Good morning. Jesus sends off the 12 to preach the word. As a note – Judas is with them. It does not say whether or not he participated in the preaching of the word. John the Baptist is in prison. He hears about the works of Christ. He knows that he himself is the forerunner for the Messiah, and that there are certain signs that the Christ will perform when He comes. Just to be sure, he sends his disciples to determine if Jesus is the Messiah. They are to ask Jesus, “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?” We do not know how long John's mother lived after he was born. You know that she would have told John about when Mary came to visit while he was still in her womb. Jesus tells John's disciples to go tell him what they heard and saw. Not only were there miracles, but also the poor had the gospel preached to them. This is what would accompany the Messiah. Jesus also said “Blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me.” After John's disciples leave, Jesus tells the multitudes just how great a man John was. He was the messenger preparing the way for Jesus. As great as John was, he was still not born again. He who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. That is counter-intuitive. One would expect John to be one of the greatest; but he was not born again. Jesus tells them that John was Elijah who was to come. John did not come eating and drinking, and they said he had a demon. Jesus did, and they said He was a gluttonous man and a drunkard. That sounds like today – you can't win for losing. It does not matter what you do or do not do as a Christian, you will be criticized. Father thank You that You give strength and encouragement to the reader. You help him/her to look forward to each day’s blessing.

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