Matthew 11:6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me.
John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that there was no greater prophet than John. It was John who was chosen by The Father to baptize Jesus Christ. John took a stand for righteousness when he rebuked King Herod for his sin of adultery. The result? He got thrown into prison and eventually was beheaded. When John was in prison, he sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus if He was truly The One that was prophesied of. Jesus sent the emissaries of John back to him with the words, “Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” (Matthew 11:4-6)
The message Jesus had for John was that blessed are those who choose to trust in Him when they find themselves beginning to distrust and desert The One Whom they ought to trust and obey. John’s expectation was that Jesus, in Superhero fashion, would hear of John’s imprisonment and immediately rescue Him. This did not happen. Why not? Why would James be beheaded and Peter delivered from prison? There are no simple answers to those questions other than the fact that at the end of the day, we must acknowledge that all of life, what we understand or what we do not understand, is according to the sovereign will and purposes of God.
Beloved, when you are thrown a “curve ball” in life after you have been obedient to the will of God, remember what Jesus did for you when He hung on the cross to fulfill the will of God for you. Does that make sense? Was that “fair?” Did Jesus murmur or complain? “Not My will, but Thy will be done” (Luke 22:42) was His response. Never doubt the love of Jesus when the circumstances in your life “contradict” your perceived ideas of how God is “supposed” to act towards you. Look to the cross. “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18) Selah.
