"... are you the coming one, or do we look for another?..."
John is a Shepherd of integrity. He knows the value of a person's heart, and the timidness of the lambs who have forsaken everything and followed him in all religious sincerity. They are tender, they are lost without a leader. And, now, their leader is in prison.
Things haven't gone as planned. And he needs to redirect his disciples to another Faithful Shepherd.
So he sends word to Jesus and asks, "Are you the One?"
Are you the one who I can send my sheep to? Are you faithful? WIll my sheep be cared for, fed and nurtured, under your Rod and Staff? I love my sheep. And I'm just not going to hand them over to anybody.
Jesus' reply? I am faithful. I will love your lambs - more than you can know. I will teach them how to heal the sick, how to preach to the poor and raise the dead. At night, I will love on them. I'll share with them the hidden mysteries of parables, and we will do a lot of laughing together. You can trust me with them, Jesus says. I will be their Friend.
And from John's imprisonment, after he is convinced that Jesus can be trusted to bring his lambs into Pasture, he relinquishes his life's work into the all sufficient Life of Christ.
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