John the Baptist's Public Ministry (13): John's Doubts (Luke 7:18-23) by Rev. Angus Stewart
I. The Question John Asks
II. The Answer Christ Gives
III. The Blessing Christ Proclaims
Alfred Edersheim: "In that terrible conflict John overcame, as we all must overcome. His very despair opened the door of hope. The helpless doubt, which none could solve but One, he brought to Him around Whom it had gathered. Even in this there is evidence for Christ, as the unalterably True One. When John asked the question: Do we wait for another? light was already struggling through darkness. It was incipient victory even in defeat. When he sent his disciples with this question straight to Christ, he had already conquered; for such a question addressed to a possibly false Messiah has no meaning" (The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, vo.l. 1, p. 668).