Friday December 16, 2022

Matthew 11:2-3
And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his
disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”

Only a few months before, John had stood at the Jordan pointing out the Messiah, the Lamb of God, to the multitudes that were surging about him.

Now the situation was changed.

There were no multitudes about him. John the Baptist was in a lonely cell in a fortress, away from his own. Here people were few, but thoughts many. He had once said: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

I do not know whether John had thought of it in this particular way.

And yet it was not John’s personal troubles that had brought him into the gloom of doubt and despair. His spiritual conflict began when he, in his lonely cell, heard that all Jesus did was to continue John’s own work, that of preaching and baptizing. Jesus, too, preached only that the kingdom of God was at hand.

It was then that John began to doubt. Was I mistaken? Is Jesus also only a forerunner?

There is always some friend of the Lord in the prison-house of doubt. It is not long since all was well with you, too. You beheld the Lamb of God who took away your sins. You were courageous; and you testified, as John did, in the presence of others. But now your courage is gone. You cannot find the old paths. Both the Bible and prayer are as if closed to you. Doubt has made everything seem empty to you. You have not invited doubt, but it has come nevertheless.

John went to Jesus with his doubts. Do likewise. Tell Him what your thoughts about Him are. And confess your sins to Him. You, too, like John, will receive a word from Jesus which will cause your doubts to disappear.

O. Hallesby, God’s Word for Today: A Daily Devotional for the Whole Year, translator Clarence J. Carlsen (Augsburg, 1994)
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.