If someone were to ask what I consider the most difficult part of any job (other than spouse or parent), I think it would involve that word mentor. A mentor is a trusted counselor or guide, coach or tutor.
As a pastor or chaplain, I often dealt with people who were hurting, confused, beat down, or lost. During those times mentoring was essential. As a Christian mentor, however, it is vital that we learn how to mentor correctly and that means being able at some point to wean people away from us and turn them into Disciples of Christ.
In Luke 7, after Jesus had raised the son of the widow at Nain, the disciples of John the Baptist brought word to John as he sat in Herod’s prison of all that Jesus had done. John sent them to Jesus with this question, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else.”
Luke writes, “At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits and gave sight to many who were blind.” Jesus simply tells John’s disciples to go back and “report to John what you have seen and heard.”
I’ve always wanted to ask John why he sent those men to Jesus. I’ve heard preachers say that John was confused at this point and didn’t know if Jesus was the Messiah or not. Maybe, but John the Baptist never sounded confused to me.
His mother and father firmly believed that Mary’s Jesus was the chosen one of God. John preached a fiery message of repentance and never wavered from it, even confronting rulers such as Herod. When asked if he was the Messiah, he firmly denied it. He said that the point had come when he must decrease, and Jesus must increase.
I don’t think John was confused about anything. I think John knew the time had come when as a mentor he must now release his disciples and turn their attention to Jesus. “Go ask him if he is the one to come,” he told them. They did and they saw the work of God’s Anointed One firsthand. At some point in our walk, we must all see firsthand.
