“Go and tell John …: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up …. Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Matthew 11:4-6
Think of a time you choose actions that you knew by the Bible’s standards to be God-honoring. Did those actions result in an outcome that you absolutely did not see coming? You might have, in fact, felt like you were somehow caught up in a divine bait-and-switch. The Apostle John could have related to that.

There John was in prison, sentenced for speaking out against King Herod’s marriage to his brother’s wife. In prison, John heard about the things that Christ was doing. So he sent his disciples to find out: Is Jesus really the One? Even our mighty heroes of the faith felt the fear and doubt that we do.

Jesus told him to look at the things He was doing; He pronounced blessing on those who weren’t offended by Him. Clearly Herod was offended by John’s faithful word to Him. Proclaiming it, however, did not exactly lead to immediate blessing for John. Sometimes the outcome we want is not the outcome that God wants. But we can trust that even in prison or in another hard place, when we are in God’s will, we are most secure.



Scripture Focus

Matthew 11:1-30

Insight

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39)

Bible In A Year

  • Jeremiah 7-8
  • Psalm 107
  • Romans 5-6

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