We know him as the man who declared he wasn’t worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals. But he was also the man who grew unsure if the Person who walked in those sandals was the One.

In Christian circles, we’re well versed with “Doubting Thomas,” the disciple who was AWOL when Jesus appeared after the resurrection. But we are less familiar with “Doubting John” who once prepared the way for Jesus but later on wrestled with questions about him.

John the Baptist was not someone who sat on the fence about faith. He dived right into what he believed, even if it meant subsisting on locusts and wild honey and sporting the latest in camel-hair couture. (Just as a quick aside: Anyone launched a 21-Day John The Baptist Diet Plan yet? Could that be the next big thing in Christian marketing???) But all joking aside, he knew what he believed and he preached it with all his heart.

At the start of the gospel of Matthew, we meet a John who is pumped up with passion for the kingdom of God. But when we catch a glimpse of him again in Matthew 11, we see perhaps a slightly deflated John.

He has been thrown into prison for condemning Herod’s affair with his sister-in-law. Perhaps in the isolation of the prison, or being away from his beloved cousin Jesus, doubt creeps into his mind and makes him ask: Have I got this wrong??

From the confines of his cell, John asks his followers to pose the question to Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” (Matthew 11)

I sense a deep pain, an unspoken turmoil, in John’s question. It’s not flippant or off the cuff. It’s not mere curiosity that prompts the query. John the Baptist shared a deeply personal relationship with Jesus and it must have wrecked him to verbalize his doubts. Yet, with amazing vulnerability, he poses his question to the Saviour.

I love how Jesus responds.

He doesn’t ask, “What? You of all people, John?”

He doesn’t remark, “You should know better.”

He doesn’t brush off the question or treat it as an insult or a rebuff.

Instead, Jesus answers: “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.  Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” (Matthew 11) Jesus points to the irrefutable eyewitness accounts of His power and love to demonstrate His divinity to John. He meets John right where he is—in the midst of his questions.

And He does the same for you, friend.

If you’re wrestling with questions, if you’re doubting what you once believed, don’t do it alone. Go to the One who can answer them. Go to the One who loves you more than anyone else ever can.

John the Baptist is remembered in Scripture for preparing the way for Jesus. But today maybe we can remember him also for preparing the way for us to ask genuine questions. But more importantly, he shows us what it means to take those questions to Jesus because there is no safer, wiser place to unburden ourselves.

Perhaps you’re trapped in a whirlwind of interrogation: Is my faith just something my parents have passed on to me? Are my beliefs really mine or was I force-fed them at Sunday School and given no room to question them? If Christ truly transforms hearts, then what about all the hypocrisy I see in the church? How can the church take the moral high ground but “other” so many?

Friend, if you have doubts like those, don’t bury them under a canopy of church-y activities and Christianese. Your questions mean that you’re taking your faith seriously. So ask questions—but ask them with a humble desire to learn the truth even if it’s inconvenient and culturally jarring and potentially isolating. Wrestle with your faith—but, through it all, don’t lose sight of the Cross.

Jesus doesn’t condemn John for his doubts. In fact, he commends John because He sees a raw hunger for the truth. Right there at that moment, even before John’s doubts have been allayed, Jesus says: “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.” (Matthew 11).

Jesus welcomes your questions. He isn’t afraid of your doubts. He longs to walk with you on this journey you’re on. You can grapple with your beliefs but also come to grips with the stunning truth that there is One who left everything to lay down His life for you. When doubts threaten to take over and topple your faith, talk to Jesus. He won’t just answer your questions. He’ll show you that He is the answer.

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