Thread by @BethMooreLPM

My reading this AM was Matt 11. John the Baptist sends word to Jesus from prison, “Are you the one to come or should we expect someone else?”Jesus responds with words from Isaiah that John would’ve known by heart. “The blind see, lame walk, deaf hear...blessed is the unoffended.”

This narrative moves me each time I read it. Jesus doing all those Messianic wonders out there. Meanwhile John’s in prison &, in no time, he will lose his life. John’s been faithful. Prepared the way. Pointed to Jesus alone. Jailed over his integrity.

“Hey, Jesus, remember me??”

A “meanwhile” can be a very mean while.

If I could entitle this thread, it would be, “When Jesus breaks our hearts.” When we love him so much. When we’ve known him well. When we’ve served him. When we’re sure of what he can do & have full expectation he will.

And he doesn’t.

It only pours salt on the wound when we hear all he is doing for others. I don’t believe those in deep relationship with him ever experience deeper hurt. This is the crisis of faith that beats all others.
Fast forward just a few chapters to Jesus learning about John’s beheading.

Matt 14:12-13. John’s disciples have removed John’s decapitated corpse from Herod’s palace, buried it then headed to Jesus to tell him the news. Imagine how traumatized.

V.13 is important: “When Jesus heard about it, he withdrew from there by boat to remote place to be alone.”

Had Jesus forgotten John? We know the answer to that. No, never. Did it matter to Jesus? Inconceivably. Why did it have to happen that way? God knows. We could reason that it was the end of an era of OT prophets & the kingdom of heaven was breaking in but all that’s hindsight.

Here’s what it comes down to. Why didn’t Jesus rescue John? And deep down inside we of faith also know the answer to that: HE DID. In the words of Paul just before his own beheading, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil work and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.”

Paul knew what was going to happen to him. He had just told Timothy the time for his departure was near. And yet he assured Timothy he, Paul, would be delivered SAFELY to the heavenly kingdom. What part of beheading is “safely”? What part of cancer or coronavirus is “safely”?

Listen carefully: We who are in Jesus will be delivered SAFELY to his kingdom. We will get there, behold God & realize with slack jawed awe that nothing the devil could ever do, nothing evil could ever render or wicked humans could ever conceive could keep us from making it HOME.

And we will wonder why we dreaded it as much as we did. Jesus loves you. He’s not forgotten you. In doling out miracles to others, he has not disesteemed your need. We do not know why things happen the way they do but we know this: the glory to come will wildly exceed the pain.

I hope they taped the scene :) between Jesus and John when Jesus got home. I’d love to have seen that reunion. Of course, John knew all things by then. Person of faith, hold onto that faith with everything you’ve got. We will all get a chance to develop an offense toward Jesus.

Blessed are we when we have that chance &, though we weep, though our hearts break, though we do not understand, though we question & cry “why?”, we hold onto his words for dear life knowing he holds onto us & can’t do us wrong.We will be delivered SAFELY to his heavenly kingdom.

Brokenhearted servant of God, your heart, dearer to him than the riches of this world, will be mended by the scarred hands of Jesus. Maybe this side of the veil. Maybe that side. You will know he never once left you. You will know you were never off his mind.

You will know God.