Isaiah 40:1-11/St Matthew 11:2-11
“What the Bible Says About our Doubts”
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Doubts may be of many varieties. Sometimes they signify that we do not wish to believe in Christ; that we stubbornly refuse Him, recoil at His Word, and apply our wisdom to spiritual matters. At this we must repent in song and prayer, as you have done these past weeks: “O come, Thou Wisdom from on high, who ord’rest all things mightily; to us the path of knowledge show, and teach us in her ways to go” (LSB 357:2).
Sometimes we half-consciously think as the men in the parable of the ten minas, who sent a delegation after their king saying, We do not want this man to reign over us (Lk 19:14). To which the king replied upon his return, As for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me (Lk 19:27). Kyrie eleison!
Christ speaks of this kind of doubt immediately after the Gospel text for this evening. He likened this generation to petulant children sitting in the market places dissatisfied with everything that is proposed to them as games. The Forerunner came to them, stern and ascetic, and they said he was crazy. The Christ came with freedom and the Gospel. This too they would not abide. He was too liberal in His choice of companions and His actions. Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds (Mt 11:19)!
Behind this type of doubt always lies a desire to avoid the issues, a refusal to come to grips with the things that must be done away with if one is to follow Jesus. It is apparent from the preaching of the Forerunner that things must become different: Bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Mt 3:8). For the Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil (Jn 3:19). Thus do we pray in eager longing: “O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High, pervading and permeating all creation, mightily ordering all things: Come and teach us the way of prudence” (O Antiphon).
But doubts can be of another variety altogether. There can be doubts even among those who are not trying to avoid commitment. These are the doubts of the disciple. This type of doubt is seen in the prophet Elijah. Having confronted wicked King Ahab concerning the prophets of Baal, and having defeated those 850 false prophets by the Word of the Lord, and having put them to death by the sword, Elijah fled to the wilderness in fear of Jezebel. He doubted the Lord’s protection over him; the Lord’s wisdom in sending the prophet to the wicked king concerning his doubly wicked wife (1 Kings 18-19). Our Lord comforts him with His Word, only not to chastise him, but to comfort him in the small whisper of the Gospel, giving peace to his troubled conscience. Our Lord comprehends the doubts of His servants. He condescends to comfort them in the midst of weakness and despair.
So too St John the Baptist. Having baptized the Christ, having proclaimed Him to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and having confronted wicked king Herod concerning the taking of his brother’s wife, John sits in prison and begins to wonder if Jesus really was the One who is to come. Again, Christ comforts him with His Word, the blessed assurance of His Messianic credentials: the blind see, the lame walk, the dead are raised, the poor have the Good News preached to them.
Even the very disciples themselves, when they first heard that Jesus had risen from the tomb they thought it idle chatter. Thomas would not believe, even though the others tried to convince him. Our Lord Jesus, the Word made flesh, invites Thomas to hear and see, to put his hand in His pierced side and stop being unbelieving and believe. Again, He condescends to men’s weakness and doubt. He comforts and blesses.
Over and over again the Gospels clearly show us how our Lord led the disciples, step by step, to the conviction that Jesus truly is the Messiah, God’s Son. And it is edifying for us to read about their misunderstanding, their foolish questions, and their mistaken judgments. For when the Gospels so artlessly reveal all this - John’s doubt, Peter’s denial, Thomas’ unbelief - all this is meant to show you that the disciples were ordinary men with ordinary doubts and ordinary questions. They were just as you.
But fear not, beloved of the Lord. For such doubts can always be conquered. It will never happen through rational thought. No. That Christ Jesus is God’s Son will never be made clear through your speculation; not by your reason or strength. But through what you hear and see with the ears and eyes of faith. As it is written, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the Word of life - the Life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal Life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us (1 Jn 1:1-2).
Your doubts, dear children, your doubts about Christ can only be overcome by learning to know Christ Himself, through the hearing of His tender, comforting Word. For when the disciples lived with Him, listened and walked with Him, had fellowship with Him, it was then that faith was created in them; as they continued to abide in His Word, despite their doubts and fears.
For when you feel yourself far removed from Christ - removed by sin, by a stricken conscience, by fear - do as St John did in prison: pray to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He give you His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace you believe His holy Word. Do as the despondent father, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief! (Mk 9:24). The Psalms will also teach you that you do not need to be silent about your doubts before God. Prayer is not always or only speaking forth pious and godly, faithful and grateful thoughts and sentiments to God. But is often lament and concern.
Listen to the Psalmist and hear your own silent prayers and doubts: Why, O Lord, do You stand far away? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble? (Ps 10:1) My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest (Ps 22:1-2). O Lord, God of my salvation; I cry out day and night before You. For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. O Lord, why do You cast my soul away? Why do you hid your face from me? (Ps 88:1, 3, 14).
Pray, dear ones. Pray in confidence that Christ Jesus, the Greatest in the kingdom of heaven, prays for you, with you, and in you. “He has known torment and pain, guilt and death more deeply that you have. It is the prayer of your human nature, assumed by Christ - with all its doubts - that comes before God. For it is not the poverty of your heart, but the richness of God’s Word, which determines your prayer (Bonhoeffer, Psalms, 157-160).
And having thus prayed, hear again the comfort of our Lord; His sermon to St John and to you: “Consider not what your senses tell you, but hear and see what I have said and done.” For Jesus gave sight to the blind, made the lame walk, raised the dead, and preached good news to the poor. Indeed He did many signs and wonders which are not recorded, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you have life in His name (Jn 20:31).
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“What the Bible Says About our Doubts”
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Doubts may be of many varieties. Sometimes they signify that we do not wish to believe in Christ; that we stubbornly refuse Him, recoil at His Word, and apply our wisdom to spiritual matters. At this we must repent in song and prayer, as you have done these past weeks: “O come, Thou Wisdom from on high, who ord’rest all things mightily; to us the path of knowledge show, and teach us in her ways to go” (LSB 357:2).
Sometimes we half-consciously think as the men in the parable of the ten minas, who sent a delegation after their king saying, We do not want this man to reign over us (Lk 19:14). To which the king replied upon his return, As for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me (Lk 19:27). Kyrie eleison!
Christ speaks of this kind of doubt immediately after the Gospel text for this evening. He likened this generation to petulant children sitting in the market places dissatisfied with everything that is proposed to them as games. The Forerunner came to them, stern and ascetic, and they said he was crazy. The Christ came with freedom and the Gospel. This too they would not abide. He was too liberal in His choice of companions and His actions. Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds (Mt 11:19)!
Behind this type of doubt always lies a desire to avoid the issues, a refusal to come to grips with the things that must be done away with if one is to follow Jesus. It is apparent from the preaching of the Forerunner that things must become different: Bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Mt 3:8). For the Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil (Jn 3:19). Thus do we pray in eager longing: “O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High, pervading and permeating all creation, mightily ordering all things: Come and teach us the way of prudence” (O Antiphon).
But doubts can be of another variety altogether. There can be doubts even among those who are not trying to avoid commitment. These are the doubts of the disciple. This type of doubt is seen in the prophet Elijah. Having confronted wicked King Ahab concerning the prophets of Baal, and having defeated those 850 false prophets by the Word of the Lord, and having put them to death by the sword, Elijah fled to the wilderness in fear of Jezebel. He doubted the Lord’s protection over him; the Lord’s wisdom in sending the prophet to the wicked king concerning his doubly wicked wife (1 Kings 18-19). Our Lord comforts him with His Word, only not to chastise him, but to comfort him in the small whisper of the Gospel, giving peace to his troubled conscience. Our Lord comprehends the doubts of His servants. He condescends to comfort them in the midst of weakness and despair.
So too St John the Baptist. Having baptized the Christ, having proclaimed Him to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and having confronted wicked king Herod concerning the taking of his brother’s wife, John sits in prison and begins to wonder if Jesus really was the One who is to come. Again, Christ comforts him with His Word, the blessed assurance of His Messianic credentials: the blind see, the lame walk, the dead are raised, the poor have the Good News preached to them.
Even the very disciples themselves, when they first heard that Jesus had risen from the tomb they thought it idle chatter. Thomas would not believe, even though the others tried to convince him. Our Lord Jesus, the Word made flesh, invites Thomas to hear and see, to put his hand in His pierced side and stop being unbelieving and believe. Again, He condescends to men’s weakness and doubt. He comforts and blesses.
Over and over again the Gospels clearly show us how our Lord led the disciples, step by step, to the conviction that Jesus truly is the Messiah, God’s Son. And it is edifying for us to read about their misunderstanding, their foolish questions, and their mistaken judgments. For when the Gospels so artlessly reveal all this - John’s doubt, Peter’s denial, Thomas’ unbelief - all this is meant to show you that the disciples were ordinary men with ordinary doubts and ordinary questions. They were just as you.
But fear not, beloved of the Lord. For such doubts can always be conquered. It will never happen through rational thought. No. That Christ Jesus is God’s Son will never be made clear through your speculation; not by your reason or strength. But through what you hear and see with the ears and eyes of faith. As it is written, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the Word of life - the Life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal Life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us (1 Jn 1:1-2).
Your doubts, dear children, your doubts about Christ can only be overcome by learning to know Christ Himself, through the hearing of His tender, comforting Word. For when the disciples lived with Him, listened and walked with Him, had fellowship with Him, it was then that faith was created in them; as they continued to abide in His Word, despite their doubts and fears.
For when you feel yourself far removed from Christ - removed by sin, by a stricken conscience, by fear - do as St John did in prison: pray to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He give you His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace you believe His holy Word. Do as the despondent father, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief! (Mk 9:24). The Psalms will also teach you that you do not need to be silent about your doubts before God. Prayer is not always or only speaking forth pious and godly, faithful and grateful thoughts and sentiments to God. But is often lament and concern.
Listen to the Psalmist and hear your own silent prayers and doubts: Why, O Lord, do You stand far away? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble? (Ps 10:1) My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest (Ps 22:1-2). O Lord, God of my salvation; I cry out day and night before You. For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. O Lord, why do You cast my soul away? Why do you hid your face from me? (Ps 88:1, 3, 14).
Pray, dear ones. Pray in confidence that Christ Jesus, the Greatest in the kingdom of heaven, prays for you, with you, and in you. “He has known torment and pain, guilt and death more deeply that you have. It is the prayer of your human nature, assumed by Christ - with all its doubts - that comes before God. For it is not the poverty of your heart, but the richness of God’s Word, which determines your prayer (Bonhoeffer, Psalms, 157-160).
And having thus prayed, hear again the comfort of our Lord; His sermon to St John and to you: “Consider not what your senses tell you, but hear and see what I have said and done.” For Jesus gave sight to the blind, made the lame walk, raised the dead, and preached good news to the poor. Indeed He did many signs and wonders which are not recorded, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you have life in His name (Jn 20:31).
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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