What John the Baptist Can Teach Us About Doubt
The story of Jesus includes one who came before him, “preparing the way for the Messiah.” This man is called John the Baptist, the one who prepares the world for Jesus' ministry, death, and resurrection to change everything.
It’s easy to see John as a great character in the Bible. Even Jesus calls him “the greatest among those born of women” (Matthew 11:11). Yet despite his greatness in ministry and faith, John also seems to have a moment of doubt. John sends his own disciples to Jesus to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (11:3)
How can this be that John the Baptist, someone viewed so highly in Jesus’ eyes, can have a moment of doubt?
John’s encounters with God
This question becomes even more difficult considering the ways John sees God working over the course of his life.
John was no stranger to miracles. This started at the very beginning: his birth. In Luke 1 John’s father Zechariah enters the temple of the Lord to burn incense. Suddenly an angel named Gabriel appears announcing the future birth of Zechariah’s son. This was a miraculous birth because his wife Elizabeth “was barren, and both were advanced in years” (Luke 1:7). Gabriel says further that this son will also be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in the womb.
Another miracle happens years later. John grows up and is baptizing and preaching publicly, telling everyone his purpose is to prepare the way for the Messiah. One day as he’s preaching, Jesus approaches him, and it becomes clear to John that Jesus is this Messiah. He then baptizes Jesus, and the Holy Spirit descends as a dove and the voice of God proclaims Jesus as His Son. John stands there as a primary witness to it all!
With all of these encounters with God, wouldn’t John have the proof he needs to know the truth about Jesus? Wouldn’t he have all of the answers to his own questions?
John, the doubter?
Let’s go back to the temple meeting between Zechariah and the angel Gabriel for a second. When Gabriel shares the miraculous news of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, Zechariah’s response is one of doubt. The angel calls him out on his doubt saying, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news” (Luke 1:19). Gabriel then explains that Zechariah will be mute until the day of his son’s birth due to his unbelief. When John arrives, Zechariah speaks out praises as proof of what the angel had said.
As we’ve seen, John also has his moment of doubt. After the miracles he’s a part of, John still sends his disciples to check with Jesus: “Are you really who you say you are?” Difficult circumstances—sitting in jail, later to be executed—make John reach out for some reassurance.
If I just saw it with my own eyes…
Sometimes we think, if only we witnessed with our own eyes one of those “crazy” biblical accounts of miracles we could believe. Maybe if we heard God’s voice or saw Jesus perform miracles it wouldn’t feel like such a leap of faith.
But Zechariah and John seem to say otherwise. Both had miraculous experiences and still doubted. This suggests that for John and Zechariah it wasn’t a lack of evidence that caused doubt. Despite their unique direct experiences with God, hard circumstances still brought doubt that it was all true.
And yet even with this doubt, we cannot forget Jesus called John “the greatest among men!” Jesus didn’t rebuke John for doubting. He simply reiterates the truth: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” It’s almost as if Jesus says, “Repeat to John what he already knows.”
Ask, seek, knock
Even the greatest among men doubted. Life’s hard circumstances can do that. But John didn’t sit in them—he sought the answers. John’s example is one for us to follow: don’t stay in doubt, find answers. Jesus’ invitation is still the same as it was in Matthew 7:7-8. Ask, seek, knock, and God will provide the answers.