Matthew 11:1-6 Prison Doubts
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: March 14, 2019, Matthew 11:1-6
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
(Understanding the Text) Again, I have to remember that Matthew is not telling a chronological story, so this does not necessarily happen right after the last lessons. Matthew is starting a new section here. Basically, Matthew is telling me that Jesus spent time instructing the twelve that He had chosen. Maybe the instruction is that which was written about in chapter 10, but maybe not. I think this is actually chronological. Matthew says in chapter 10 that Jesus chose the twelve, warned them about the reactions that they would get from people, and then began traveling around the cities preaching and teaching and becoming famous. I just noticed that it was not just any cities that Jesus went to. He went to the disciples’ home towns.
John had been listening to the news from prison, and he was confused. Like other Jews of his day, he expected a triumphant Messiah, but what he was seeing was a Messiah that just seemed to wander around from Jewish town to Jewish town, but who did not seem to be advancing towards leadership. He was not taking over the Jewish government or gaining influence among the Jewish leaders. Maybe, one of the reasons that John had been so hard on the Pharisees was because he knew that he needed to soften them up so that they would be ready for the Messiah. Now, John saw that the Pharisees and others held Jesus in contempt and had less respect for Him than they had had for John himself. He saw that Jesus’ disciples were uneducated men of the poorer classes and there were not any of the religious leaders among them. John knew that God had told him that Jesus was the Messiah, but maybe there was another Messiah also? John was rotting in prison and might die at any time, and John was worried that he had made a mistake. John’s disciples didn’t help either. They kept expressing their doubts to John, and he had no answers, but he did know what to do about it. He sent his doubting disciples to Jesus with their questions.
(Revelation of God) Jesus’ answer was that His works fit the prophecies of Isaiah. The implication was that He did not need to fit the expectations of man, but that by definition of the scriptures, He was the one they were looking for. Then Jesus gave a promise/warning that John needed to re-examine his belief system to see if he was looking for the Messiah of the scriptures or the Messiah of man’s dreams. If John accepted Jesus as sent from God, he was blessed, but the opposite was true; if John persisted in placing a high priority on men’s dreams and was offended by Jesus, then he would continue to be racked with doubts.
(Application / Prayer) My application for myself is that when I doubt, I need to go back to God’s word and reread the scriptures to see if they really promise and say what I think, or if I have read worldly desires and goals into them. I should never be surprised that God does not work in the ways that I expect. He accomplishes His goals in His own ways. I pray to trust You and Your ways of accomplishing Your goals. Help me not to be offended and doubt and get discouraged. I pray to have faith and joy in watching You work.