JOHN THE BAPTIZER'S DOUBT.

QUESTION : OF JOHN THE BAPTIZER, JESUS SAID: " HE WAS THE LAMP, SET AFLAME AND BURNING BRIGHT ( JOHN 5:35). YET JOHN SENT HIS DISCIPLES TO ASK JESUS: " ARE YOU' HE WHO IS TO COME' OR DO WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER.?"  (MATTHEW 11:11)
 ANSWER: THAT THE PRECURSOR COULD HAVE DOUBTS SHOULD NOT DISTURB US AT ALL. IN FACT THE LESSON GIVEN HERE IS A VERY PRECIOUS ONE.
IT TEACHES FIRST OF ALL THAT NO ONE IS SAFE FROM INVOLUNTARY WEAKNESS, WHICH IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM DIRECT OR IN DIRECT REJECTION OF GOD'S DIVINE AND FREE GIFT OF FAITH. JOHN CERTAINLY UNDERSTOOD WHAT THE VOICE FROM HEAVEN PROCLAIMED AFTER CHRIST'S BAPTISM. HE UNDERSTOOD THAT HE WAS THE "SON OF GOD." BUT HE ALSO REALIZED THAT THIS DIVINE FAVOR RESTING ON JESUS AND THE "SPIRIT OF GOD." DESCENDING ON THIS "CHOSEN ONE"  DID NOT COINCIDE WITH THE HYMN OF THE SUFFERING SERVANT (ISAIAH CHAPTER 42). THE POEMS OF THE SERVANT IN THE PROPHETIC BOOK FORM A  COMPLETE WHOLE, AND THE LAST AND MOST POIGNANT (ISAIAH 53:7) IN PARTICULAR) FURNISH THE BEST EXPLANATION FOR THE MYSTERIOUS TITLE "LAMB OF GOD" WHICH THE PRECURSOR GIVES TO CHRIST. (JN 1:29; 36). SO JOHN'S WAS TRULY AN ENLIGHTENED FAITH. HE UNDERSTOOD THAT THE KINGDOM OF JESUS WAS NOT OF THIS WORLD, AND THAT "THE LAMB" WOULD BE SLAIN. BUT THE DISCIPLE IS NOT ABOVE HIS MASTER.; AND THAT IS THE SECOND PART OF THE MESSAGE.
JOHN'S VOCATION WAS NOT ONLY TO PREPARE WITHIN HIMSELF AND AMONG OTHERS THE WAY OF THE LORD. HE WAS ALSO CALLED TO SHARE THE NIGHT OF GETHSEMANI AND CHRIST'S ABANDONMENT ON THE CROSS. IN ANSWER TO A QUESTION  CONCERNING THE COMING OF ELIJAH, WHO ACCORDING TO LATER TRADITION OF JUDAISM WAS TO PRECEDE THE MESSIAH'S COMING, JESUS SAID:
 " I ASSURE YOU, THOUGH, THAT ELIJAH HAS ALREADY COME, BUT THEY DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIM AND THEY DID AS THEY PLEASED WITH HIM. THE SON OF MAN WILL SUFFER AT THEIR HANDS IN THE SAME WAY.  THEN, MATTHEW ADDS, THE DISCIPLES REALIZED THAT HE HAD BEEN SPEAKING TO THEM ABOUT JOHN THE BAPTIZER"  (MATTHEW 17;12-13; ALSO "MARK 9:12-13). WITH THESE WORDS CHRIST EXPLICITLY SITUATED HIS PRECURSOR'S TRAGIC DEATH IN THE CONTEXT OF HIS OWN SACRIFICE. AND SO NOTHING MAY BE LACKING TO JOHN'S SACRIFICE, IT SEEMS THAT JOHN EXPERIENCED  SOME OF THE SENSE OF DERELICTION THAT HIS MASTER WAS TO ENDURE LATER. THIS WOULD BE THE MEANING OF THE BAPTIZERS  RATHER SURPRISING QUESTION, ADDRESSED FROM HIS PRISON TO CHRIST THROUGH "HIS " OWN DISCIPLES. JOHNS VERY FAITH WAS BEING PUT TO THE TEST. CERTAINLY WHAT HE HAD SEEN AND CONFESSED THROUGH HIS PROPHETIC INSPIRATION,  WHAT HE HAD SEEN AND HEARD WHEN HIS HAND TOUCHED THE HEAD OF THE DIVINE BAPTIZED ONE, MUST HAVE REMAINED IN HIS MEMORY, BUT IT HAD PROBABLY LOST THE POWER OF CONVICTION OF FIRST HAND EVIDENCE. ON THE EVE OF HIS EXECUTION, WHEN HE WAS ABOUT TO DIE NOT FOR BEARING WITNESS TO CHRIST BUT FOR HAVING REMINDED HEROD OF A PRINCIPLE OF NATURAL LAW, IS IT NOT PROBABLE THAT THE PRECURSOR SPENT A NIGHT OF THE SPIRIT SOMEWHAT COMPARABLE TO CHRIST'S AGONY IN THE GARDEN? IT IS NOT THE LEAST OF PARADOXES OF THIS STRANGE LIFE THAT SUCH AN ENDING CAME AFTER SUCH A BEGINNING. WHAT A CONTRAST BETWEEN HIS DEATH IN PRACTICALLY TOTAL ABANDONMENT AND HIS MIRACULOUS  BIRTH!  WHEN HE CAME INTO THE WORLD, WE SEE A THRONG PRAYING AND REJOICING , THE APPARITION OF AN ANGEL, A TWOFOLD MIRACLE, AND ALMOST CONSTANT DIVINE INTERVENTION. AT HIS DEATH, WE FIND A DRUNKEN AND LEWD GATHERING, A LAX AND CRUEL KING AND THE WHOLE EARTH SCENE WRAPPED IN THE SILENCE OF GOD. JOHN THE BAPTIZERS SPIRITUAL EXPLOITS WERE DESTINED TO THIS TRAGIC ENDING. AND IT IS THIS ENDING THAT GIVES THE  FULL MEASURE OF HIS GREATNESS