When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”  (Mathew 11:2-3)

Kinda startling, when you think about it.

I mean, he’s John the Baptist.  He has served Jesus since the womb.  He baptized Jesus—hence the title.  He has seen the heavens open and the Spirit of God descend upon Jesus.

And now he’s asking, “Am I right?  Are you the guy?”

How could he ask that?

Maybe, you know, because he’s in prison.

Maybe John was having a hard time seeing God’s hand in his present circumstances.  Maybe he had the same picture of Messiah in his head that most Jews had—a King who would come and free them from their bondage.  I know he called Jesus, “The Lamb of God,” but did he fully get what he was saying?

Here he sits, in prison, waiting for the whim of Herod to decide his fate.

And Jesus doesn’t seem to be doing much.

Now, I know you’ve never experienced this, but John was in need of a little reassurance here.  He needed to know that what he had been preaching, what he had been living, what he was preparing to die for was really true.

Not a nifty little life philosophy.

True.

And so he asked.

Have you asked, Beloved?

Because, there is an answer.  We’ll look at it tomorrow.

Spoiler alert—it’s pretty awesome.