Was It the Response You Were Looking For?

There is a story about a guy who lived around the time of Jesus. From a very early age this guy knew he was destined to give his life to ministry of some sort. He wasn’t particularly gifted at anything nor was he uniquely charismatic. He didn’t spend a lot of time worrying about his lawn, eating well-balanced meals, or what was cool to wear. His name was John and he was kind of considered a geek in his day.

I think John was able to foretell the future because he was always talking about things that were yet to happen. He would tell people to get ready for a deliverer, who would help them get through their pain in life, make the difficult things of living make more sense, and one day reunite us all in eternity. He was convinced the deliverer was standing at the doorstep of history.

John spent most of his life wandering around from place to place talking to anyone who would listen. Many times he would even talk to people who couldn’t care less about him or his message. But that was his life and he knew very well that his ministry would someday be the reason that important people, who didn’t like him very much, would throw him in prison and take his life from him.

Toward the end he decided to send a couple of his guys to find Jesus and ask him one of the most important questions anyone can ever ask—Are you the Messiah or should we expect someone else? In other words, is living my life this way going to be worth it in the end? I guess he wanted to make sure, if he were going to be executed, it would not be for anything half-baked.

If I were wrongly imprisoned, first and foremost, I would want to know that the deliverer could come and get me out of prison! I would want him to blast open the cell doors, haul me out of there, and then prosper me by getting me a book deal. To me, that would be ample proof that he was, in fact, the deliverer. That’s what a deliverer does, right? Sadly, to us, the mark of a good savior is his ability to save us from our troubles.

The most amazing part of this story, though, stems out of Jesus’ response to John’s question. Jesus says to John's guys, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.”

Jesus’ response seemed more than enough for John. The response set John's heart at peace and emboldened him to bow his head and allow his captors take his life with a sword.

Is Jesus’ response enough for me, or do I require more from him?

I think, from now on, I might be asking him if I can see more of the good stuff he was talking to John's guys about.