John the Baptist was sent from God to prepare the way for Jesus Christ. (John 1:6), and yet there came a time in his life when doubt entered his own mind, concerning Jesus being the promised Messiah.
And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. (Matthew 11:1-6)
John the Baptist was in prison at the time and he had heard about the miracles and other things that Jesus had been doing. There was no question that John’s faith was being tested to the ultimate, and here he was in prison, knowing before that he was called to prepare the way for the Lord. Jesus responded to the inquiry from the two disciples of John, and he confirmed his own works, with what had been promised by the Old Testament prophets.
Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. (Isaiah 35:4-6)
Jesus knew that John studied the scriptures, and he also knew that this was the only way to respond to the question of his being “the one” who had been promised to come. On another occasion Jesus proclaimed that the Spirit of God was upon HIM, quoting from the prophet Isaiah (61:1), and thus proving that he was the very fulfillment of that prophecy! God’s Word (The Bible) is truly awesome!
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (Luke 4:18)
