Wednesday, LUKE 7:18-23

When John the Baptist sent envoys to ask Jesus if he were the expected one, Jesus replied, "Tell John what you have seen and heard. Lk 7:22
Isaiah foretold that these signs would announce the Messiah's arrival: the eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf will be cleared; the lame will leap like a stag, the tongue of the dumb will sing." Is. 35:4-6 . Jesus' miracles are the signs foretold by Isaiah.
Since earliest times commentators have wondered about John the Baptist’s doubt. Had he really come to doubt Jesus? And if so, why? He was a tempestuous man; was Jesus moving too slowly for him? Or did the gloom of the dungeon affect his mind? Was it himself that he doubted? Was he feeling what Jeremiah felt when he wrote, “Woe is me, my mother, for you have borne me to be a man of strife and of dissension for all the land”(Jer.15:10)? Of course prophets ought to doubt themselves. If they haven't faced their own illusions and limitations what could they possibly have to say to us about God? And when one is in the pits of self-doubt it is hard to distinguish self-doubt from doubt about God and Jesus and everything. Somehow this mood of doubt that seems to have overcome John makes him more human. He needed softening. When he was yelling at the people he had no doubts about anything.
But perhaps the more telling proclamation of the word was in his dungeon, quietly in the ear of fellow-prisoners: the lonely and discouraged, the fearful and the dying. May be if John had had an opportunity to preach again, there would have been a different quality. His presence would have been much more like that of Jesus.
How many good people do we know, in an hour of temptation, call in question the most important truths.we all desire to have our beliefs confirmed. But how can we ?
Jesus responds with the facts; MIRACLES ARE IN THE MOMENT. This should be good enough for us. If I am asked about the divinity of Christ, what proof or miracles do I find in the moment ? Do I see any miracles taking place around me on a daily basis?