Tag: John the Baptist

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Matthew Devotionals

I must tell Jesus

grave

For some reason, verse 12 really struck me today.

Then [John’s] disciples came, removed the corpse, buried it, and went and reported to Jesus. (Matthew 14:12)

After burying John, his disciples’ first thought was, “We must tell Jesus.”

Why?

I suppose one reason might be to warn Jesus about Herod. (Luke 9:9)

But just as importantly, they knew Jesus cared about John.

I wonder, though. Did they know Jesus cared about them? Not this general, “Jesus loves everybody.” But, “Jesus knows my grief, and he cares about me.”

What about you? Do you know Jesus really cares about you? Again, not this general, “Jesus loves everyone,” but “Jesus really does love me.”

When you go through trials and hard times, is your first response, “I must tell Jesus”?

I must tell Jesus all of my trials;
I cannot bear these burdens alone;
In my distress He kindly will help me;
He ever loves and cares for His own.

I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!
I cannot bear my burdens alone;
I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!
Jesus can help me, Jesus alone. — Elisha Hoffman

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Matthew Devotionals

Who we are following

The story of how John the Baptist’s life ended is really heartbreaking when you think about it.

But today, I thought about his disciples’ response. They came to take his body and bury it. And then they told Jesus.

But the thought came to me today, “What did they do after that?”

Did they follow Jesus?

Or did they just go home?

We don’t know.

I would hope they followed Jesus. After all, Jesus was the one John had pointed to.

It made me think, though. Who are we following?

Many people become Christians because of someone influential in their lives. It might be a a pastor. It might be a friend. It might be a family member.

But what happens when they leave us?

Some may literally pass away.

Others may move away.

Sadly, some may even fall into sin and walk away from God.

And the question is, what then?

Do we just “go home?”

Or do we turn our eyes to Jesus and follow him?

Because as Jesus proved through the miracle of the feeding of the 5000, he is the bread of life (John 6). He is the one imparts true life to us, filling our spiritual hunger and thirst.

And he is the one who will always be there for us, no matter what storms may hit.

People will leave us. People let us down.

Jesus will not.

So I ask again:

“Who are you following?”

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Luke Luke 9 Mark Mark 6 Matthew Matthew 14

I respect you, but…

The gospels

As I look at this passage, Herod is a puzzle to me.

He apparently wasn’t happy with John the Baptist when John condemned him for taking his (that is, Herod’s) brother’s wife and marrying her.

It’s possible, though, that he would never have done anything, even arrest John, if Herodias, his wife, hadn’t prodded him too. She actually wanted Herod to kill John, but even Herod refused to go that far, although he had apparently wanted to at first.

Part of his refusal was his fear of the people. (Matthew 14:5). But perhaps as time went on, he gained a respect for this prophet who was anything but a “yes-man” to the king.

It says in Mark that Herod had come to recognize that John was different, that he was a righteous and holy man. And for some reason, he liked listening to John.

You have to wonder why though, because John probably drilled him for his sin time and again. Whatever John said, it “perplexed him.”

Whether it was John and his courage to condemn the king to his face that perplexed Herod, or whether it was something else that John said, I don’t know. But one thing that never happened was that Herod never repented.

And the day came when, on his birthday, his daughter danced in front of him, probably a very lewd one, and he was so pleased that he promised her up to half the kingdom if she asked. On consultation with her mother, she asked for John’s head.

Her request “distressed” Herod, but out of his pride and unwillingness to look bad in front of his guests, he gave in to her request and killed John.

I don’t know if it happened, at a guess not, but I can just imagine his final conversation with John.

“Sorry about this. Nothing personal, you understand. I really do respect you, and I don’t want to do this, but my daughter asked for your head, so…”

It’s easy to condemn Herod for his actions, but how often do we take that same attitude with Christ. We hear his words. Something in them stirs our hearts.

But instead of following his words, we ultimately turn our back on them and Him. Rather, we put priority on our pride, our family, or other things in our lives.

What about you? Do you go to church and listen to the message, or do you read the words of this blog, and say, “There’s something there. Something about it feels strangely good even though it stings to hear it. I really respect this messenger. He really is someone to be admired.

“But….”

And ultimately turn your backs on what God is telling you?

It’s not enough to respect the messengers God sends you.

It’s not enough to admit they are (hopefully) godly men.

But insofar as they proclaim the words of God, you need to take action. To let those words penetrate your heart and cause repentance and change. Because God will hold you accountable for what you have heard and know.

What do you do with what you hear?

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Luke Luke 7 Matthew Matthew 11

Struggling with doubt

The gospels

It’s nice to know that the “heroes” of the Bible had struggles too. That they had fears. That they had doubts.

I’m sure that’s exactly what John the Baptist was going through in prison. He had been doing a great work for God, calling the people to repentance, and preparing the way for Jesus. Then suddenly, it was over.

John was arrested by Herod for criticizing him for marrying his brother’s wife, and as a result was thrown into prison.

Perhaps at first, John still felt confident and triumphant. “The Messiah is here! He will save us from people such as this so-called king named Herod.”

But time passed. And while Jesus did many things, political change was not one of them. Herod was still on the throne. Rome was still in charge. And John was still in prison.

Day after day dragged by, and perhaps John’s words became less and less certain. Finally, they may have been completely stilled by his doubts.

“Is Jesus really the one? Have I made a mistake? Maybe I heard God wrong.”

Finally the day came when his disciples came and they told him of all Jesus had been doing.

Perhaps after a moment of silence, he told them, “Please pass him a message. Ask him, ‘Are you the one? Are you the one we’ve been hoping for? Or should we ask for another?'”

I wonder how John’s disciples felt as they came to Jesus. Had doubt crept into their hearts as well because of their master’s misery? But they asked.

How did Jesus respond? He didn’t get angry. He didn’t criticize John for his lack of faith.

Instead, he looked at John’s disciples. Then he looked around at all the hurting people around him. And he started to heal. The blind, the lame, the deaf, the lepers.

And having done all that, he turned to John’s disciples and said,

Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.

Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me. (Matthew 11:4-6)

Sometimes we, like John, struggle with doubts. We wonder if Jesus is really there.

We look at the world around us. We look at our own circumstances. And we wonder, “Is my faith in Jesus just a farce? Or is there real substance behind it? Have I been wasting my life following Jesus? Or is it really worth it?”

I think the nice thing is that Jesus doesn’t blast us for our doubts.

But he does remind us, “Look at what I’ve done. Look how I’ve helped you in the past. Look at the healing I’ve brought to your life. I’m still here. I’m still working.”

But beyond looking at these things, let us look to the cross. Look at what Jesus did there. Because in the cross, we have the ultimate proof of his love for us.

And in the resurrection, we have the ultimate proof that he has the power to help us right here, right now.

May we never stumble because of Jesus. Rather let us stand on him. For he is a sure foundation that will never crumble beneath us.

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Luke Luke 3

But wasn’t I doing your will?

Luke

Sometimes, as we go through the Christian life, we go through hard times as a result of our own bad decisions.

I once went through unemployment, because though all the warning signs were there that my company was about to go under, I nevertheless ignored them and eventually went down with the ship.

But other times, we’ve done nothing but follow the will of God in our lives, and yet we end up in trouble anyway. And we ask God, “Why? Wasn’t I doing your will?”

That’s what happened to John the Baptist. It says in verse 18 that he was exhorting the people and preaching the good news to them.

We’ve seen in the passages in John that he was also pointing out Jesus to his disciples and telling them, “He is the one you need to follow.”

Not only that, he fulfilled his role as prophet by pointing out the sins of the people, and this is what ultimately got him in trouble.

King Herod (Antipas) had taken his brother Phillip’s wife for his own, and John publicly rebuked him for it. Not only that, he publicly rebuked Herod for many of his other misdeeds as well.

As a result, Herod had him thrown in prison. And there, John was left to rot.

We’ll get more into what happened to John in prison later, but it does bring up the question, “Why did God let it happen?”

Did John deserve to be in prison? No.

Could God have rescued John? Yes.

So why didn’t he? I don’t know.

And ultimately, we just have to accept that (if not be satisfied with it).

God does not promise that our lives will always be nice and comfortable if we follow him. He doesn’t promise that things will always go well.

Jesus, though he was perfect, was himself beaten and crucified. Hardly a comfortable situation. And if he who was perfect suffered, can we expect anything different as his followers?

Peter wrote,

But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. (1 Peter 2:20-21)

What were we called to? Suffering for the sake of Christ.

What steps did Jesus take that we are called to follow in? The steps of suffering.

Am I saying that we should look to suffer? No. But don’t be surprised if it comes.

And if it does come, remember what the writer of Hebrews admonishes us,

Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:3)