Make Up Your Own Mind

John the Baptist is in prison and he's about to lose his head (Luke 7). Not in the figurative "lose his marbles" sense, but literally. He voiced his disapproval for Herod's choice in a lady friend a little too loudly and was in deep water.

Beheading of JTB by Stanzione

Herod took his sister-in-law as his wife. As this act was a violation of Jewish law, John had every right to disapprove, but at this point may have wished he had held his tongue. 

Initially John wasn't overly concerned, because his cousin Jesus, who was touted as the one who would lead a revolt against the established rulers, would come to his aid. 

But Jesus wasn't coming. He was busy healing the poor and raising people from the dead. So John asks some of his disciples to go to Jesus and ask him "Are you the one to come, or are we to wait for another?"

He wanted to know why Jesus hadn't started the revolution and along with that, why he hadn't broken him out of jail.

John's disciples find Jesus surrounded by the same people he was always with: the diseased, the blind, the cripples, and those with evil spirits. Not the type of people one would choose to lead a violent revolution against the Roman Empire.

Leprosy, one of the skin diseases healed

They ask Jesus the question and as the words are coming from their mouths, Jesus turns and "cures many people of diseases, plagues, evil spirits, and gives sight to many who were blind."

And then he answered them, "Go tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with skin diseases are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who supports a revolution that looks like this."

Jesus doesn't actually answer the question. In the words of a sermon I recently heard: Jesus says, "watch and make up your own minds."

We often come to God wanting all sorts of things, we want all sorts of answers, and what we are really asking is "are you the one for me? Are you what I should put my trust in or should I look somewhere else?"

And God, says, "Come partner with me. Be about the things I'm about.  See the world as I see it and then make up your own mind."