The Doubting Prophet

The Doubting Prophet Sermon Notes

John’s Question about Jesus (vs 2-6)

Why was John in doubt about Jesus? Because John’s “Coming One” in Matt 3, we recall, was mainly a figure of power, mainly a bringer of judgment, mainly a carrier of (to use his favorite word) “fire,” with an ax in one hand to chop down unfruitful trees and a shovel in the other hand to sift the chaff in his granary (3:10–12). There is good reason to wonder if Jesus is the Coming One since Chapter 3 fits John’s fiery descriptions. --Dale Bruner

In John’s eyes, Jesus was from the very first a little baffling, a little strange; less messianic than he had expected and less cataclysmic than he had preached…In a word, Jesus is out in the sticks healing sick, insignificant little individuals here and there, but not doing much to change the basic structural problems in Israel’s life. The Pharisees still control popular religious life; the Sadducees still control the temple; the whole religio-ideological system seems thoroughly unthreatened by Jesus’ do-goodism in the hills. What is more, John (the propagandist of the New Order) is in prison, and Herod (the embodiment of the oppressive Establishment) is still on the throne and is in fact about to have John’s head. What kind of Messiah is this? --Dale Bruner

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. 

Jesus’s Question about John (vs 7-15) 

He is more than a bearer of prophecy; he is an object of prophecy. John is the prophet promised as the advance man for the Messiah. John is nothing less than God’s next-to-last man.

Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.

Jesus’s Question about Himself and John (vs 16-19) 

Contrary to widespread misunderstanding, doubt is not the same as unbelief, so it is not the opposite of faith. Rather it is a state of mind in suspension between faith and unbelief. To believe is to be in one mind about accepting something as true; to disbelieve is to be in one mind about rejecting it; and to doubt is to waver somewhere in between the two...An all-important difference exists, therefore, between the as yet open-minded uncertainty of doubt and the closed-minded certainty of unbelief. Because faith is crucial, doubt is serious. But because doubt is not unbelief, it is not terminal. It is only a halfway stage that can lead on to a deepened faith as easily as break down to unbelief.

For those Struggling with Doubt: 

       1) Acknowledge and face your doubts honestly.

To struggle with one’s faith is often the surest sign we actually have one. --AJ Swoboda

        2) Invite God and other believers into your place of doubt. 

        3) Listen to God's word and look for God's works. 

        4) Do the hard intellectual and emotional work before you give up on faith. 

        5) Remember that the goal of the Christian life is to learn to trust God, not live without uncertainty. 

The end goal of our apprenticeship to Jesus isn’t a life free of doubt, but a life full of trust. Jesus does not call us to 100% certainty with no doubt. He calls us to trust him. Not even to trust our ideas about him, which may or may not be right or correspond to reality, but to trust him the person. And our blessedness, happiness and sense of well-being (11:6) will rise or fall proportionate to our level of trust in God. --John Mark Comer