author: Ryan Hayden

Introduction

Take your Bibles with me and turn to Luke 7. Luke 7. We are going to be reading verses 18-35.

I want to talk about something today that Christians almost never talk about. It's almost an unspoken taboo to talk about it. I want to talk about doubt.

In 2017, the Barna Group did a survey of professing Christians and asked them about doubt. Two thirds of the people who responded said they had either struggled with doubt or were struggling with doubt.

A few years ago, in 2022, they did another study where they found that 50% of Christians reported going through a prolonged period of doubt.

So that means statistically, there are some of you in here who are going through doubt. I want to tell you that that is ok. That is natural.

In our story today we are going to look at one of the greatest preachers who ever lived - John the Baptist - a man who Jesus said was greater than any prophet in the Old Testament. That means he was greater than Moses who parted the Red Sea. That means he was greater than Elijah that called down fire from heaven and didn't die - but was translated into heaven. That means he was greater than Elisha who did so many great things.

John the Baptist was a great and fiery preacher for God - and yet, he went through a period of extreme doubt. And do you know what - Jesus was ok with that. Jesus came to his defense. Jesus pointed to him as a positive example.

But there was another group who didn't just doubt - they rejected. They showed unbelief. Jesus pointed to them and made them a negative example.

So let's read our text today and we are going to talk about the difference between doubt and unbelief.

[!bible] Luke 7:18-35 - KJV 18. And the disciples of John shewed him of all these things. 19. And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? 20. When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? 21. And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. 22. Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. 23. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. 24. And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind? 25. But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings courts. 26. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. 27. This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 28. For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. 29. And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. 30. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him. 31. And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? 32. They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. 33. For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. 34. The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! 35. But wisdom is justified of all her children.

Doubt and Unbelief. That's what this passage is about and that is what I'm going to be preaching about this morning. Here is how I am going to approach it:

First, we are going to talk about John's doubts. Then we are going to look at the Pharisees unbelief. Then we we talk about how we are tempted to doubts and unbelief. Finally, I'll show you a little bonus truth that is found in this passage that is just to good to skip over.

So let's pray and get into that.

author: Ryan Hayden

The first thing I am going to talk about today is...

1. John the Baptist's doubts

In the text that we read, John the Baptist is in prison. He got into prison for preaching against the sins of Herod and his wife. The particular prison he was in was in a place called Macherus - a tall hill fortress next to the dead sea. It's an extremely desolate and depressing place.

John the Baptist wouldn't get out of prison either. He would be beheaded by Herod for the same reason he was in there.

But while John the Baptist is languishing in prison, he hears news about Jesus - and he isn't pleased with what he hears. He hears that Jesus has been healing people, going from town to town. He hears that Jesus healed a Roman Centurion's servant. And John is upset about this.

And that might perplex you - but if you think about it it makes complete sense.

If you look back at Luke 3 in verses 16-17 you can hear the content of John the Baptist's message about Jesus. Listen to this:

[!bible] Luke 3:16-17 - KJV 16. John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: 17. Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.

When John the Baptist preached about the coming Messiah, he was preaching about someone who was going to come and clean house. He was someone who was going to come and judge Israel of its sins and deliver Israel from the oppressors.

John the Baptist's message was basically "Everyone, you need to repent, because Jesus is coming and when he does, he's going to judge the world. So you better get ready."

John the Baptist was almost like a guy in the army that runs through the baracks and says "hurry up and clean up guys, the Sergeant is coming for inspection. You better get everything squared away!"

But here was the thing - when Jesus started His ministry - it was very different from what John the Baptist expected. Jesus wasn't going around judging - He was going around showing mercy. Jesus wasn't throwing off the bonds of the Romans, He was healing Roman centurion's servants, He was urging people to pay their taxes.

If John the Baptist is the guy who runs through the baracks and says "The Sergeant is coming for inspection. Get everything squared away." Then Jesus was a Sergeant who came and gave everyone cake and leave.

John expected a Messiah who was conqueror and a judge, and what John got was a Messiah who was a teacher and a healer.

You can see John in prison can't you. "When is Jesus going to start his kingdom and defeat these guys so I can get out of here? What kind of Messiah leaves his forerunner to rot in prison?"

So John had serious doubts about Jesus and finally, he couldn't hold it anymore. He sent an envoy of his followers to Jesus to ask Him one pointed question: "Are you the one or should we look for someone else?"

John was a man who had doubts. He had serious unanswered questions about Jesus. Jesus did not meet his expectations.

Notice how Jesus responds to John. He didn't really answer the source of his doubts. He didn't say to John "Just hold on, the judgment is coming." Instead, Jesus put on a show in front of these followers - an amazing show of healing that displayed his Divine power.

Then Jesus said go tell John two things:

First, tell him that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.

Those things Jesus said there - all of them are quotes from the prophecies of Isaiah. Jesus basically is telling John to go study his Bible again, because he is missing some things about the Messiah. He was fulfilling the prophecies.

The second thing Jesus told John was blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. Basically He was saying "if you hold on John and don't get tripped up here - there are blessings coming."

We'll come back to that later.

So that's John's doubts. Now, notice, Jesus immediately comes to John's defense and He praises John from verse 25-28. Jesus even says that John the baptist was the greatest who was ever born.

And yet, John the Baptist had doubts. John the baptist was struggling with a disconnect between who he thought God was and who God really was.

Don't you think that is interesting? I think that means this: It is ok to go through doubt, as long as you don't stop there.. It is ok if doubt is a waypoint, but doubt cannot be our destination.

Doubt is a natural questioning of the mind. It is struggling to understand things God is trying to teach us. That is ok, so long as we keep working on it. It's ok to struggle with doubt - but it's not ok to give in to it.

So the doubt of John the Baptist. That is the first thing we see in our text. The second thing we see here is...

2. The Pharisee's unbelief

Right after Jesus stopped talking about John the Baptist he said this (in verse 29-30)

[!bible] Luke 7:29-30 - KJV 29. And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. 30. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.

Jesus contrasted John the Baptist with another group - who weren't struggling with doubt, but who jumped from doubt to rejection - the Pharisees and the lawyers.

From the time John the Baptist showed up on the scene - the common people heard him (and heard Jesus) and accepted his message - even if they didn't understand it completely.

But these Pharisees and lawyers rejected both John the Baptist and Jesus.

They went so far as to say that John the Baptist was demon possessed and to (falsely) accuse Jesus of being a drunk and a glutton.

There is some humor here. They rejected John and said "Oh, you are too hard." Then when Jesus came around they said "Oh, you are too soft."

Jesus said they were like a bunch of grumpy kids who didn't want to play any game. "Want to play baseball?" "Nah - too sweaty." "Want to play video games?" "Nah - I want to move around." (That's what the comment about piping and mourning is all about.)

Now, why did these people reject Jesus and John? There are lots of possible reasons:

• Jesus was a threat to their job.
• They had a shallow view of sin.
• They didn't like Jesus' or John's message.

There could be reasons - but the key is they rejected both of them. They made up their mind.

And that is unbelief.

• Doubt is a function of the mind.
• Unbelief is a function of the will.
• Doubt says "I don't understand this God."
• Unbelief says "I don't want to understand this God - I don't want any part of it."

Unbelief is when we stop our ears to the truth. It is when we do not want to believe.

It's ok to go through doubt - you don't want to pitch a tent there and call it home - but it is ok to travel through it. It is never ok to settle into unbelief. We have to guard our hearts always against unbelief - against rejecting what God has said. Because unbelief always has consequences.

So we've talked about John the Baptist's doubts and the Pharisee's Unbelief, let's talk about...

3. Our doubt and unbelief

What should we do, if we are like most people (and most professing Christians), and we have doubts?

I want to suggest three applications from this story:

First, when we have doubts, we should bring them to Jesus.

That's what John the Baptist did here. He brought his doubts to Jesus. He came to Him and said "are you the one, or should we look for someone else?"

You know, when the disciples first started following Jesus - they weren't all totally convinced. They had questions. Jesus attitude toward them was "come and see." Come with your doubts and follow me.

I think we think that faith is about having all of the answers. But that isn't right. Faith is about following Jesus even in our doubts, knowing that He has all the answers and He'll show us them in His good time.

So if you are struggling with doubts today, bring them to Christ. Come to Him with an open mind and follow Him. "Come and see" what He has for you, and like Jesus did with John the Baptist here - He will show you.

When we have doubts we should bring them to Jesus.

Second, when we have doubts, we should be careful to not be offended.

Jesus gave John the Baptist a little parable, a little beatitude here in verse 23.

[!bible] Luke 7:23 - KJV 23. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

That word "offended" would have brought to mind a bird trap, where a bird would bump a stick and cause the trap to come crashing down. Basically, it mean's "don't get trapped" or "tripped up."

Here is the thing, God's plan for our life almost never looks like we expect it to look. John the Baptist had to learn this. Sometimes, we can be so set on our vision of what God has that we are in danger of being offended when it doesn't happen. And that puts us in unbelief territory.

Unfortunately, I know lots of guys who used to be on fire for God and who now don't even go to church - and if you trace it back - something happened in their life that offended them.

• Maybe they expected a staff position at a church and it didn't happen.
• Maybe they married someone who hurt them.
• Maybe they got sick or had financial trouble.

They were offended at God. Remember, God's ways are not our ways. God doesn't work according to our expectations. But He is always good and His ways are always good.

So watch your heart and be sure you don't get offended when God's ways don't meet your expectations.

• Bring your doubts to Jesus
• Be careful not to be offended.

One more thing:

Third, we have to make sure our doubts don't turn into unbelief.

Remember, it's ok to have questions. It's' not ok to close the book on God. It's ok to be bothered by something that happens in your life and wonder why God let it happen - it's not ok to willfully say "God, I'm done with you."

Doubts are ok. They aren't great. They shouldn't be your destination. But it's ok to go through times of doubt. What isn't ok is rejecting God because not everything works out according to your expectations.

A person with doubts can be brought to Jesus. A person who has settled on unbelief will always find something wrong.

So I want to challenge you today - if you are going through doubts - are you questioning honestly or are you rejecting God willfully. One of those things is ok. One of those things is not.

author: Ryan Hayden

So that is the main message today - but don't close your Bibles yet, because there is one more thing in this text I want to show you that doesn't quite fit the doubt and unbelief theme, but is too good to pass over.

Look at verse 28 again:

[!bible] Luke 7:28 - KJV 28. For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

Have you ever read that verse and wondered what Jesus meant when he said "he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he?"

I know I have. That verse always kind of bothered me. It almost sounds like Jesus is saying that John the Baptist is the greatest man who ever lived, but that every Christian is going to be better than John the Baptist.

And, let me just say, that has not been my experience. Has it been your experience?

So how can everyone who is in the kingdom of God be greater than John the Baptist? I really wanted to figure that out this week and the answer is actually really encouraging.

You see, when Jesus said "he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he" He wasn't talking about character or accomplishments - John the Baptist would blow all of us out of the water there. He wasn't talking about character or accomplishments - He was talking about position.

Positionally, if you are a saved person today, you are greater in God's kingdom than John the Baptist. Even though John the Baptist is in the Bible. Even though He was the forerunner of Christ.

And you might think: how can that be? Let me ask you this: Who has a higher position - the king's messenger or the king's' son?

Think about it: John the Baptist was the greatest prophet born of women—Jesus said it himself. He was the messenger, the forerunner, the one sent to prepare the way for the Messiah. That’s an incredible role.

But also think about this: John lived and died before the cross, before the resurrection, before the full unveiling of God’s kingdom through Jesus’ finished work. He was pointing to something he didn’t get to fully step into.

Now, if you’re a believer today—if you’ve trusted in Christ—you’re not just a messenger pointing to the kingdom. You’re a son or daughter of the King. You’re not on the outside preparing the way; you’re on the inside, part of the family. John announced the coming of the kingdom, but you and I get to live in it. We get the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, something John didn’t experience in the same way. We get the full revelation of Jesus’ death and resurrection, which John only saw from a distance.

So when Jesus says, “he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he,” He’s not saying you’re more talented than John or holier than John. He’s saying your position is greater. The king’s messenger might be bold and faithful—and John was—but the king’s son or daughter has a seat at the table. That’s you. That’s me. Even the newest Christian, the one who feels like the “least” in the kingdom, has a standing John didn’t have in his earthly life. John was a servant of God; we’re children of God.

Isn’t that wild? You might feel small today. You might feel like your faith is shaky, like you’re wrestling with doubts. But if you’re in Christ, your position in God’s kingdom is secure—and it’s greater than anything John the Baptist had in his earthly ministry. That’s not because of what we’ve done, but because of what Jesus has done for us. It’s grace, pure and simple.

So that’s the bonus truth: your position in the kingdom is greater than you might realize. Hold onto that, especially when the doubts creep in.

Conclusion

Alright, let’s wrap this up: In our story today we saw two different responses to Jesus:

• John the Baptist had doubts—real, honest questions about whether Jesus was the one he’d been waiting for. And Jesus met him there, gently pointing him back to the truth, defending him, and calling him great.
• Then we saw the Pharisees and lawyers, who didn’t just doubt—they rejected. They shut their hearts to God’s plan and chose unbelief. One response was a waypoint; the other was a destination.

And then we talked about us—how we’re not immune to doubts, but we’ve got a choice in how we handle them. Bring them to Jesus. Watch out for being offended when God’s plan doesn’t match your script. And guard your heart against unbelief, because that’s where the real danger lies.

And that bonus truth? It’s a anchor. Even when you feel like the least—like your faith is hanging by a thread—your position in God’s kingdom is secure. You’re not just a messenger; you’re a child of the King. John the Baptist would’ve given anything to trade places with you, to know Jesus the way you can know Him today.

So here’s my challenge as we close: If you’re doubting today, don’t hide it. Don’t pretend it’s not there. Bring it to Jesus. Say, “Lord, I’m struggling. Are you the one, or should I look somewhere else?” He’s not offended by that. He’ll meet you there, just like He did John. And if you’re tempted toward unbelief—if you’re shutting your ears to Him—I’m begging you, don’t stay there. Turn back. Come and see what He has for you.