Basic HTML Version
Imprisonment and Death of John
129
The Savior did not answer the disciples’ question immediately.
As they stood puzzled by His silence, the sick and afflicted were
coming to be healed. The blind, the diseased, were eagerly pressing
into the presence of Jesus. The voice of the mighty Healer penetrated
the deaf ear. A word, a touch of His hand, opened the blind eyes.
Jesus rebuked disease and banished fever. His voice reached the
dying, and they arose in health and vigor. While He healed their
diseases, the poor peasants and laborers who were shunned by the
rabbis as unclean gathered close around Him, and He spoke to them
the words of eternal life.
Jesus Presents Evidence
So the day passed, with the disciples of John seeing and hearing
everything. At last Jesus called them to Him and told them to go and
tell John what they had witnessed, adding, “Blessed is he who is not
offended because of Me.” The evidence of His divinity was clear.
His glory was evident in His condescension to our low condition.
The disciples carried the message, and it was enough. John
remembered the prophecy concerning the Messiah:
[95]
“The Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives.”
Isaiah 61:1
The works of Christ declared Him to be the Messiah. Jesus was
to do His work, not with the clash of weapons and the overturning
of thrones and kingdoms, but through speaking to the hearts of men
and women by a life of mercy and self-sacrifice.
The principle of the Baptist’s own life was the principle of the
Messiah’s kingdom. But what was convincing evidence to him of
Christ’s divinity would be no evidence to the leaders in Israel. John
saw that the Savior’s mission could win only hatred and condem-
nation from them. He, the forerunner, was drinking of the cup that
Christ Himself must drain to its dregs.