Well, . . . John waited day after day, and the Messiah didn’t come to open the prison door. Weeks went by, and the expected miracle didn’t happen. And John was becoming impatient as he saw his hopes frustrated. And, finally, the worst thing that can come to a servant of God came to him - he began to doubt.

The disciples of John brought him news about the work that Jesus was doing, and they must have raised the following questions in substance: “If this new teacher, called Jesus, is actually the promised Messiah, why doesn’t He come to set you free? Isn’t that His mission, according to the prophetic word?” These questions did not help the man that was behind prison bars, puzzling his brains to find the right answer. On the contrary, they made it worse for him by corroborating his doubts.

“To [John] the desert prophet all this [his imprisonment and what appeared to be a lack of concern on the part of Christ] seemed a mystery beyond his fathoming. There were hours when the whisperings of demons tortured his spirit, and the shadow of a terrible fear crept over him. Could it be that the long-hoped-for Deliverer had not yet appeared? Then what meant the message that he himself had been impelled to bear? John had been bitterly disappointed in the result of his mission. He had expected that the message from God would have the same effect as when the law was read in the days of Josiah and of Ezra (2 Chronicles 34; Nehemiah 8, 9); that there would follow a deep-seated work of repentance and returning unto the Lord. For the success of this mission his whole life had been sacrificed. Had it been in vain?”1

On the one hand, John had questions in line with his doubts, but, on the other hand, he also had evidences to establish his faith. He had seen “the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lightening upon” Jesus; he had heard “a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16, 17); he remembered the power of the Holy Spirit that he felt resting upon himself as he came into the presence of the Son of God, whose spotless character impressed him greatly; and he had the testimony of other prophetic scriptures pointing to the Messiah, like that of Daniel 9:25-27. So, during his spiritual crisis, John shelved that which he could not understand and held on to what was evident to him.

The way of a Christian can be compared to a row of stepping-stones across a swamp. While we all have stepping-stones of evidence for our faith to lead us triumphantly to the end of our journey, we must also face temptations to step into the mud of doubt. If we explore the “reasons” for doubting, they become more and more voluminous and abundant in our mind, and finally, we may get stuck in the quagmire of skepticism.

“Many, especially those who are young in the Christian life, are at times troubled with the suggestions of skepticism. There are in the Bible many things which they cannot explain, or even understand, and Satan employs these to shake their faith in the Scriptures as a revelation from God. They ask, ‘How shall I know the right way? If the Bible is indeed the word of God, how can I be freed from these doubts and perplexities?’

“God never asks us to believe, without giving sufficient evidence upon which to base our faith. His existence, His character, the truthfulness of His word, are all established by testimony that appeals to our reason; and this testimony is abundant. Yet God has never removed the possibility of doubt. Our faith must rest upon evidence, not demonstration. Those who wish to doubt will have opportunity; while those who really desire to know the truth will find plenty of evidence on which to rest their faith.”2

The first two important steppingstones of evidence that God has placed on the path of every Christian are:

• Personal experience with the Lord.

• The word of prophecy.

The apostle Peter describes these two stepping-stones as follows: “We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:16-19).

It is true that we cannot always see the hand of God in our experience. In this case, we should admit that our spiritual eyes may need medication. And we should pray to God to restore our discernment through the eyesalve that Christ is offering us (Revelation 3:18) and that we can obtain only from Him.

Judas Iscariot and John the Baptist, through their experiences, may teach us a lesson in connection with the two possibilities which are open before every human being. Judas suggested his doubts to the other disciples,3 while John would not discuss his doubts with his companions. Judas defeated himself, while John was triumphant by following the right way: “Call unto me,” says the Lord, “and I will answer thee” (Jeremiah 33:3).

John did not take his doubt to anyone who might tend to reinforce it. Instead, he sent two of his disciples to Jesus with the question: “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3). What was Jesus’ answer?

Jesus did not say to them, “Yes, go back to John and tell him that I am the Messiah.” Instead He told them to stay until sundown and watch attentively. And what did they see?

“As [John’s disciples] stood wondering at [the Saviour’s] silence, the sick and afflicted were coming to Him to be healed. The blind were groping their way through the crowd. . . . The voice of the mighty Healer penetrated the deaf ear. A word, a touch of His hand, opened the blind eyes. . . . His voice reached the ears of the dying, and they arose in health and vigor. Paralyzed demoniacs obeyed His word, their madness left them, and they worshiped Him. . . .

“Thus the day wore away, the disciples of John seeing and hearing all.”4

Then Jesus called John’s two disciples and asked them to report what they had seen and heard of the power of God. “Go and tell John what you have witnessed,” He said. When they brought John the answer that he had been anxiously waiting for, that was enough for him. He had all the evidence that he needed.

However, we must not overlook an important distinction. Evidence which may be sufficient for me might not be sufficient for someone else. It all depends on what kind of evidence interests us.

That which was to John convincing evidence of Christ’s divinity was no evidence to the unbelieving Jews. God had promised to send them a Messiah that would deliver them from the bondage of sin, but they were not interested in such a Deliverer. They were looking for a Messiah that would break the Roman domination and exalt Israel as a powerful political kingdom. Such a Messiah had never been promised to them.

Yes, the Jews could have become a great nation two thousand years ago if they had accepted the Messiah.

“If Jerusalem had known what it was her privilege to know, and had heeded the light which Heaven had sent her, she might have stood forth in the pride of prosperity, the queen of kingdoms, free in the strength of her God-given power. There would have been no armed soldiers standing at her gates, no Roman banners waving from her walls. The glorious destiny that might have blessed Jerusalem had she accepted her Redeemer rose before the Son of God. He saw that she might through Him have been healed of her grievous malady, liberated from bondage, and established as the mighty metropolis of the earth. From her walls the dove of peace would have gone forth to all nations.”5

The Old Testament prophecies pointing to the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth could have been fulfilled from the days of Christ and the apostles. But, as the people of Israel did not know the day of their visitation, and as they took those prophecies as belonging to them unconditionally, God’s glorious kingdom on earth will be set up after the millennium. Then those prophecies will have their complete and final fulfillment.

The experience of every true Christian can be described in these words:

“The path of the just is as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18). “Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:4).

“We may rejoice that all which has perplexed us in the providences of God [in our past experiences] will [one day] be made plain, things hard to be understood will then find an explanation; and where our finite minds discovered only confusion and broken purposes, we shall see the most perfect and beautiful harmony.”6