Luke 1:5-17
The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot,according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Luke 1:39-45
39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
John 3:22-36
22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”
31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
Luke 7:18-35
18 John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, 19 he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
20 When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’”
21 At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. 22 So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 23 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
24 After John’s messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 25 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces. 26 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is the one about whom it is written:
“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’
28 I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
29 (All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John. 30 But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)
31 Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:
“‘We played the pipe for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not cry.’
33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ 35 But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”
Jesus spoke good words about John the Baptist...Jesus said that no one is greater than John the Baptist...His words were, "I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."...
Before John the Baptist was born, Mary visited Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist...During the visit Elizabeth identifies Mary as the Mother of our LORD...Elizabeth says, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the Child you will bear!...But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?...As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy...Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”...John was a man of God...John's dad, Zechariah was a priest...John's family would know scripture...So there is no doubt that John the Baptist grew up knowing all his life that Jesus was LORD and the Messiah...How could John the Baptist ever doubt Jesus?...
When Jesus started His ministry, John the Baptist paved the way for Him...John was the messenger for Jesus...And John the Baptist testified that Jesus comes from heaven and is above all...John would talk about Jesus and even baptize Him...John had great faith in Jesus...But even know these things about Jesus for a long time did not mean that John the Baptist would never experience doubts...John would send two of his disciples to ask Jesus a question that doubted Him...John sent this question to ask the Lord, “Are you the One who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”...Not criticizing John at all, Jesus said this, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor...Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of Me.”...After John’s messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?...A reed swayed by the wind?..If not, what did you go out to see?...A man dressed in fine clothes?...No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces...But what did you go out to see?...A prophet?...Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet...This is the one about whom it is written: “‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’...I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”...(All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John...But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)...Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation?...What are they like?...They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other: “‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.’...For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ...The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ ...But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”...
I do not doubt that these words from Jesus comforted John the Baptist...The words of Jesus for John were for his disciples to tell John what had been going on in Jesus' ministry...They had seen it and heard it...The blind were receiving sight, the lame were walking, those who have leprosy were cleansed, the deaf now could hear, the dead are being raised, and the good news was getting proclaimed to the poor...These were the reasons that John had faith in His Cousin...These were things that John would know that the true Messiah would be doing on earth...John would now know for sure that Jesus was the One to come...Jesus is the Messiah...
Doubt can come in our lives, but when we go back and think about why we believe originally...John no doubt did, after he heard back from Jesus...And we should to...Beyond a doubt and doubts, there lies faith...
Jesus understands we will have doubts like John did...Of all the things Jesus could have said about John the Baptist and his words of doubt -what did He say?...He first complimented John the Baptist...And then He gave words of encouragement to others on behalf of John...