THEN, not if, principle

Matthew 14:3 says, “For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife.”

Verse 10-11 goes on, “And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.
[11] And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.”

Jordan explains, “John’s in prison for some time, and by the time you get to chapter 11, John has been in prison for a considerable period of time. In Mark 6, notice that John had carried on quite an extensive ministry even when in jail. John was a fascinating character.

“Mark 6:17 says, ‘For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her.’ John was a pretty plain preacher and Herodias got mad.

“You preach against sin you’re going to have problems and you stick your finger in the ruler’s nose to tell him he’s an adulterer and doesn’t have a right to be married to this woman he’s married to, and she get mad at him. She got him thrown in jail.

“Verse 20 says, ‘For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.’

 “She couldn’t kill John because Herod feared John, knowing he was a just man and a holy man. And Herod observed him . . . That’s interesting. Old Herod he’s been watching old John, keeping up with him.

“The passage continues, ‘And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee;
[22] And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.
[23] And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.
[24] And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist.

“Herod had many opportunities to have an audience with John. And he heard him gladly. And Herod did many of things John told him he ought to do, but when John ran afoul with that woman, buddy, his head wound up coming off.

*****

“Matthew 9:14 says, ‘Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?’

“It’s not uncommon that John’s disciples and Christ would be sending messages back and forth. The intercourse there is between John’s disciples and Jesus. They come asking Jesus questions and it’s nothing new for John’s disciples to come to Jesus to get some information. But now notice what the information is. Verse 3.

“Compare that statement with John 1:29. Is there any doubt in John’s mind about whether Jesus Christ is who God the Father said He was? None at all. John clearly identifies Him as the Son of God, the Messiah king and he also clearly identifies him in John 1:29 as the Redeemer to bring Israel’s salvation. And salvation for Israel meant salvation for the world, did it not?

“Matthew 11. What you got? John’s in jail for some time and so he says, ‘Now, fellows, you go down; He’s done all these miracles, He’s demonstrating Himself to be the Messiah.  Now you go down and you ask Him, ‘Are you really Him?’

“John takes a bad rap for this question sometimes. People say, ‘Well, John fell into unbelief.’ It’s not unbelief; it’s more just a little shakiness in his faith, based not upon a lack of faith, in a sense, but on something else.

“Matthew 11: 7 says, ‘And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?’ No, John wasn’t somebody who was vacillating back and forth. Man, John was right on it. He’s right on it all the time! Well, if John’s steady, what’s the answer? Look at verse 6 to see what Christ says about him: ‘And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.’

“You see, John was offended in Christ. You have to put yourself in his place. He wasn’t not believing in Christ. John is the forerunner of the Messiah and he says, ‘Repent the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ The Messiah shows up and what is he supposed to bring? The kingdom.

“And the forerunner of Messiah, where is he? He’s in jail. What John is saying is, ‘Are you sure you got all this stuff together because this isn’t what I’m expecting to happen? This isn’t what I was led to believe.’

“Isaiah 28:16. John’s problem was that he was confused.  He didn’t understand what the delay was in bringing in the kingdom. It wasn’t given to him to understand the delay. His issue was to introduce the Messiah.

“You got to put yourself in his shoes. I mean, ‘Why in the world am I in jail?! Where’s the kingdom?!’ That kind of thing. John’s patience was being severely tested and tried, and he was confused and, just like Moses in the Old Testament, just like time and time again back there, he couldn’t understand the delay in the fulfilling of the purpose.

“What’s going on here is the Lord’s allowing something to happen in John’s life that represents what he’s going to do in the tribulation period over here with this little flock of believers. They set before John these miracles. Look at Matthew 11: ‘Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:
[5] 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.
[6] And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.’

“Those things which they had seen and heard identified Christ as the Messiah. Not because they were supernatural activities; you can be of the devil’s crowd and do miracles. The miracles didn’t prove that He was the Messiah simply because they were miracles. Rather, they demonstrated who He was because His works were exactly what the Scripture said He would do.

“You see His works were an essential part of His credentials because the Scripture said when Messiah comes there are certain things that are going to take place. Isaiah 35:3: Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
[4] Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
[5] Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
[6] Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

“Your God’s going to come. Don’t miss the force of verse 4 there. I missed that verse for years. It wasn’t until just after I moved to Chicago I listened to a tape by JC O’Hair, one of the very first ones I ever listened to, and he quoted that passage and he pointed out what I’m trying to say to you and it makes it burn in my mind and I hope it does in yours.

“Your God will come and save you, THEN the eyes of the blind shall be opened . . . When are those things going to happen? When your God shows up. So when you see those things happening, who’s there?”

(To be continued . . . )