Is Jesus the One?

When the Faith of Someone You Trusted Collapses

There are few disappointments that hit the Christian quite like the news that someone you've regarded as a believer — a brother, a sister — has announced their departure from the faith. It might be a Christian music artist, a worship leader, maybe a podcaster, a well-known pastor whose sermons you've come to respect, that you've benefited from. It hurts worse when it's an aunt or an uncle or your dad or your mom or a brother or a sister. And part of the pain of it is that some of us might wonder if we're next. We had them up here on this pedestal — the podcaster with all the likes and follows, or the music they produced that was so good, or the concerts they packed out, or the congregation this pastor built, whatever it was.

Or just the theological help they gave you as you started learning the ropes in Christianity. You read this pastor's books, you read this pastor's blog posts, and then it is extremely disappointing — and if someone like that can fall, you might wonder, am I gonna make it?

You might think, boy, if I have any questions at all, I'm on my way out. If I doubt at all, if any questions arise in my heart, that must be a sign that I'm next. Or for those of you who aren't Christian but you're exploring, you're looking, you're discovering, you might think you have to come to a place of zero question marks before you commit. And I think the Bible says, no, not necessarily. Obviously, people who defect from the faith have questions, but that doesn't mean everyone who has questions defects from the faith. There's a difference. And I think the Bible — especially today's passage — teaches that there's room for struggle. That not everyone who starts asking questions is necessarily an unbeliever.

I'd have a greater problem if you ever stopped asking questions, to be quite frank with you. "I figured everything out. I have zero questions. " But the kind of questions we're talking about penetrate a little deeper. It's not, who were the Nephilim? It's not, why did Martin Luther have a problem with James?

Those questions are normal. It's a more deeply penetrating question, like — wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Is Jesus the one, actually? Because when I became a Christian, I thought I was signing up for a Savior who would do X, and my life looks like Y. I thought he would do A, B, and C, and I'm only seeing A. Where's the other stuff? It could be a question like that, and that cuts deep. That's not which denomination you're going to join. That's not how you and your wife are going to raise your kids, whether you baptize them or not.

That's am I a Christian? Am I following someone who truly is the Messiah that the Old Testament predicted, prophesied, and expected? Is he the one? Because, guys, if he's not, we're all wasting our time. Right now, sitting here, we're wasting our time if that's not true.

That's the penetrating question, and I think it's not fair to say all those fringe questions are okay, but if you have a question about who Jesus is, then you're not an actual believer. I don't think that's true. If you're a believer and you've been keeping this question to yourself because you think it'd be shameful to bring it up in small group — you haven't brought it to me or any of the elders here because you think we'd immediately take away your membership and say, "Well, let's get you saved again" — that's not accurate. So I want you to join me in the Gospel of Luke, chapter seven.

John the Baptist's Question

If you know who John the Baptist is — and when the Bible says John the Baptist, some say John the Baptizer, just to make it obvious he's not John the Southern Baptist, like a denomination — he's known for his baptisms, for baptizing people in a baptism of repentance. So when the text says John the Baptist, it's not a denomination.

He's the forerunner to Jesus, the cousin of Jesus, and the final prophet who rolled out that red carpet for Jesus to come onto the scene. And in this episode, we see John the Baptist — this amazing prophet who didn't care what people thought, didn't care if you threw him in jail, didn't care if you were a Pharisee or a king, he'll tell you what the Bible says. This prophet who had announced Jesus as the Messiah is now asking, wait a minute, is Jesus the Messiah?

Luke doesn't include the note here that Matthew has in his parallel passage — that John is asking this question from jail, from prison. Luke didn't just leave it out. He told us that back in chapter three. He's like, here's what John did, here's what he said, and by the way, he crossed the wrong guy and got thrown in prison. So we know he's asking this question from behind bars.

But as we read this, here's what I want you to understand. You can start off your Christian walk with a resoundingly sure faith. You're telling your friends about it, you're telling your parents about it, you are so excited, you have this zeal because you know it's true. And then you experience a trial in your life that challenges that faith to the point where now you need confirmation. And not only do I think that's okay — I think that's what we see here in John's life.

So just so you can track: John is in jail. He takes two of his disciples and sends them to Jesus with a message. They couldn't put it in Apple Notes, right? But it's not long. He probably repeated it a couple of times. They may have been like, "Are you sure you're asking this question? " They memorized it, went to Jesus to deliver the message from John in prison, and the message is a question: "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for someone else? "

Verse 20 — and when the men had come to him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, 'Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? '" Good job, guys. Message conveyed, question asked.

Verse 21 — in that hour, he, Jesus, healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind, he bestowed sight. And he answered them, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. "

What Is John Really Asking?

Let's take a few observations here. First, verse 18 — notice Luke starts by saying, "The disciples of John reported all these things to John. " All what things? Well, if you weren't here last week, Luke is at least referencing the previous two episodes. He's at least referencing the rescue of the centurion's servant from the brink of death — remember when Jesus just spoke it from a half mile away and the servant was made well? And then right after that, the episode of the widow whose son had died, and Jesus, as the men were escorting the body out, goes, "Hold up, hold up, hold up, " and raises the boy back to life.

And then Luke says the disciples of John saw these things or heard about them and went back and reported all these things to John. So it's interesting — what prompts the question is these reports that Jesus is healing people on the brink of death, even raising someone who was totally dead. And John doesn't go, "That's what I'm talking about. Extend my sentence, put me on death row, go ahead. The Messiah is out there kicking in doors and taking names, man. He is doing the thing. " No — he goes, healing? Even raising the dead? Why am I in here? I think that's his question.

Now, different explanations have been offered for why John is asking this, and I'm not gonna give you all of them — we'd be here a long time. I'll just give you a couple. Some people are so disappointed in John that they say, there's no way this is the same John from four chapters ago. That doesn't make sense. So they'll say that John is asking for the sake of his disciples who were having questions. He's like, "Go ask Jesus. He'll tell you. " He's not the one struggling — his disciples are. But you'll notice Jesus says, "Go back and tell John what you see. " So if that's the ploy, Jesus isn't picking up on it. He's like, "All right, go back and tell John this. " No — I think John is asking the question himself. Let's just stick with what Luke says. John is sending them with the question. Why didn't John ask him himself? He's behind bars. So I think John is genuinely producing this question.

Another idea is that John had no idea who Jesus really was — he's hearing about the healings and now he's wondering, is he the Messiah? I hadn't quite pieced it together before. But that doesn't make sense either, because John already knew who Jesus was.

When you read the Gospel of John — different John — John the Baptist has two disciples with him, and he sees Jesus and says, "This is the Lamb of God. " One of the two with him leaves John to go become Jesus' disciple. That's Andrew. Andrew spends a day with Jesus and says, "Man, this is the guy. " He goes and gets his brother — that's Simon. Simon jumps on board, and Jesus changes his name. That's Peter. How did that happen? It happened by John announcing out loud to the two guys who were with him, including Andrew, "This is the guy. This is the Lamb. "

And of course, earlier in the first chapter of the Gospel of John, John the Baptist sees Jesus and announces to everyone within earshot that the Lamb of God has come to take away the sin of the world. Do we really think John didn't know what he meant? Prophets don't come to take away the sin of the world. Prophets don't come to be the Lamb of God. The Messiah comes to be the Lamb of God. The Messiah comes to take away the sins of the world.

So when you read John 1, Luke 3, the beginning of Matthew — no, John knows. His job is to announce it. It's actually the purpose of his birth. His barren mother has this baby, John, for the reason of announcing Jesus as the Savior. He prepares the way. So now he's not figuring it out. He has it — but now he's wondering. He's asking the question genuinely. John knew he was the Lamb of God, and I think that means he understood even the sacrificial aspect to it. That blows my mind.

He didn't announce "Jesus the conqueror" and then ask, "Why am I in jail? " He understood Jesus was supposed to suffer. But maybe John is thinking the way Jesus will suffer is something like what John himself is doing — speaking truth to the people in power, speaking to the Romans, speaking to the people in charge of the temple, and when they come after him, that's how he'll be sacrificed. But Jesus isn't doing that stuff yet. He's healing people. "Great, man. People that can't walk, now they're walking. People that can't see, now they're seeing. I've got no problem with that. But why am I in jail? Why aren't you in jail? Where's the sacrificial lamb part? When is the part where we do what's necessary to conquer this world and for you to be king and to establish your kingdom? " I'm filling in the blanks a little, but you've got to piece it together. John understands the theology of the Messiah — but now he's wondering if this is the one.

And it's important that John's doubt is not the doubt of an apostate. It's not the doubt of somebody who renounces his faith. He doesn't send the message saying, "I'm done with you. " He asks a genuine question. He hasn't renounced anything — he's asking. He's seeking confirmation. And he's going to the right place. He's going to the best authority with that question. He's not asking the prison guard. He's not asking the guy in the next cell, "Hey, who do you think he is? " He sends his disciples to the source of authority.

Jesus Sends Them Back to Scripture

Now, if Jesus isn't on the scene, the source of authority would be Scripture. But since Jesus is on the scene, yeah, you would ask Jesus. But notice that Jesus doesn't say, "I know it's hard to figure out, but I tell you from my own authority — I'm the guy. "

He sends them back to what John would have used if Jesus weren't there: the Bible. It's a little pointed, but he basically asks, "Go back and tell John — does he read his Bible? Does he look at what the Bible says the Messiah would do, and do I do those things? Because if the answer is yes, if the Bible says the Messiah will do this and I'm doing it, that's your answer. " Jesus sends him back to Scripture. Doesn't the Bible, John, tell you what the Messiah will do?

Who else can do these things besides the Messiah? Remove diseases, reverse plagues, dispel evil spirits, make the blind see and the lame walk, the deaf hear — and even the dead are raised, Jesus says. And all for what? For the gospel. Jesus ends his list with preaching good news to the poor. That even the poor — not the special, not the prominent, not the people with the best seats, the best cars, the VIPs of society — the poor, the people who have nothing, they get the good news preached to them.

Doesn't that sound like the Messiah? Given all that, John — who do you think I am? In light of all these reports of what I'm doing, and in light of what Scripture says the Messiah will do, who do you think I am? It seems to me that John was focusing on his prison cell, and Jesus is refocusing him on Scripture and on his fulfillment of it.

Jesus is saying, look, I'm not gonna resolve all your questions. I'm not gonna give you the timeline. He doesn't write it all out — in AD 70, here's what happens to the temple, here's Nero, here's all of that. He doesn't lay any of that out. He doesn't say, "Sorry, man — in a little while, because a good-looking girl is gonna please the king, and the king's gonna grant her a request, and your head's gonna end up on a platter at this party. " He doesn't give him any of that. He's just answering the question at face value: Am I the one? Look at the evidence and answer it for yourself.

What John needs to fortify his faith is not answers to all questions — but he does need confirmation for the answer to the one question that matters. Am I following the Messiah, or am I following somebody else while someone else is the Messiah? John hasn't lost all faith. He's not saying, "There is no Messiah. Why have I been — there is no God. " No. There's a God, there's a Messiah, Scripture is true — he just wants to know if Jesus is the one. And Jesus is answering: I am the one. Go back to what you already have.

We have a penchant for new. We always think that if God just gave us something else, something extra, that would really fortify our faith. I think if God graced you with an angelic visitation tonight through your window — light of glory shining on your bed, and you wake up and it's clearly an angel, and he says, "I have a message for you from the Lord. This will heal your doubts. This will confirm your faith. This will nourish your soul to the point where I'll never have to visit you again. " And you go, "Oh my goodness, " and you sit up and hit record on your iPhone so you don't forget what he's saying — I think he would say three words: read your Bible.

That's what Jesus is doing. He's reporting to them what they already reported. John is in jail. His disciples say, "Hey, he just raised this guy from the brink of death — didn't even touch him. This other guy was totally dead, and he touched him and he came back to life. " And then John says, "Go ask Jesus if I should be waiting for someone else. " And Jesus says, "Go back and tell him I raised the dead. " They could have been like, "I just said that. " "I know — tell him again, and tell him to think about what Scripture says. Who else is gonna do that stuff? "

The One Question That Matters

So then the next question might be — well, when are you gonna do the other stuff? And that's the question Jesus doesn't answer. Jesus doesn't give him a timeline of when he's going to die and rise again. We still don't have that answer. But we don't need that answer. The answer we need is the confirmation that Jesus is who he says he is.

If what's holding you back, unbeliever visiting us today or hearing online — if what's holding you back is that you can't figure out whether the days of creation are literal. Or you read the book of Revelation and your eyes cross, and you've got a lot of Hollywood stuff mixed in, and you can't quite figure out whether the dragon is in literal chains or not. I want to say — join the club, man. These things are difficult.

The question you need to grapple with is who is Jesus? That's the question. It doesn't mean everything else doesn't matter — we study it, I preach on it, we talk about it. But that's not the confirmation you need. The confirmation you need is that the prophets of the Old Testament claim the Messiah will fit a particular profile, and that Jesus fits that profile, and that only Jesus fits that profile.

I think this passage is an encouragement to those of us who believe but, due to circumstances right now, are having a hard time. We need confirmation, and that confirmation comes from going back to the Scriptures. Does God do what he says he will do? Has God sent the one he said he would send? Is Jesus who the prophets said he would be? And if so, then that means God will do the rest.

If Jesus is the one and we have all these other lingering questions — why am I suffering right now? John is like, why am I in jail? Why aren't you in jail? How come your disciples aren't in jail? How come you haven't said anything to Herod yet? Am I braver than the Messiah? What's happening here? Those questions aren't answered for him.

One question's answered. And if that question's answered, then it's not that the rest of the questions are answered — it's that you trust God with the rest of the questions. If this is true, then I'm not sure how all the rest of it plays out, but I can trust that he's doing it.

Those are things that'll rock your faith, sure. But the question isn't, what's my next job? The question isn't, am I going to be healed? The real question is — is Jesus the Messiah, whether or not I'm healed? Whatever God decides to do with my job, is Jesus the Messiah? We don't get to pick and choose whether he's the Messiah based on how well life is going right now. It's true or it's not true. And if it is true, then we trust him with the things we don't know. Even the things that make us question at times.

God has set the Scriptures to shape our expectations — not our circumstances. If your circumstances set your expectations, you'll sometimes follow the Messiah. You'll sometimes like Jesus. You'll sometimes be okay with God. But if Scripture sets your expectations, then whatever you're experiencing, whatever trial, whatever circumstance — even the ones that drive you to your knees and make you ask some profound questions — we understand that God keeps us, preserves us, and nourishes us with what he has said. If he's fulfilled what he said, then he'll fulfill the rest of it.

No One Greater Than John

Now, important to understanding this passage is recognizing that the need to confirm your faith is not necessarily a sign that you're rejecting your faith. And I love this, because there are so many times where Luke drops a comment and moves on and you wish he gave you more. This time he gives more.

He sends the two disciples away to go back to John. Jesus is turning to the crowd, and everyone who just heard that exchange is probably going, what's up with this John guy, man. What a poser. He's a scrub, right? This guy who was out there eating locusts, telling everyone to repent and be baptized, now he's asking, is this the one? He announced "Behold, the Lamb of God, " and now he's asking if this is the one? I'm not listening to John anymore.

And Jesus goes — no. This doesn't denigrate who John is. John's great. Look at verse 24 and following. When John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. "Who is this guy? " they're probably asking. And he's like, "Who do you think he is? When you went out there to see him, who did you think you were going to see? What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? Did you see him as somebody who just blows with the wind — sometimes he goes with this, sometimes with that? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in king's courts. You definitely didn't go out there for a fashion show. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? "

Jesus says, yes — I tell you, and more than a prophet. Going back to Scripture again: "Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you. " That's John. Verse 28 — "I tell you, among those born of women, none is greater than John. "

Let that land. The guy who just asked, "Are you really the guy, or should I wait for somebody else? " — Jesus turns around and says to the crowd, no one is greater than that man. That should be an encouragement to you, brother or sister. If you came in this morning carrying that kind of question, thinking it must mean you're losing your faith — for John, it was part and parcel of being the greatest. Among those born of women — pretty sure that's everybody — none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. It seems to me Jesus is holding out this extended promise: he's the greatest, but people coming into the kingdom are going to be even greater than that — the humblest, the most repentant, those broken by their circumstances — that is where greatness is found. He's not saying greatness is found in never having a question.

Two Kinds of Doubt

So the difference between having a genuine question about Jesus — needing to confirm your faith, even if you've been a believer for a while and you're in a season of doubt now — and the difference between that and being in a season of doubt that leads to losing what you thought was faith: the difference is that true believers, even when they have questions, accept confirmation, and unbelievers reject it.

The person who is an actual believer might have a question, but what they do with that question is take it back to the Scriptures and go, "Okay. Oh, is that what it is? That's different than what I thought, but that's what it is. Oh, okay. I had Jesus like this — but when I look at Scripture, Jesus is actually like this. " Rather than rejecting it, you switch. You adjust your expectation of Jesus according to what the Bible says Jesus is. Not the pastor online, not the podcaster, not grandma — what does the Bible say Jesus is? And you adjust your expectation to who the Bible says he is.

The unbeliever has their expectations set. "If Jesus fits this mold, then I'll follow him. When he doesn't fit that mold, I reject him. " It begins with a similar question, but the difference is the posture of the heart. One person has the genuine question but is willing to receive the confirmation that Scripture provides. The other will reject it no matter what confirmation Scripture provides.

Look at how Jesus explains it. Picking up in verse 29 — when all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too — people you wouldn't think would go for this — they declared God just, meaning, "God is right, he's right in all of this, it's true, " having been baptized with the baptism of John. So they were baptized by John, John is asking this question, they're all unsettled — and then Jesus is like, "No, no, no — you were baptized by the greatest, actually. "

Verse 30 — but the Pharisees and the lawyers — not like normal attorneys; these were experts in the law, the Torah — they rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. Does it matter who you were baptized by? No. But what was John's baptism? Repentance. So this is Luke's way of saying: the people who had repented, they were like, "He is fulfilling the signs of the Old Testament. " The people who had never repented were like, "I don't care how many people are raised from the dead, I'm not following him. " But I thought you were experts in the Scripture. "I'm not following him, you hear me? Let's kill him. " I mean, that's essentially all they were doing.

So then Jesus, in a moment of exasperation, says, "To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? " He means the Pharisees and the lawyers — the people who should know from Scripture that he's the Messiah, but they reject him anyway. "They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance. We sang a dirge, and you did not weep. '"

I don't know what children in that time and place were playing in the marketplace. I grew up playing hide and seek and tag. I didn't play "let's play wedding" and I didn't play "let's play funeral. " I think even those of you who grew up with sisters — I don't know how many of your sisters were like, "I'm playing funeral today. " Awkward. Maybe some of you played wedding. But these kids are like, "Hey, let's play dance, let's play celebration! " And they played the flute. And certain kids are like, "Ah, I don't want to dance. It's too happy, too upbeat. It's not the day for that. It's cloudy out. It's not a day for dancing. " And they go, "Okay, let's play funeral. " And you're like, "Nah. Too sad. Too weepy. "

What do you call this person? Impossible to please. Incorrigible — unable to be corrected. No matter what song you play, they just don't want to get up and move.

And it says in verse 33, "For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon. ' And the Son of Man comes eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look at him — a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. '" That's Jesus' way of saying, you can't win, man. John did it his way. He gave you the message of repentance in the weird way, out there in the wilderness, eating locusts, wearing strange things — and you didn't want him. And I come to you in the middle of the city with the people. I sit with the people. I eat with the people. I drink with the people. I'm a man of the people, walking around, touching people, changing lives. And you don't want that either.

That's the person who's not asking a genuine question. That's the person using questions as leverage to confirm what they already resolutely believe — which is, I don't care who Jesus is. I'm not following him. He doesn't fit my mold and I'm done.

That's the difference. You have two groups in this passage that Jesus is talking about. Those who declare that God is just — that what God said in the Old Testament about the Messiah is right, because here's the Messiah on the scene doing everything God said he would do. God is justified in everything he said, because there it is. The actions show that God is right. And then you have another group of people who want Jesus on their own terms, and they will not budge. It doesn't matter how the message is delivered to them — they don't want it. They aren't asking genuine questions, and they don't actually want confirmation. They want confirmation bias. They want confirmation of their own doubt.

We all knew it was coming that when footage came back from Artemis 2, your Facebook feed would be flooded with the Flat Earthers. Like, I saw this one guy — "Look, I don't care about you guys flipping around in the cabin, okay? Show me the earth getting smaller as you go away from it. Show me that in video, not a still image. " Now — what do you think would happen if they actually released video, sped up, of the Earth visibly getting smaller? Do you think they'd go, "Okay, forget it — here's my Flat Earth Society card, I'm not going to this year's convention"? They'd go, "Wow, you took a still image and made it smaller. What do you think we are, idiots? " You can't win when you've dedicated your life to a doubt and a conspiracy theory — and I'm not trying to pick on a particular group, though it's kind of fun — but it's the same thing. It's the same thing.

It doesn't matter how many Old Testament prophecies perfectly fit what Jesus did on the scene. If you just don't want him, you don't want him. And no angelic visitation, no sign in the sky, no dream, no vision will change your mind. If Scripture doesn't change your mind, none of those things will either.

Wisdom and Her Children

And that's what Jesus means when he talks about the way Scripture demonstrates itself to be true. It's not just Jesus on the scene — it's the changed lives you see around you. It's the Christians whose testimonies are, "I was this, and now I'm this. I used to do that, and now I do this. " And their only explanation for the change is not a twelve-step program or some self-help book, but encountering Christ for themselves.

So when Jesus says in verse 35, "Wisdom is justified by all her children, " he's saying the real wisdom of God, the truth of God, is not just on paper — it shows itself by the children it begets, the people it changes, the lives that are transformed. Would you rather the gospel confirm itself by reversing physical ailments in the lives of your family, or by changing people from the inside out — conforming them to their Creator — with the promise of all those other things coming later? Wisdom is justified by her children, because when we look at people who claim to have been wholly taken by Christ, they're different. We're changed. We've experienced an inner transformation, a renewal of the mind, as Paul calls it in Romans 12.

And when you are changed like that, it doesn't mean you'll never encounter questions. It just means you are not spiritually incorrigible. It means you are actually open to confirmation rather than closed to it no matter what form it takes. And it means you are not offended by the gospel.

I'll say this quickly before I close, but don't forget verse 23 — Jesus said, "Blessed is the one who is not offended by me. " In other words: the problem for a lot of people is not archaeology or evidence. The problem is that they're offended by Jesus. The reason he doesn't fit their preset mold is because he offends them. The gospel offends them.

And some people think they're Christian because they think they've embraced the gospel, but they've embraced an inoffensive gospel — which is not the gospel at all. The gospel that says, "God created you, loved you, and yeah, there's some things in your life he'd rather weren't there, but he's willing to put that all aside and have you come on board if you'd just say 'I love you'" — there's no repentance in that message.

When we sing a song like "I am evil, " even I go, wow — I have to say it, I have to sing it out loud, that I am evil outside of Christ. Even if I haven't murdered anybody, my inner thoughts, my selfishness, my desire to put myself first and my interests before others — it's not just kinda wrong, it's evil. That's offensive.

But if you agree with it, and you say, "I need to repent" — then that was the ministry of John, and that's the gospel of Jesus Christ. That for those who recognize that outside of Christ they have nothing, that outside of Christ they can't offer God anything, they can't barter with God, that they need Christ totally — for Jesus to bear the sufficient penalty of death on his own shoulders so that we can have life.