Jesus the Light 36 In the Dungeon
Blessed is he who does not stumble over Me -Mt.11:6
A man sent from God [Jn.1:6], indeed, none greater that has been born of women [Mt.11:11] and more than a prophet [Mt.11:9]: this was John. Filled with the Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb [Lk.1:15] and coming in the spirit and power of Elijah [Lk.1:17] as the messenger to prepare the way for the Lord [Mt.11:10]: there have arisen none to equal the Baptist.
Fearlessly, he confronted an entire generation like a thunder clap from heaven against the sins of peasants, priests, and princes alike. None were exempt from his withering denunciations and demands for repentance: none, not even the king.
Lk.3:19,20: “When Herod the tetrarch was reproved because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked things which Herod had done, Herod also added this to them all: he locked John up in prison.”
And thus he descended into Herod’s dark and dank dungeon. The blaze of heaven’s light bursting from him was then plunged into blackness. Multitudes who once rejoiced in this burning lamp [Jn.5:35] thronged to him no more. The voice that cried in the wilderness was silenced behind the confines of cold castle stone.
John is alone. The heralded Messiah of the coming kingdom sends no greeting. Jesus the Christ makes no visit to his cell. No word of cheer reaches his ears.
He whom he faithfully testified of and announced remains aloof while the wicked king he faithfully testified against abides as his afflicting captor. Christ, the One that John’s whole life had been prepared for and was devoted to does nothing, says nothing.
Mt.11:3: “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” Multiplied anxious thoughts race through fevered imaginations in Herod’s dungeon. We can imagine John’s anxious thoughts: “The kingdom of heaven was at hand, yet Herod’s wicked scepter still holds sway. How is it that the Bridegroom can abandon His friend who rejoiced to hear His voice? [Jn.3:29]. Surely He has come to set the captives free! [Isa.61:1]. Why does He not come?”
Rarely do such tumbling thoughts receive a satisfactory resolution. Suspense is one of the great disturbances to the soul. And so it was that a deputation of disciples came to inquire of Christ on John’s behalf. And thus did Christ respond.
Lk.7:21-23: “At that very hour He cured many of diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind he gave sight. Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and tell John the things which you have seen and heard: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them.
“‘And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.’”
Report what you have seen and heard. They saw that many, but not all, were healed. They heard those ancient prophesies of the blind, deaf, and lame being saved [Isa.35:3-6] and of the gospel being preached to the poor by the Lord’s Anointed [Isa.61:1-3].
This is what they saw and heard. It was the message that they carried to the downcast in the dungeon. Jesus Himself did not come. The message of truth did. And John was left there with the Truth until his earthly race had run its course.
“And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” It is a blessed condition to not be offended when the Lord Jesus does not perform according to our expectation. We are blessed when His Word alone is sufficient to sustain us in the midst of distressing and grievous afflictions. Blessed are you when you trust what you know is true in the unrelieved grimness of Herod’s dungeon.
He was left alone to reflect on the fact that many were healed, but not all. It was the same Jesus who healed some and did not relieve others. More significant conflicts are raging in unseen spiritual realms than our immediate rescue from our discomforts. Join with Job and John in meekly submitting to even horrific trials.
John was left with the truth of the Word of God in the midst of sorrow. He pondered those prophesies, both of which promised rescue from present maladies and pointed to a coming day of vengeance.
That of the 35th of Isaiah promised that the weak and fearful-hearted will yet be visited by God and saved. Isa.35:4-6: “Say to those with anxious heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear. Behold, our God will come with vengeance; the recompense of God will come, but He will save you. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.”
In the 61st chapter, not only is the gospel preached unto the poor, but the captives are liberated and the prison doors fly open. Isa.61:1The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners.”
They were cheering words to the downcast. But when shall they be realized? When will He come to this, my dungeon? And to this question we may have no answer.
The fact is that it may not be in this life at all that your distress is visited and relieved. Perhaps not until the day of vengeance will all of your woes, grievances, and injustices be rectified.
By faith the servants of the Most High “escaped the edge of the sword” -Heb.11:34. By faith others, equally His servants, “were put to death with the sword” -Heb.11:37. Same faithful servants, all of who had glowing faith: some perished, some did not.
Elijah was ushered into glory in a fiery chariot sent from heaven [2 Kings 2:11]. His faithful companion, Elisha, who possessed a double portion of his spirit, slowly expired in his sickness [2 Kings 13:14].
By the mercies of God Epaphroditus was healed of his deadly ailment [Phil.2:27]. But Paul’s beloved co-worker was left sick at Miletus [2 Tim.4:20]. Acts 19:11,12: “God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them.” But Timothy, his closest and dearest co-worker, had chronic bodily afflictions that were not healed [1 Tim.5:23].
God’s notable prophet, Jeremiah, was delivered and raised from a pit of certain destruction [Jer.38:4-14]. Yet the stalwart and fearless Micaiah was cast into prison and fed sparingly with the bread of affliction [1 Kings 22:27].
In days of famine, one desolate widow was miraculously fed while others foraged about searching for crumbs. Lk.4:25,26: “Elijah was sent to none of them.”
Dear Listener, lonely vigils night and day passed in the Baptist’s miserable cell in Herod’s dungeon before he was released. The prisoner was eventually set free. The prison doors finally burst forth from their squalor into the brightness of eternal day. It was the Lord’s doing.
At the malicious demand of Herod’s wanton consort, “he sent and had John beheaded in prison” -Mt.14:10. And thus the captive was set free by Herod’s murderous sword, yet not even one hair of John’s head perished [Lk.21:18].
And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.
Copyright Steve Phillips 2020