Our Doubt

As a Christian do you ever have doubts? In moments of weakness or trouble do you wonder where God is? Do you sometimes question whether Jesus is truly God? This happens to many people during their faith journey over time. No doubt it makes you feel embarrassed and ashamed of yourself, or gives you feelings of guilt or despair when/if it happens to you.

If so, you are not alone, the Bible gives us a great example of how this can happen to anybody. I am not referring to Doubting Thomas, but to John the Baptist. There was no stronger advocate for Jesus than John the Baptist and yet the Bible tells us he did have a moment of doubt.¹ And like many of us, this happened to him when he was in the pit of despair.

John’s Belief

John burst onto the scene boldly preaching in the wilderness, preparing the way for Jesus. John told everybody who would listen that a man was coming behind him whose boots he was not worthy to untie.²

When Jesus walked up to him one day it was John who turned to the crowd and announced that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.³ He told others it was time for Jesus to increase and time for him to decrease.⁴

It was John who balked at baptizing Jesus, claiming that he should be baptized by Jesus. He was an eyewitness to the Holy Spirit coming down and landing on Jesus in the form of a dove, and he heard the voice of God declare Jesus was his son.⁵

John’s Doubt

John the Baptist knew, he KNEW, that Jesus was the Messiah. Yet in his darkest moment doubt crept into his mind. The Jewish people misunderstood the Messiah’s mission, they were expecting an earthly king who would free Israel from the bonds of Rome.

But John probably had a better idea of what Jesus’ mission was than anybody else. After all, he had declared that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and this would not have been what the Jewish people would have expected from the Messiah.

Apparently things were not playing out the way he expected, even he didn’t quite understand what the Messiah would be, or possibly he did not understand how the Messiah would usher in his Kingdom. So as he sat in a prison cell and he faced death he began to waiver, suddenly he was not so sure about Jesus.

John’s Action

When doubts arise in our minds the question is, how do we respond to them? How did John react to his doubt? John reacted by sending two of his disciples to ask Jesus if he was the Messiah.

² Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples ³ and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” ⁶

It is understandable for John to have doubts at this time. He sat languishing in jail, he was facing death, and maybe he was even expecting Jesus to miraculously free him. That last one is speculation on my part, but John did not turn away from Jesus in his doubt. John might have been questioning who Jesus really was, but in his doubt he reached out to Jesus.

Jesus’ Reaction

How did Jesus respond? Jesus did not condemn John for doubting him. He did not lash out in anger or malice. He did not tell John that he had forfeited his chance at salvation. He didn’t call him a blasphemer or accuse him of leading a brood of vipers, and he did not warn him about committing the unpardonable sin. Those types of reactions were reserved for those who refused to believe in Jesus despite the evidence.

Jesus responded with patience and in love. Jesus revealed himself to John by reminding him of what he has done and how it points to him as the Messiah. John’s disciples witnessed some of these miracles themselves and eventually returned to John as witnesses.

⁵ the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.⁷

When John’s disciples left, Jesus turned to the crowd and went on to talk about John’s greatness, he did not hold this moment of doubt against him. He did not banish him from the Kingdom. He did not make an example out of him, but began to build him back up, to restore him.

A Lesson For All of Us

One of Satan’s favorite strategies is sowing the seeds of doubt, he has been using this strategy since the Garden of Eden (did God actually say?) and it can be very effective.

John’s doubt should be a comfort to all of us. Knowing that even he can falter should help us to realize that it can happen to anybody, we are not alone. An even greater comfort to us should be Jesus’ reaction to John’s doubt. John reached out and Jesus revealed himself.

But we must not remain in our doubt. We must react to our doubt the way John did, by reaching out to Jesus. Jesus is patient and he is waiting for us to come to him. He will not condemn us if we begin to falter. He wants us to call out to him, not only in praise when we are on the mountain top, but also in desperation when we are trapped in the prison of our mind or in the pit of despair.

We reach out to Jesus through prayer. In prayer we should ask him to reveal himself to us. He will never turn us away.⁸ He might not be here walking the earth and healing the sick, but he will heal our souls and calm our fears and doubts if we honestly call out to him. The greatest weapon against Satan’s strategy of doubt is prayer.

When we reach out out to Jesus he will begin to build us back up and restore us, just like he did for John.

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1. One interpretation holds that John the Baptist did not have a moment of doubt. But instead, knowing his time was short he sent his disciples to Jesus so they would see firsthand the miracles he was performing and know for themselves that he was the Messiah. I personally hold to the view that John had a moment of doubt at a time of weakness. ↩︎
2. See Matthew 3:1-12 ↩︎
3. See John 1:29 ↩︎
4. See John 3:30 ↩︎
5. See Matthew 3:13-17 ↩︎
6. Matthew 11:2,3 ↩︎
7. Matthew 11:5 ESV ↩︎
8. John 6:37 ↩︎