Today, we are completing our first week of Advent as we read Luke’s gospel.
How hard it must have been for the disciples to look at a man standing in flesh and blood before them and believe that he was the Son of God, the Messiah. Would it be even harder to believe if that man turned out to be your younger cousin, someone you’d known all your life?
In John 1:32, John the Baptist was confident. “I saw the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. I did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize in water told me, when you see the Spirit coming down and resting on him, you will know this is the one who will baptize in Spirit. I saw it myself and I have borne witness: This is God’s chosen one.” John knew Jesus was the Messiah!
But in Luke 7, John the Baptist was not as confident. He sent a message to his cousin and asked, “Are you really the One we are awaiting?” What made John lose his confidence? After all, his disciples had just reported all the amazing things Jesus was doing, including raising a widow’s son from the dead, a story unique to Luke’s gospel. But John now sat alone in prison; his life was on the line.
Does the Christmas story ever seem hard to believe? Would God truly become man? Won’t the Lord toss us aside if you or I admit we have doubts? No. As with John, the Lord patiently assures us that everything the scriptures say about Jesus is true. Walk forward today with confidence!
