? This isn’t what I signed up for – is that really Jesus anyway? Obviously I am freely interpreting what John meant by his question – and I would never want to detract from his loyalty and faithfulness (stratospheric to anything I have obtained) but when we include the fact that Christs own family doubted He was who He said He was – well – there is evidence enough that you and I need to be wary of the ‘proclaimed’ and intimate with the true Christ – today. Jesus was not angry (apparantly) when Johns disciples asked him if he was ‘The One’ – in fact Jesus Christ went on to qualify his works, and after Johns disciples left, Jesus spoke very high praise for John the Baptist indeed. Further, in this chapter there is a declaration of the passing of an era from old to new. This encourages me to wonder, to doubt and to test – all in an honest (my desire anyway) effort to test the spirits and hold to what is true. With so many offering a form of religion but denying the power thereof – it behooves us all to be circumspect.