THE K I N G ’ S BUSINESS
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ment and clothing of the poor may be, it can never take the place of the Gospel of the Son of God. Commendable Faith: “ Blessed is he whosoever shall not he offended in Me.” John’s viewpoint was narrow and needed enlarging. John thought only of judgment and forgot mercy. Jesus mingled with publicans and sinners and this was a strong proof of His Deity. He offended the Scribes and Pharisees by His denunciation of their pride and hypocrisy (Luke 11:44). At Nazareth He offended by His broad Gospel and deep truth (Luke 4:25-28). The Jews stumbled at the cross, and the Greeks stumbled at the story of the crucified Jesus. The cross is always an offence. It means a meek and lowly spirit. It means a separated life. It means a surrendered will. The best of all an swers to the quibbles concerning Christ is the imperishable record of splendid achievements of His church. The cross and the blood are always an offence to the unsaved, to the cults and philosophies, and they have become an offence to the Higher Critics and apostate church members, and this fact, in itself, is a fulfillment of prophecy concerning the last days. (2) THE CLEAN-CUT COMMENDA TION, vs. 16-19. “ Jesus began to ' say concerning John.” ; ! John’s disciples go on their way re joicing, and Jesus seeks to correct a misapprehension that may have arisen concerning John. He was not a reed, hollow and plianf— a synonym of levity and inconstancy. (Isa. 36:6). “ Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it.” Neither was he a polished courtier, effeminate and fearful; a lover of ease. John was an oak, strong and sturdy; a child of the desert. Imprisoned in a dungeon for the truth’s sake. He was subject to tremendous pressure for his faith, but he was no weakling. He had faithfully confessed Christ before men
36; 3:26; 5:32, 33). He had seen the Spirit descend like a dove upon Him, and had declared that Jesus was. the Lamb of God. In the midst of misery and pain, faith often faints. There is an ebb and flow in many a life, and strong men are sometimes strangely moved. What ever the cause, John did the right thing in sending to Jesus for evidence to break down the doubt. If you are in doubt about the Deity of our Lord, or about His power or willingness to heal or help, go to Him for proof, and He will dissolve your doubt and satis fy your souls. (Psa. 107:9). John, like most of us, needed to know more about Jesus. A Conclusive Reply: There was no verbal reply to John’s question, hut there was a veritable answer. The Credentials of Christ: The mes sengers were commanded to show John the proof of His Messiahship, His words and works were the witness. He cited cases ,of fulfilled prophecy to prove that He was the Promised One (Isa. 29:18; 35:5, 6). The Coming One was to show signs such as had never been seen in Israel, and this Christ did, so that they said, “We never saw it on this fashion” (Mark 2:12). The proof of His Messiahship was in His power over the elements, disease and death, together with that other strange sight,— the poor were having the Gos pel preached to them. The Scribes courted the rich and treated the poor with contempt. Jesus had a heart of sympathy for them. (Luke 4:18). Here is a lesson for us as teachers. We want to be able to use the prophe cies and their fulfillment to prove the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ; and we need, to take to heart the fact that a failure to give the Gospel to the poor will be a failure in the proper representation of our Lord Jesus Christ; and to remember that no matter how good social service and the entertain
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