“Art thou he that should come
Or look we for another?”
And can you imagine this
John the Baptist a bother?
Was it not John that declared
Behold God’s lamb?
So why the sudden doubt
Concerning God’s plan?
Was it not the Baptist John
That baptized the Christ?
So why does the witness he had
Not more than suffice?
The Father’s voice from heaven
The Spirit descending dove-
There was no doubt then
Regarding the witness from above.
“Art thou he that should come
Or look we for another?”
In that Roman prison
The Baptist John was in a bother.
What better time than this
For Jesus to show his hand
And confound wicked Herod
And his evil plan!
And these wicked Romans
With their oppressive yoke-
Wasn’t this the time
Of which the prophets spoke…
Of the one that should come
To redeem all Israel?
Surely Israel’s God could see
The plight of His people.
That John had had his doubts
I have no doubt
And no doubt John felt
Jesus’ timing was a little out.
Here was John the Baptist
About to lose his head
And on the Messiah’s mind
Were other things instead.
If indeed Jesus was the one
The uprising should begin,
John had apparently forgotten
The primary matter of sin.
The lamb of God
For the sins of the world!
But can you blame John
If his head was in a whirl?
The greatest of prophets
That was born of a woman
But human nevertheless
Was his biggest problem.
“Art thou he that should come?”
A reasonable question indeed-
“Or look we look we for another?”
Of assurance he was in need.
Not only John’s misgiving
But the disciples’ at that time,
The yoke under Roman rule
Dominated their mind.
Sure, Jesus said many things
Which they would later recall
But this Roman oppression
Was of the bitterest gall.
And that first Good Friday
Would severely ram it home
When with Jesus on the cross
They were all alone.
And as their question too
This would become their bother,
“Art thou he that should come
Or look we for another?”
Stewart Russell © April 2, 2021
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