It was a legitimate question coming from the prophet who sat in Herod’s prison, not realizing he would soon be executed. He sent representatives to ask: “Are you the One who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”
“Jesus replied, ‘Go back and tell John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are being raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of Me.”
In other words, Jesus said: “The Scripture I read from Isaiah in my hometown of Nazareth is coming to pass. ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on Me…’”
The more we see and understand that Jesus is the One, the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed Son of the Living God… the more we can lay down our lives as John the Baptist did or pour out our treasure as a sinful woman did or sit at Jesus’ feet as Mary did.
But why did Jesus say: “Blessed is the man (or woman) who does not fall away on account of Me…”? Isn’t it because things don’t always go the way we expect? John was arrested while doing God’s will; the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet was criticized for being wasteful; Mary was basically called a ‘slacker’ by her sister.
As important as it is to know that Jesus is King, there’s another question to be answered: “Do I love Him?” Love for the One will carry us through the criticism and the trials and even death. The one who ‘loves much’ can persevere through the mysteries of suffering.
Simon the Pharisee did not understand why Jesus let a sinful woman wash His feet, but it was because Simon the Pharisee did not understand love. “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give Me any water for My feet, but she wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give Me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing My feet, Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
“Lord, let our faith be great… and let our love be greater.”
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” I Corinthians 13:13