John the Baptists Final Question

BROTHER PAUL SWANKEY 10/26/25 9:45 A.M. Luke 7:19 “Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?”

John the Baptist is in prison here, about to be beheaded.  You have to imagine what this prison looked like.  It was a cave, about half the size of a pulpit area, with the ceiling hanging so low you couldn’t stand. It was below freezing at night with massive wind chills and burning up hot during the day.  So John has been imprisoned here by Herod Antipas for at least 12 months, but could be as long as 18 months (we’re not entirely sure).  So, being in prison for that long, you can imagine the amount of desperation he’s going through.  He has disciples that visit him, and one day he asks them to go ask Jesus (for his peace of mind - we can assume) if he is the One he’s been preaching about, or if they should wait and look for another.  It’s mighty curious why he asks this, as he grew up with Jesus (they were cousins), so why would John be asking this? He KNOWS!  But maybe he wanted to vocal proof that Jesus was the Messiah. 

Let’s look at some history that happened before John the Baptist, and what led up to his ministry.
Israel was always falling away from God, and He said many times what would happen if they fell away.  And they never learned and constantly re-fell (Leviticus 26:14-45; Deuteronomy 28:15, 36, 47-48, 64).  The Northern Kingdom (Israel) fell and was invaded by the Assyrians around 722 B.C. The Southern Kingdom (Judah) fell and was conquered by Babylon (King Nebuchadnezzar) around 586 B.C. We can see the justification of these captivities because they didn’t just stop worshipping, but rather, they started falling DEEP in sin (as is wont to happen when you let Satan in your life). 
They started sacrificing their children to Moloch.  Moloch was a god that “required” child sacrifice.  He was the shape of a bull and had open hands. The sacrifice would take place while the child was still alive.  They would light the idol on fire until his hands were scorching hot.  He had 7 chambers, and you would take your goods to each part depending on what you were sacrificing.  Goats, sheep, calves, cows, oxen, and children.  If you brought your child, you would be allowed to go into the innermost chamber and kiss Moloch.  The priest would then take the child from the father and take it inside the chamber specifically for children.  The priests would then bang drums, clap, and yell, to drown out the child's screams (this was commonly referred to as “passing through the fire”).  They did this to not only drown out the screams of the child, but to keep away any chance the father would regret his decision (Midrash). What kind of father would do this?  Imagine the screams of a tortured child until he finally dies.  And this was a common practice! Solomon even built a temple to Moloch for his wives!  But Ahaz was the worst.  He sacrificed his son to Moloch!  A Jewish King (meant to worship God), sacrificed his child (2 Kings 16:3).
The Jews also embraced sexual immorality, worshipping idols, and mixed with pagan nations (hence the Samaritans).  Which, at this point, was illegal and forbidden.
And when they returned to God, they kept empty traditions, and didn’t actually have a relationship or intimacy with God.  The priests, Pharisees, and all other religious leaders (which in turn led the people) became, what we can assume, obsessed with ritual and appearance. 
This is what John the Baptist walked into.  Crying out in the wilderness and preparing the way for the long-awaited Messiah and Savior.  He rebuked the hypocrisy and meaningless traditions of the Jewish leaders, as Jesus Himself would do not even months later (Matthew 15:3, Mark 7:5-13). 

Therefore, when John asked if Jesus was actually the Messiah (the One we’ve looked for), it wasn’t unbelief.  It was human doubt from a servant of God.  And Jesus doesn’t berate or scold him for this questioning.  He answers straight from the Bible.  If John the Baptist had doubts of Jesus being the Messiah, it’s not far-fetched for us to sometimes have doubts of our salvation.  There’s a very big difference between doubting your salvation and not being affected by hell at all. 
Luke 7:22 Jesus says, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them.”
For hundreds of years, people had claimed to be Jesus.  Yet none of them provided the proof that Jesus did.  Isaiah 29:18, 35:6, and 61:1-2 are just a few examples of the proof that we know Jesus is the Messiah.  So that is what John's disciples reported back.  He let John make the choice himself.  Jesus never forces faith.  He shows us the truth and lets us respond back.  God is not a dictator (as many other religions are).  We all have the choice to accept or reject Jesus.  So Jesus answered with scriptures.  And we can know Jesus is the Messiah because God said it (Matthew 3:17).  There is no denying the Bible is real.  There is no denying historical and accurate accounts of this happening.  We all have the choice, but that choice is obvious.  The small and narrow, and hard door, or the wide and easy and fun door? (Matthew 7:13-14)
John asked this question weeks, maybe a few months, before Herod's daughter dressed herself and danced before Herod as her birthday gift to him at his party.  Her name was Salome (her name isn’t mentioned in the Bible, but Josephus points her out by name and says she goes on to marry her mother’s uncle, Philip the Tetrarch).  He was drunk and pleased with the dancing, and as such, he offered to give her whatever she wanted up to half the kingdom.  Herodias (Salome's Mother) couldn’t stand John the Baptist because he spoke out against her unlawful marriage to Herod.  So she told Salome to ask for John's head on a silver platter. Like the good daughter she was, she did.  John the Baptist stood for the truth and never let anyone lead him astray.  After he took his final breath, he joined the faithful before him in Heaven.