He is Faithful When We Falter

Audio Transcript

We’re continuing now in our series through the Bible. I think this is our eighth year, if I haven’t lost track. And for the last year, we’ve been in the New Testament going through the four Gospels together. And we pick back up in the narrative this morning in Luke chapter 7, Luke chapter 7. And today we’ll be in verses 17 to 28.

You may be too young yet to believe that what I’m about to tell you is true, and that’s wonderful. I envy you for being in that place in life. But I must tell you that at some point in life, at some point along the way, all of us will experience what someone has called the dark night of the soul.

The kind of darkness that settles over you and feels like it will never leave. A darkness so thick and so heavy that it causes you to question things you never thought you would question. A darkness that even makes God’s promises seem to go silent.

It’s dangerously easy for us to be in a setting like we’re in right now and to assume that we will always sail through life with our convictions rock solid, our faith secure, and that we’ll never be shaken from those moorings.

But I want to talk to you today about a man who knew that darkness, who was in the midst of that darkness, and reading about his life prior to this point, as we have done, we would never think that this man would be in this position. It was unthinkable. He wasn’t a backslider. He wasn’t a skeptic. He hadn’t drifted from the faith. In fact, he was the greatest man who had ever lived, and that’s not my opinion. That’s the testimony of Jesus Himself. And yet, this fearless, consecrated, Spirit-filled man ended up in a dark prison cell asking one of the most shocking questions in all of Scripture. His name, of course, is John the Baptist.

And I believe if we will discipline ourselves to listen this morning, we’ll be able to relate to him more than we ever realized. To set the context here quickly, we’re picking up in verse 17, but the first 16 verses of this chapter tell us that Jesus has just healed a man who was deathly ill, and He has raised a widow’s son from the dead. Actually, at the funeral procession, they were carrying the casket, and it says that this man, a young man who had died, was the only son of his mother.

And Jesus interrupts the funeral procession and tells the man to arise, and he sits up. Now that had just taken place. Jesus had just raised someone from the dead. And it says at the end of those 16 verses, when the people saw this, that fear fell upon them. And it says they glorified God and said, “A great prophet has risen up among us. God has visited His people.” Now that has just taken place, and we pick up now in verse 17.

I just want to read verses 17 to 20 as we begin. May I ask you to stand one more time out of honor of God’s Word, if you’re able to? Luke 7, starting in verse 17, and this report, what I’ve just described, this report about Jesus went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region. Then the disciples of John, that’s John the Baptist, reported to him concerning these things. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus saying, “Are You the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”

Verse 20. When the men had come to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the one who is to come, or should we look for another?'” Thank you, you may be seated.

Let me remind you quickly, even though we’ve studied his life, of what an extraordinary man John the Baptist was. He was given such a unique role in history that his upcoming birth, actually his upcoming conception and birth, was announced by the angel Gabriel. We looked at all that last year.

For more than 400 years, there had been no prophet in the land that we are aware of. The Word of God was silent for nearly 400 years, and John was the one who was chosen to break that silence. He came preaching a message so explosive that thousands upon thousands of people came out to hear him. In fact, at one point, John’s popularity was wildly larger than Jesus Himself.

Josephus, the historian, described John as a man of such extraordinary character and influence that even King Herod feared the power that John had on all the people. Now, King Herod was a monster. He was a butcher, a terrifying human being. And yet, Josephus tells us that even Herod was keeping an eye on John the Baptist because he was afraid that John would be able to influence the nation and turn the people against him.

And yet, this one who was called the greatest of all the prophets, this one who had put his entire reputation on the line by pointing to Jesus and saying, “He is the true Messiah.” A very risky statement at that time in history. John had put his entire ministry, his entire reputation on the line saying, “Jesus is the promised Messiah.” That one is now sitting in prison, filled with doubts, and sending word to ask if Jesus is really who He said He was. Boy, oh boy. What in the world has happened to this man?

Now, I’ve heard pastors try to skirt around this and say that that’s not really what John was asking. Can we just go with the text, maybe? That’s clearly what John was asking. I heard one person say John wasn’t asking for his own benefit. He sent his disciples to ask that question for their benefit. It’s not true. Because we’ll see when Jesus answers this question, He says, “Go and tell John.” So John was the one in trouble here. John was the one flailing here.

And we need to admit that. And it’s one of the things I love about the Bible is that it doesn’t try to sugarcoat the so-called heroes in the Bible. Because I’ve told you there are no heroes in the Bible except for Jesus. All the others are people just like you and me.

Now John wasn’t in prison for murder or robbery or treason. He had been arrested and thrown in prison for speaking the truth. Can I just add this as well? John was, to use our modern church language, John was in the center of God’s will. And it took him to prison.

Briefly, what had happened was John had confronted Herod Antipas. By the way, a very powerful man in that region. John had confronted him for stealing his brother’s wife and taking her as his own. John spoke up, as John would do, and said, “What you’ve done is wrong.”

Herod Antipas had him arrested and thrown into the fortress of Machaerus, a remote prison in the desert. The remains are still visible today. You can show that photo. On the left there, it’s a tiny section. There are some aerial views you can go online and find. This place was enormous. And on the right, I don’t know if you can see that, it’s one of the pits that have been found. Archaeologists have found these large pits in this prison, dug into the ground where prisoners were thrown, and then a large heavy top was covered over it. And I’m telling you, in the unrelenting heat of that part of the world, it would have been agonizing torture to have been trapped in one of those hot, airless dungeons.

That is where the ministry of John the Baptist, this faithful man, came to an end. Did you hear that? That is where the ministry of this faithful man slowly, agonizingly came to an end. That was John’s retirement package for following Christ. Now, I’ll probably clear out half the church today with this message. That’s okay.

What in the world brought John to this place? Not this place geographically, but this place in his heart and in his mind. John was the one who had announced the arrival of Jesus. John was the one who had baptized Jesus. John was the one who had pointed people to Jesus instead of to himself. He sent many of his own disciples to say, “Don’t follow me anymore. There’s the one you want to follow. He’s the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.” John is the one who, in John 3:30, said, “He must increase. I must decrease.” And boy, oh boy, did that ever come true. And yet here is this man of God, locked in the darkness of this horrifying prison, asking the hardest questions of his life.

We must try to understand the mindset, the cultural mindset, the zeitgeist of that day. John, like all Jews had been taught and were expecting, a Messiah Who would arrive as a conquering king, one Who would come in with force, Who would break the Roman yoke off of their neck, Who would set up an earthly kingdom, and Who would destroy all their enemies. This was what the Jews expected. John was no different.

In fact, let’s go back in time a little bit, back to Luke chapter 3, and look at the words of John the Baptist himself early on in his ministry. Luke chapter 3, verses 16 and 17 says this, John the Baptist speaking: “I indeed baptize you with water, but One mightier than I is coming, Whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and…” Here we go now. This is Jewish prophetic language here, waiting for the Messiah. “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out the threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn, and the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Those were the words of John the Baptist. This is what he was waiting for. But Jesus still hadn’t done any of those things. And for somewhere around a year now, John has been languishing in prison, questioning everything he thought he knew.

In fact, I didn’t think to put these verses in until just now, but if you want a reference, if you go back to Matthew chapter 4, and you look at the first 11 verses of Matthew chapter 4. We studied this a year ago. The first 11 verses of Matthew 4 talk about the temptation of Christ, right? We looked at that one Sunday. Now, in our timeline, this was a year ago. We’ve covered a whole lot of ground since Matthew 4. The very next verse after the temptation, Matthew 4:12, says, “When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison.”

That was way back then. All the ministry of Jesus we’ve looked at for this past year. That whole time, this good man has been sitting in that prison cell. And Jesus has not shown up as the conquering king that the Jews expected. John is beginning to question things he never thought he would question, to the point where on one of the occasions when I guess he was allowed visitors, some of his disciples were allowed to come and see him. John sends two of them to Jesus. “Go and find Jesus. And when you see Him, ask Him this question. Are You the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”

Did those disciples push back at all? I don’t know. We’re not told. I mean, they’re human. I imagine if I was one of those disciples, I would have said, “Right, we’re on it, Boss. Oh, wait, what? What now? John, we remember your sermons. We remember the day you pointed to Jesus and said, ‘He is the One. He’s the Lamb of God.’ John, what are you doing?”

I don’t know what took place in that moment. On the long journey from Machaerus Prison up on that hilltop where it’s located, through the desert, miles of desert, these guys would have had to travel all the way to find Jesus. What was the discussion on the way? “I’m not going to ask Him, you ask Him.” “Are you crazy? Are you sure you want to do this? Why don’t we just maybe tell John we asked Him?” And I was like, “I don’t want to do this.” That’s what I would have been doing. I would have been shaking in my shoes.

What’s happening to John? Well, listen, we, you know, again, I don’t want to, I’m not minimizing any difficulties that any of us here in 2026 have been through or are going through. I mean, I’m looking around this room. I’m seeing several people I met with this week, just this week, and the things I heard, you know, brought tears to my eyes, the struggles that some people are going through right now.

So I don’t want to minimize any of that, but I also want to put it in perspective and say, we here living in beautiful Greenville, with every luxury and comfort and amenity imaginable, it’s hard for us to put ourselves in a position like this, because we’ve never known it. And that’s wonderful, I think.

But you see, prolonged suffering can break even the strongest person.

Jeremiah, that great prophet. Again, I say that ironically. He wasn’t a great prophet. He was a man, a faithful man, and yet, boy, God did some great things through him. But Jeremiah, that powerful prophet, grew so weary that he reached a point where he said, “I’m not going to speak about God anymore. I’m done.” That’s Jeremiah. Elijah, the powerful prophet who defeated all those prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, call down fire from heaven, like, this is top-tier prophet. You turn the page and you see Elijah has run away in fear into the middle of the desert and he’s begging God to kill him.

Paul. Paul was a strong guy, a tough guy, and yet Paul said, “We were burdened with trouble so far beyond measure that we despaired even of life.” Prolonged hardship and suffering and trials can break even the strongest person.

Our family, many years ago, when I was a boy, knew a pastor named Harlan Popov, who was sentenced to years in a communist prison in Bulgaria, multiple prisons actually, for his faith in Christ. He was beaten, he was deprived of food and sleep, and he was so thoroughly broken that he eventually signed a confession of crimes he had never committed.

For all of us, there are moments when the weight gets so heavy, it feels like it’s pushing us past what we can handle. And in that pressure, and if you’re not there today, I praise God for that. I hope the majority are not. But if you’re not there today, may I encourage you just to tuck this away somewhere for future reference. That all of us can find ourselves in that long, dark night of the soul where we begin thinking, “God, where are You? Do You even see this? Do You even care?”

As C.S. Lewis said after the horrible period of grief over the death of his wife, he said, “My greatest fear is not that God doesn’t exist, but that He does exist, and He doesn’t care.”

We must remember, John the Baptist, as all good Jews, John’s father, Zechariah, was a priest in the temple. His mother, Elizabeth, a godly woman. John knew the Old Testament prophecies. He had been taught them from birth. He would have been very familiar with Isaiah 61, one of the favorite passages of the Jews then, the passage that spoke specifically of what the coming Messiah would do when He got here. He would bind up the brokenhearted. He would proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners.

But there John sat in prison, and Jesus still hadn’t come to loose his chains. That’s even worse. You ever been in a place like this, and you look around you and see other people prospering and rejoicing and doing well, and you say, “Wow, Lord, how about a little something over here?”

And out of John’s brokenness, somewhere around a year, we think at this point, in that prison, he’s broken. And he sends this haunting question to Jesus: “Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for another?” That is not unclear.

Now put yourself on the receiving end of that question for a moment. John and Jesus were related. Wouldn’t you think that question would have stung Jesus just a little bit? Just a little. Don’t you think He might have said, “Fellas, what? I’m sorry, what? What did you just say? John is asking Me this. Am I the one? Or should he look for another?” But Jesus doesn’t do any of that. He doesn’t get mad. He doesn’t rebuke John. In fact, it’s the opposite. He shows extraordinary grace in John’s worst moment. And in this, we must take encouragement.

Look now at verse 21, back in Luke chapter 7. Luke 7, verses 21 and 22. And that very hour, Jesus cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits, and to many blind He gave sight. He answered and said to them, that is to John’s two disciples, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard, that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.”

This wasn’t a random statement Jesus was making. He’s pointing directly to Isaiah’s prophecy about the promised Messiah. Pointing to something John would have known. Isaiah 35, verses 5 and 6, had prophesied this of what the Messiah would do. “Then the eyes of the blind will be open and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue will shout for joy.” Jesus is giving John evidence of prophecy being fulfilled through Him.

And then Jesus adds this little caution. And it’s so easily missed. Verse 23. “And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

Now that’s one of those little added statements that we so easily miss. Just like back in, we’re not back in, we’re not there yet. We’ll be there in a few weeks. John chapter 8. When the men dragged in the woman who was caught in adultery and threw her down before Jesus. And they had rocks in their hands ready to stone her. And Jesus, of course, said, “Let him who is without sin be the first to cast a stone.” And as one pastor said, “They dropped their rocks and split.”

And then Jesus is alone with the woman. And He says to her, “Woman, where are your accusers?” And I imagine for the first time, she lifts her face and looks around. And she said, “Sir, there are none.” And He said, “Neither do I condemn you.” And that’s where everybody stops.

But that’s not all He said to her. He gave her those life-giving words, “Neither do I condemn you.” But then He gave her one of these little added statements. He said, “Now go and sin no more.” Go and leave your life of sin. And you see, there it is. It’s not just Jesus says, “Hey, listen, it’s fine, it’s fine. Whatever you do, it’s fine.” That’s not what Jesus says. It’s not fine. But He says, “I don’t condemn you because I don’t have to condemn you. I paid for your sin on the cross. But now, for goodness’ sake, go and leave your life of sin.”

And here, Jesus sends word back to John the Baptist saying, “Go tell him that what Isaiah prophesied is happening right before your eyes. But tell him this too. Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

How do we respond when God’s will allows hardship and unexpected circumstances to come our way? How do we respond?

I’ve known people over the years, and I say this with no condemnation at all, honestly. I say it out of fear and trembling. Knowing that the Bible says, when you help someone who’s fallen, do it gently and with mercy, knowing that you might be the next to fall. But I’ve known people over the years, some who sat right here, who turned their back on God because of some challenge or painful trial that fell upon them, or because life didn’t turn out like they wanted, and they walked away from the faith.

They became offended at God. The word offended here means to cause someone to stumble. Things that God allowed into their lives did not line up with their plans, and it hurt real bad, and they stumbled at God, and they walked away.

You and I should pay attention to this little loving warning because it’s important. At some point, every believer will face challenges so daunting they’ll begin to question everything.

What is Jesus saying here? Is He sending word to John saying, “John, don’t be offended in Me because of this trial you’re suffering. Don’t be offended, John, because your life turned out this way.” Is He gently telling John what He’s not going to do? He’s not going to open the prison doors. He’s not going to release John from Machaerus. John will die there. Is that what He’s saying to John? I don’t know. I’m not exactly clear on that. It seems to be. “John, this is God’s will for your life. Don’t be offended by it.” What a thing.

I mean, I don’t know what to say about this except, you know, may it be our aim. May it be the desire of every one of us, regardless of what comes, to stand firm, to not be offended at what God allows into our life, to love Him regardless. But may we never be quick to judge someone who has stumbled or who’s dealing with doubts. Be very careful.

Now watch what Jesus says when John’s messengers leave. See, this is often where the mood changes. This is often where the conversation turns. John’s disciples have left. Jesus doesn’t begin talking about John behind His back. That so often happens. “Hey, love you, man. Love you. See ya. All right. Bye. What a jerk. Can’t stand that guy.” We’ve all seen that happen. Maybe we’ve done it.

Perfect opportunity here for Jesus to turn to the crowd and go, “Whoa, can you believe that? The guy who was supposed to be supporting Me turned against Me?” None of that.

Verse 24 of Luke 7. Not only does Jesus not criticize John, He speaks well of him. Luke 7:24, when John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John. And He says to them, “What did you go out into?” Now, this is old language. We need to try to put ourselves into this culture. He said, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind? What did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in king’s courts. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You who will prepare Your way before You.'”

Now clearly many people in this crowd had been the ones who had gone out originally to hear John when he first began preaching, and Jesus, knowing how fickle people are, wants to make sure they don’t get thrown off course after hearing this question John had asked. So He reminds them, “Hey, when you first went out to see and to hear John the Baptist, what did you go out to see? A reed swaying in the wind?”

That was a common metaphor back then. In other words, do you think John was a wimp who gets blown about by every opinion that comes along and changes his mind on a whim? That’s not who John is. That’s not why he’s asking this question. John is as solid as a rock. He knew exactly what he believed. And then He says, “Did you go out to see a man dressed in soft clothes?” It’s not a term we would use, but the crowd understood immediately.

They got this perfectly. Soft garments were a sign of wealth and comfort and power. John didn’t come from luxury. He didn’t come from some fine, wealthy upbringing that now he wants to go back to. That’s not what’s causing this. He wore camel’s hair. I mean, that’s got to be comfortable. Camel’s hair. He ate locusts and wild honey. I mean, this guy was a savage.

And Jesus asked again, “Did you go out to see a prophet?” And yes, indeed, they had. But He says John was more than a prophet. He himself was the fulfillment of prophecy. John was. He was the one the prophets of old spoke of when they described the one who would come and prepare the way. That’s John.

And then Jesus makes this interesting statement in verse 28. He says, and listen to this, John has just run the risk of offending Jesus, and Jesus says this in verse 28. What a conclusion. “I tell you, among those born of women, there is no one greater than John. Yet even the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” What in the world is He saying?

John was the only prophet at this hinge point in history. Every prophet before him had to point to the Messiah from a distance. “He’s coming someday,” and it was 700 years away. Only John got to point and say, “There He is. Turn around right there. There He is.” And in that sense, no human being ever born had a more privileged, prophetic position than John. And yet Jesus says, “The least in the kingdom of God surpasses even John.” Why?

Well, this deserves a message in itself, but to try to summarize it, John, even though John is mentioned in the New Testament, he was an Old Testament prophet. The New Testament theology had not begun yet. Everyone living up to the time of the crucifixion and the resurrection were still under the law, still under the Old Testament.

John stood on the other side of the cross than we do. He announced what Jesus would do, but he died before Jesus atoned for sin. He died before the resurrection. He died before the new covenant was established through Christ. Those of us who live on this side of the cross and the resurrection, even the newest believer, enjoy a privilege John never had. The Bible says even angels long to look into our salvation. They don’t get it. You and I, Jesus is saying, the ones who are going to be the beneficiaries of what Christ came to do on the cross and through the empty tomb and through His ascension, you and I are as great as John the Baptist in the sense of what we’ve experienced.

Well, I must wrap this up. Today, in just these few minutes we’ve had, we’ve seen a good man who was at the lowest point in his life, and we’ve seen a gracious Savior Who loved him anyway. You need to take hope in that.

You see, we’re so quick. We’re so quick to judge when someone else wounds us. We get in the car and slam the door and drive off. “I can’t believe. I can’t believe.” That’s not our Savior.

Maybe today, and I hope you are, maybe you’re in a Jordan River season, like John the Baptist in his early ministry. I mean, he was standing strong and tall in his faith, filled with the fire of God burning in his heart. Maybe that’s where you are this morning, and I praise God for that.

Maybe though, and I know this is true for some, but I don’t know every situation here, maybe you’re in a Machaerus prison season. You’re in a dark place facing a diagnosis you never expected to hear, a marriage that’s crumbling despite years of trying, a prodigal come home, a ministry that ended in betrayal, a prayer that never seems to be answered.

And somewhere amidst that struggle, questions have formed that you’re ashamed to admit, let alone ask. But you’re living with questions like John was wrestling with. “Lord, are You really who You said You are? Is it even worth it? Should I look for another way?” Perhaps someone right here is asking those very questions. “This is too much. I don’t think it’s worth going on. I’m going to find another way. This isn’t turning out like I thought.” I want to tell you something. Those questions don’t disqualify you.

You have not fallen outside of God’s love. We have a Savior Who remembers that we are dust. He understands our weakness. He’s near to the brokenhearted, and He saves those who are crushed in spirit. Jesus showed grace to a man who was sitting in a prison cell doubting Him.

Isaiah 42:3 says of our Lord: “A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out.” Isn’t that beautiful? A bruised reed, what is that good for? Just rip it up and toss it aside. A smoldering candle, just pinch it and snuff it out. Jesus says, “No, no, no, no. I can work with this. I can renew this. I can bring the fire back again.”

I want you to remember that regardless of where you are in life right now, and I’m speaking to Christians, God’s promise still stands. What He said in Hebrews chapter 13, verse 5, was true then, and it’s true for you. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Not when you get it all together, not when all your questions are answered, right here, in the doubt, in the wondering, in the waiting.

He’s with you. No matter how dark the road gets, He is with you, and He will be faithful to the very end. He knows your name. He knows your heart. Even the places that are broken and bruised and asking hard questions. And He is not ashamed to call you His. Praise God. What a Savior we have. Take courage in that this morning!