John had been put to prison by Herod. Herod had married his own sister in-law and John publicly rebuked Herod's flagrant sin (14:3-5). As John sat in prison, he began to have some doubts about whether Jesus was really the Messiah. If John's purpose was to prepare the people for the coming Messiah(3:3). and if Jesus was reallt that Messiah then why John was in prison when he could have been preaching to the crowds, preparing their hearts. Jesus answered John's doubts by pointing to the acts of healing the blind, lame and deaf, curing the lepers rising the dead and preaching to the poor the good news. With so much evidence, Jesus identity was obvious. If you sometimes doubt your salvation, the forgiveness of your sin or God's work in your life, look at the evidence in the Scripture and the changes in your life, and what is is going on in your life then you can answered for yourself. When you doubt don't turn away from Christ but turn to Him for He is the Savior of humanity. No person ever fulfilled his God given purpose than John. Yet in God's kingdom all believers will have greater spiritual heritage than John becauuse they will have seen and known Christ and His finished work on the cross. There are 3 common views about the meaning of this verse 1. Jesus may have been referring to a vast movement toward God, the momentum that began with John's preaching 2. He may have been reflecting the Jewish activists' expectation that God's kingdom would come through violent overthrow of Rome. 3. Or He may have meant that entering God's kingdom takes courage, unwavering faith, determination and endurance because of the growing opposition leveled at Jesus' followers. in any case Jesus was pointing out that John's ministry had ushered in the kingdom of Heaven. John was not a resurrected Elijah, but he took on Elijah's prophetic role, boldly confronting sin and pointing people to God.
Prayer of the Day: Lord God help me to settle all doubts in my mind about you and increase my faith in Jesus' name.
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