Surrounded by cold dank prison walls, John’s thoughts should have been centered on the consequences he would be experiencing from confronting Herod the tetrarch about his relationship with Herodias, his brother’s wife. But John had something more important on his mind. John wanted — no, desperately needed — to know if Jesus was truly the Messiah.
Almost three years prior, John declared Jesus Messiah when He was baptized in the waters of the Jordan. He heard of miraculous healings and blind people receiving their sight. John learned of demons being cast out and thousands being satisfied with the meager rations of bread and fish.
All these things should have solidified John’s belief that Jesus was the Christ, but what if he was wrong? What if he was misleading people? Nagging doubt crept into John’s mind as he paced the floors of the jail. John was compelled to ask the question, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
Many times, I find myself trapped within those same prison walls. When life becomes unbelievably harsh and I’m wrapped up in the trappings of this world, circumstances cloud my better judgment. I find myself grappling with the same feelings of doubt.
It happens when death seems to win. When war and rumors of war rage, whether within our own homes or the land around us. I begin to wonder if God is still in control, does He still love us? It’s when living in a world that’s dragging itself away from the grace and mercy of God that I ask the question, “Are you the one, or shall we look for another?”
My life depends on Jesus screaming His response, “Yes! Yes, my dear child! I am the I AM” This truth of God’s Word and His everlasting love for us is the only possible reason I can still breathe, that my heart beats, that my life remains rooted in Christ.
Advent is the perfect time to ask questions, to search Scripture, to meditate on Jesus, and focus on Jesus’ reply, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Linda Guteres
Past LWML Atlantic District President
Suffolk Zone