January 23rd, 2026
Scripture – “John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’ ” At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.””
Luke 7:18-23 NIV
Observation – John is in prison and sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he is really the one or if they should wait for someone else. Scholars have three opinions on this:
- Jesus’ mission was different than what John envisioned, John preached judgement and Jesus brought compassion and forgiveness, so John wanted clarity
- John was the most faithful man on earth and wondered how God would allow him to be sent to jail
- John wanted his disciples to become disciples of Jesus so he sent them to experience Jesus first hand
Jesus, responds that the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is the anyone who does not stumble on account of me. Jesus is summarizing Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 61, letting John know that prophecy is being fulfilled and to reassure him that he will be blessed if he maintains his faith.
Application – When difficult times come in our lives we try and figure out what happened, how did we get to this point??? Often times we think God is punishing us or disciplining us because of something we did or didn’t do. This causes us to doubt God’s goodness and then we wrestle with our thoughts and try and come up with a way to get ourselves out of this painful situation. During times like this Jesus says we are blessed if we don’t fall away on account of him. Jesus wants us to rely on his word that says he will never leave us or forsake us and to remember that this is not our home, we are strangers passing through on our way to eternity with God.
Prayer – Lord, difficulty and tragedy come to visit each of us, give us encouragement during these times that you are in control even when it doesn’t feel like that is the case. Amen.
What are you doing? Do it better 