We’re continuing our journey with Jesus and His disciples in Luke’s gospel. Today, we’re going to look at what happens when one begin to lose hope.

John’s disciples informed him about all these things. So John called two of his disciples and sent them to Jesus to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’” At that very time Jesus cured many people of diseases, sicknesses, and evil spirits, and granted sight to many who were blind. So he answered them, “Go tell John what you have seen and heard: The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news proclaimed to them. Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Look, those who wear soft clothing and live in luxury are in the royal palaces! What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he is.” (Now all the people who heard this, even the tax collectors, acknowledged God’s justice, because they had been baptized with John’s baptism. However, the Pharisees and the experts in religious law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)

“To what then should I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance; we wailed in mourning, yet you did not weep.’

For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him, a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

— Luke 7:18-35

Even the most ardent believer in Jesus will often reach a point in life when they struggle to have hope and question what they’ve believed. They may not be imprisoned–or they might. We all do. It’s part of our growth. This was even true of the Forerunner of Christ, John the Baptizer.

Out of Time, Out of Hope?

Let’s start with the basics. John the Baptizer had been put in prison. The gospels of Matthew and Luke tell us about him. They tell us that he came to announce the coming of the Messiah, and to prepare the people to receive Him. He lived a rather austere lifestyle. Matthew describes him like this:

Now John wore clothing made from camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey.

— Matthew 3:4

So, people probably throught him rather strange. And his message didn’t help. He called people to repent, to turn back to God and be baptized as a sign of their repentance. He proclaimed that message to all: young and old, religious leader and layperson. He even proclaimed that message to Herod–and we’ll get to that in a bit. Matthew tells us,

He is the one about whom Isaiah the prophet had spoken: “The voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths straight.’ ”

— Matthew 3:3

His speech, mannerisms, and lifestyle resemble an Old Testament prophet like Elijah. Indeed Jesus acknowledged him as a prophet–and the crowds apparently acknowledged him as a prophet as well. So, it seemed that John was indeed doing God’s work, declaring God’s true message to the people. Then, he proclaimed his message to Herod, and everything changed. This is what Matthew tells us:

For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because John had repeatedly told him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”Although Herod wanted to kill John, he feared the crowd because they accepted John as a prophet.

— Matthew 14:3–5

So, here John is, stuck in prison for doing the very thing God called him to do! And that brings us back to our passage in Luke. Let’s look at the question John asked of Jesus through his disciples: ‘Are you the one to come, or should we look for another?”

Translation? Am I suffering here for nothing? Do you see me?

Isn’t that what we all ask at times? We get stuck in life. The storms of life are swirling around us. We feel like we are in chains. And we wonder if God, the one we have been believing, following, and serving, sees what we are going through. And the implied (if not asked directly) directly is, “Will you get me out of this?” For too long, Christians have found such questions uncomfortable. We feel embarrassed to even let the question enter our mind, let alone ask it!

John the Baptizer wasn’t afraid to ask. Or maybe he was just desperate enough to ask. That should give us hope. What should give us even more hope is the response Jesus gave him. Luke notes that Jesus had been engaged in ministry when the discples of John arrived. We read, “At that very time Jesus cured many people of diseases, sicknesses, and evil spirits, and granted sight to many who were blind.” And surely John knew of the reports of Jesus before he was put in prison. So, Jesus answers the men who were sent:

Go tell John what you have seen and heard: The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news proclaimed to them. Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.

When Jesus instructed the men to tell John what they had seen and heard, could it be that that witness would trigger John’s own recollections of reports about Jesus? Jesus is subtly telling John, “You proclaimed me as the Messiah. These are the things Messiah is to do.” In a short phrase, as he told the woman of Samaria, “I am he.” When we are in the same boat, we can look back and remember what we have seen and heard, how the Lord has been good.

Not Fitting In

The thing about Jesus and John is that neither fit into society’s mold (especially the religious leaders’ mold). The Lord works in ways we don’t expect Him to. This is Jesus’ point when He compares that generation:

They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance; we wailed in mourning, yet you did not weep.’

Jesus and John refused to play the games that people wanted them to play. Often, when we are serving the Lord the most, we don’t fit in either. In fact, we should sense that we don’t fit in. Why? Because this world is not our home. We weren’t created for this fallen, sin-stained world. But we are here. And we wait for Him in hope. And while we wait, we proclaim and live His message faithfully. Tell them what you have seen and heard. And in the end all things will be made right.