The king, it seems, knows the jig is up, there is no real
hope for him of remaining as king and winning this battle against the
Chaldeans. He, therefore, calls the only
real prophet, the one whose prophetic words have proven reliable even though
they haven’t been what he wanted to hear.
Now he wants to listen to Jeremiah and he wants to hear the truth. He has a decision to make, whether to do as
Jeremiah counsels and surrender to the Chaldeans or wait here in the city and
lose his life. He clearly knows Jeremiah
is correct but he doesn’t want to be seen consulting with the prophet who his
advisers know has other ideas about the future.
He gets a promise from Jeremiah to lie to the officials when they ask
what the conversation has been about.
Will he have enough courage to do the right thing and listen to the
prophet? Both he and the remnant will
benefit if he does.
Is John in doubt about Jesus? The ancient commenters on this passage say no
while more modern writers say yes. Ancient commentary almost unilaterally said
that John sent his disciples to Jesus for their benefit, that he had resigned
himself to his fate and wanted them to attach themselves to Jesus. Modern commentary believes John is having misgivings
since he is in prison when he believed Jesus would be Messiah and take over as
king and therefore set him free. In response,
Jesus cites His works as those promised of Messiah but leaves out the one thing
John would have wanted to hear, setting prisoners free. If all those other things were true but this
one was not, was Jesus Messiah? Faith is
required, even of John and his disciples.
Can we persevere in belief even when our fondest prayers aren’t
answered? We like fairy tale endings so
much that sometimes people can’t handle the disappointment of their own
situations not being resolved in that way.
Paul plainly states the content of faith, what he
preached. The Gospel is: “that Christ
died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that
he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…” and then
that afterwards He appeared to people in the flesh, that many saw the
resurrected Jesus, and that He appeared to Paul himself, one “born out of time.” Our faith is based in those events and their
interpretation as salvific and pointing towards our own resurrection from the dead. Faith isn’t based in getting the outcomes we want
in this life if it is properly Christian, it begins and ends with the finished work
of Jesus and the promise for those who believe in Him of eternal life. Jeremiah might have wanted the city to be
spared but that wasn’t going to happen. John
might have wanted to have his life spared and be released from prison but that
wasn’t going to happen either. Is your
faith strong enough to survive worldly disappointment?
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