Introduction
Wow! I hope you are wrestling with leading like Jesus. I so want to be a leader that loves, is humble, has great faith in God and who knows who his authority is. I struggle with all four aspects of leadership and so need Jesus living in me and through me to be the leader He calls me to be. Note also that as we work our way through this study in the life of Christ, we were forced to pick only 50 events to fit the time limits of 10 weeks (rather than the full 77 days), thus we will be leaving out important events like the one found in Luke 7:11-17 when Jesus shows the power and authority over the dead by raising a widow’s son to life.
Jesus was often misunderstood as a leader. In today’s study, Jesus pays tribute to another greatly unappreciated and misunderstood leader. He honors this leader who was both His dear friend and co-laborer in the Kingdom of God. Come learn some more from the Master about leadership.
Reading [You can read as much as you can, depending on your availability]
Luke 7:18-35
(or)
Matthew 11:2-19
Meditating [Use these questions to start your thinking]
- What do we know at this point about John the Baptist?
- Why did John send his disciples to Jesus?
- Why was John doubting?
- How is John the Baptist honored by Jesus?
- What is Jesus modeling for us about leadership?
- What other questions do you still have?
Sharing: Text ONE of your answers to the questions above to your team. Each team should post a sharing from a team member in the comments below.
John the Baptist is sitting in prison, and he is having some doubts as to whether or not Jesus is the Expected One. How can this be, a leader doubting? Yes, John, who is sitting on a cold prison floor in Herod’s cell, is having serious doubts about the facts that he was previously proclaiming: that Jesus is the One (John 1:26,27,29). John, who had been telling people for over three years that Jesus is the Messiah and the Lamb of God, is doubting. So he sends some of his loyal disciples to ask Jesus a very heart-wrenching question, “‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?’” (Luke 7:19). Leaders sometimes doubt even the very things they have clung to for a long time. Why was John doubting?
I do not have space to go into a long discussion, only to point out a few facts to you. In Luke, we read that John’s disciples were reporting to John all that Jesus was saying and doing.
In Matthew, we read that when John heard what Jesus was saying, He began to question. Thus, there must have been something Jesus was saying that caused John to doubt the Master. If we Digging Deeper, you will find passages that will help you discover why John is doubting [see Isaiah 40:3, Malachi 4:5-6, Luke 1:1-25, Luke 1:57-80, Luke 3:1-20, Mark 1:1-8, Matthew 14:1-12, Matthew 17:10-13, and the Life of Elijah — from 1 Kings 17 to 2 Kings 2 / Matthew 11:14 ]. I challenge you to dig deeper. Notice that when John’s disciples arrive Jesus is in the middle of teaching the crowd; they interrupt Him to tell Him what John sent them for. Everyone present hears that about John’s doubts. Can you imagine the looks on the faces of the newly chosen leaders and Jesus’ disciples? Remember that many of these disciples were former disciples of John (John 1:35-37). In fact, it was John who had pointed them to Jesus. How could it be that John is now going through this?
Jesus responds to John’s doubts with a passage from Scripture with a hidden meaning. It was an obvious code between Jesus and John, and somehow Jesus knew that when John heard these words he would say, “Yes — Jesus is the Messiah!” Jesus sends the messengers not with a yes or no answer but with an Old Testament scripture from Isaiah 61:1-2 and Isaiah 35:5, the same section Jesus read back in Nazareth when he was rejected by His own town’s people.
Jesus then turns to the silent crowd and pays John an incredible tribute. Jesus says, “‘Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist …’” (Matt. 11:11). If nothing else, this statement by Jesus should make you want to go back and find out who this guy was. If you do, you will find a leader with deep love, humility, faith, and a clear understanding of authority, just the type of leader the Father is looking for. Yet, they said of John, “‘He has a demon’” (Matt. 11:18). John was so misunderstood in his day and even today. Most people still have the image of John as a wild man running around in the wilderness dressed unfashionably and eating locusts and wild honey.
Jesus, too, was greatly misunderstood in His day and even today. Hopefully, you are learning that not only is Jesus your Saviour and the way to a personal relationship with the Father, but He is much more. He is the truth and He is the Life. Did you catch the phrase that they pinned on Jesus after watching Him for two years in ministry? It is in Matthew 11:19. Look back at it and let it sink in. After two years of watching Jesus’ life from afar, the religious leaders and the people made a very astute observation. They said of Jesus, “‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”’” They got part of it right at least. While Jesus was not a glutton nor a drunkard, He most certainly was a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Thank God that Jesus loved sinners or where would I be? Where would you be? Know that as a leader, you will often be misunderstood. It is part of leadership. Often your actions and words will be misconstrued or taken out of context and used against you, like they are being done here against Jesus. Relax, it happened to the best. You are in good company.
How about you? What are you known as? Do sinners call you their friend? Do you spend enough time reaching out to non-believers that sometimes others misunderstand you and call you a friend of sinners? It is something to think about! Spend some time today discussing with one of your disciples what you learned today.
Take a few moments and thank God for the leaders in your life, those who have invested so much in you. Take a few minutes and write them a note telling them how much you appreciate their investment in you.
“Why was John doubting?”
John was doubting Jesus because he wasn’t content of the circumstances He was in. I would definitely feel the same if I were in prison too…the feeling of waiting & it seems like it’s for nothing. His own expectations caused him to doubt and place his faith in the situation rather than Jesus. John wanted immediate results, but I recognize that’s not always the case. Sometimes we expect God to be on board with our plans but we fail to change our mindset & be patient for what God has to come. It’s hard to be satisfied with whatever season God has us in, but it’s important to see that He is still working even when we don’t see or feel it.
Happy Friday everybody, have a great weekend ahead!!
How is John the Baptist honored by Jesus? –> One reason that Jesus called John the Baptist the “greatest” was that John held the honor of being chosen by God as the forerunner to the Messiah. John’s mission was to personally prepare the world for Christ’s arrival. After Jesus came, John introduced Him to the world as the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. John was the herald who introduced to the world the Hero of all history. It was this introduction that accredited Jesus before the Jewish crowds and leaders, some of whom believed on Jesus, and many of whom did not.
It’s interesting to see that even John the Baptist questioned Jesus, saying are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” It shows that he is human and needs assurance and confirmation. He was doing his part in preparing the way for Jesus, so much so that he was in prison for it. I think we all can relate to John the Baptist, in the sense where there will be times, especially when facing challenges when we question why we follow Jesus and why we believe what we believe. It can be the catalyst for our growing faith when we choose to trust in Him and stand firm. His love and encouragement sustains us.
So John the Baptist is in jail right now. It doesn’t seem to me like he’s doubting Jesus, more asking for confirmation. And by mentioning the signs he’s performed, Jesus let’s John the Baptist know that he is indeed fulfilling prophecies and working miracles. And it’s cool how Jesus honors John by comparing him to Elijah, one of the great prophets everyone knew about. Another thing he does is to mention how there would always be pushback. If John was normal, he’d be called a glutton, and if not, he’d be called a demon. It’s kinda refreshing to hear that we’re always gonna have pushback, and it encourages to not give it much thought.