Title: The Wisdom to Not Stumble
Bible Passage: Luke 7:19-35
In today’s passage, John the Baptist seems a little upset about Jesus. He was confused.
Confusion means being in the middle—not completely wise, but not completely foolish either.
Jesus said, “New wine must be put into new wineskins.” But John was still thinking in the old way.
Even when doing God’s work, we sometimes face hard situations. And because of those difficulties, we may stumble. Not only us, but people around us can stumble too.
1. Even great people in the Bible stumbled.
Moses also stumbled while doing God’s work.
He led the Israelites out of slavery and gave them freedom. But in the wilderness, they complained about not having meat, and that discouraged him. (Numbers 11:10-15)
Another time, he came down from Mount Sinai, holding the Ten Commandments from God, but he saw the people worshiping a golden calf and dancing wildly.
Elijah had a similar experience. (1 Kings 19)
On Mount Carmel, he fought alone against hundreds of Baal prophets and won. But when Queen Jezebel threatened to kill him, he ran away in fear. He was so tired that he lay under a tree and asked God to take his life.
Jeremiah also struggled. (Jeremiah 20:7-9, 14-18)
He preached God’s word but became a joke to people. When things got hard, he regretted even being born.
2. John the Baptist also stumbled.
John was a faithful servant of God. Even Jesus said, “Among those born of women, there is no one greater than John.”
John was imprisoned because he told King Herod to repent.
In prison, he heard about Jesus’ amazing works. He knew Jesus was the Messiah, but he also wondered:
“If Jesus is really the Messiah, why am I still in prison?”
Even God’s servants can have doubts.
In Luke 7:18-23, we see that even godly people can question God.
Doubt comes from the heart. We sometimes doubt because we don’t understand everything God is doing.
But unbelief is different from doubt.
Unbelief is not about the heart, but the will. It means choosing to reject what God says.
Oswald Chambers said, “Doubt is not always wrong. At least, it shows that we are thinking.”
John doubted because he was expecting a personal benefit from the Messiah, but he didn’t receive one.
John preached about God’s judgment.
But Jesus was showing God’s love and mercy instead.
John said, “The kingdom of heaven is near!” but he didn’t see the judgment happening.
Jesus, as the Messiah, should have punished wicked Herod—but He didn’t. That’s why John had doubts.
But there was no reason to doubt.
Jesus’ miracles proved everything. In Luke 7:22, Jesus told John’s disciples to go and tell John what they had seen.
John knew that Jesus was “the Lamb of God,” who would be sacrificed on the cross.
But he thought Jesus came only for Israel.
He didn’t realize that Jesus came for the whole world, all people, and even the entire universe.
John was a great servant of God, but for a moment, he stumbled.
It wasn’t a serious problem.
If he understood, he would have received even greater grace—just like Apostle Paul did later.
3. What about the people watching John and Jesus?
What did others think?
Some people had wrong expectations about the Messiah.
They saw John in prison and thought, “If Jesus is really the Messiah, why doesn’t He save John?”
They also saw John being killed by Herod and became confused.
Even today, there are people who work very hard for God—pastors, missionaries, and faithful believers.
But when we see their struggles, we might wonder:
“Why doesn’t God give them any benefits? Why is their life so hard?”
This can make us stumble too.
We might even start doubting God.
When we don’t understand something, we can be disappointed and stumble.
If we don’t know God well, we may misunderstand and blame Him.
If we don’t blame God, we may still judge people.
We might think, “Maybe they did something wrong.”
This is what happened to Job.
Job’s friends didn’t doubt God, but they doubted Job.
Instead of comforting him, they told him to repent.
But Job hadn’t done anything wrong!
His friends came to comfort him, but they ended up arguing instead.
There is always a third area that we don’t see or understand.
If we don’t realize this, we can become judgmental.
4. The blessing of recognizing Jesus as the Messiah.
In Luke 7:24-25, Jesus talks about how people see things differently.
People went to the wilderness to see John the Baptist.
John was faithful and steady, not weak like a reed in the wind.
John also lived a hard life—he left behind comfort to live in the wilderness.
He was a prophet, a messenger from God.
John was the fulfillment of Malachi 3:1—God’s messenger preparing the way for the Messiah.
He was the one telling the world, “Jesus is the Christ!”
But if we judge John with worldly standards, we might think:
“Why was he in the wilderness? Why was he poor? Shouldn’t God’s messenger live in a palace?”
If the Messiah was supposed to be a powerful king, then His messenger should be a royal leader.
But Jesus didn’t come as a king of this world—He was born in a humble stable and laid in a manger.
Because Jesus came in humility, His messenger, John, was also in the wilderness.
If we hold onto worldly values, we can’t understand God’s ways.
We may think they are foolish instead.
The Pharisees and teachers of the law refused to be baptized by John.
Why?
Because their Messiah should have been in a palace, not in the wilderness.
They were seeking power, not truth.
That’s why they rejected both John and Jesus.
5. The Pharisees’ contradictions
Jesus compared them to children in the marketplace.
He said,
“We played music for you, but you didn’t dance. We cried for you, but you didn’t weep.”
Who was “we” and who was “you”?
The Pharisees had double standards.
They criticized both John the Baptist and Jesus.
They had no clear standards—they just wanted to oppose.
They told John to do one thing, then the opposite.
They told Jesus to do one thing, then the opposite.
It wasn’t about truth.
It was about control.
They wanted power.
We can sometimes act the same way.
Even in relationships—marriages, friendships, or with family—we may try to control others.
If we want to decide everything without principles, it can hurt relationships.
It becomes dictatorship, not love.
Instead, we must respect each other and work together.
It’s a slow process, but it’s the best way.
Conclusion: How do we become wise?
To gain worldly wisdom, we study.
To gain God’s wisdom, we pray.
Proverbs 8 tells us to seek wisdom earnestly.
God’s wisdom is different from the world’s wisdom.
We must become new creations with a new way of thinking.
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God made it grow.”
The Holy Spirit grows wisdom in us—it is grace.
We must ask for grace with all our hearts.
“If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously.” (James 1:5)
Amen.
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