Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country. John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’ ” At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” After John’s messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: “ ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’
How it was applied: The pastor uses the raising of the widow's son as the immediate backdrop to John's doubt — Jesus has just performed a resurrection, and the news of it reaches John in prison. The point is that proximity to reported miracles does not automatically dissolve personal doubt, especially when your own circumstances remain unchanged. The passage establishes the identity of Jesus before the sermon pivots to why someone who knew that identity could still waver.
“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
How it was applied: The pastor uses John's baptism of Jesus to establish how high John's certainty once was — he heard the Father's audible voice, saw the Spirit descend, and even tried to defer the baptism because he recognized Jesus' superiority. This makes John's later doubt from prison all the more striking and all the more relatable: the same person who had the clearest possible confirmation still struggled when circumstances closed in.
When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
How it was applied: Matthew's detail that John was in prison when he sent his disciples is treated as the interpretive key the whole passage needs. The pastor argues you cannot understand someone's doubt without understanding their dungeon — the question 'are you the one?' sounds like faithlessness until you realize it was asked from a cliff-side prison cell by a desert preacher isolated from everything that once confirmed his calling.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
How it was applied: The pastor shows John recognizing Jesus' reply as a quote from Isaiah 61 and waiting expectantly for the next line — 'freedom for the captives' — which Jesus deliberately omits. The omission is read not as oversight but as a targeted, personal message: God trusts John enough to leave him in prison, and the blessing Jesus offers is not release but the faith to remain without release.
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide, via the YouVersion Platform.
