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b'Have you ever prayed and prayed for something to happen, something that you\\nknow is good and right, something that\\u2014by all logic\\u2014seems like it should\\nhappen\\u2026 and it doesn\\u2019t? What then? Well, John the Baptist was in a\\nsimilar situation. He knew that Jesus was the Messiah. In fact, John was\\nthe one who baptized Jesus and saw the Spirit descend on Him like a dove\\n(Matthew 3:13-17; John 1:29-36). But John still sent messengers to Jesus,\\nasking if Jesus was truly the Messiah. Why would he do that? Did John, of\\nall people, have doubts?\\n.\\nJohn was in prison at the time he sent the messengers, and he had been\\nimprisoned by Herod the tetrarch for quite some time at this point (Luke\\n3:19-20). And Jesus knew that John was in prison. I can see how some doubt\\nabout Jesus\\u2019s identity would creep in. I can just imagine John murmuring to\\nhimself in jail, \\u201cI know Jesus is Lord, but how could He just leave me\\nhere?\\u201d\\n.\\nSo, what\\u2019s Jesus\\u2019s answer? He quotes parts of the Old Testament, saying He\\nis there to make the blind see and preach good news to the poor, but He\\nleaves out one specific part. Freeing the captives. In essence, it\\u2019s like\\nJesus is saying, \\u201cYes, I am the Messiah, I am who you think I am, but this\\nisn\\u2019t something I am meant to do for you.\\u201d\\n.\\nWe don\\u2019t get much explanation beyond that except another passage where\\nJesus states that He is not going to fulfill all the expectations that\\npeople had for Him (Matthew 11:16-19). Jesus is the perfect Messiah, but He\\nis going to do things in His own way and His own time.\\n.\\nJohn the Baptist was beheaded in the same prison that he sent those\\nmessengers from (Mark 6:17-29). But even though John remained a prisoner,\\nJesus was no less of a Savior. And someday, Jesus will free all prisoners\\nand justice will come. When Jesus returns, He will raise all His people\\nfrom the dead\\u2014including John the Baptist\\u2014and together we will see the glory\\nof the Messiah on full display. \\u2022 Naomi Zylstra\\n.\\n\\u2022 Can you think of a time your prayers were not answered in the way you\\nwere expecting? Have you ever felt like God wasn\\u2019t \\u201cdoing His job\\u201d?\\n.\\n\\u2022 Jesus does rescue John, but not from the prison cell. John\\u2019s rescue is\\nfrom death itself. Because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave\\nfor us, everyone who puts their trust in Jesus will be raised from the dead\\nwhen Jesus returns! How can remembering Jesus\\u2019s promises give us hope in\\nthe midst of hardship and confusion? (Matthew 28:20; John 16:33; Romans\\n8:31-39)\\n.\\nJesus replied to them, \\u201cGo and report to John what you hear and see\\u2026\\u201d\\nMatthew 11:4 (CSB)\\n\\xa0\\nRead Verses:\\nIsa.35.4-Isa.35.6|Isa.61.1|Luke.7.18-Luke.7.23|Matt.11.4'