e time in a narrow prison cell. No wonder the
eyes of the caged eagle began to film, and the faith of the stern
prophet began to waver. Other great men have wavered in their faith
before John. David himself said, even though God had definitely promised
that he should succeed Saul as king, "I shall one day perish by the hand
of Saul." Elijah, after his great triumph over the four hundred prophets
of Baal, sat down under a juniper tree, and full of fear because of
Jezebel's threat asked disconsolately that he might die. No wonder then
that, momentarily, the faith of John the Baptist was in the shadow. You
and I have failed in faith amid circumstances less trying than those
which surrounded John the Baptist in his dungeon.

=_The Gentleness of the Shepherd_=

How does Jesus answer John? Does He curse the doubter? No. That would
not be like Him. He has never been known to do that. Not once, so far as
we know, did he ever send a message of censure to a soul in the dungeon
of darkness, doubt, and despair. We have seen Him blast, with the
lightning of His eloquence, the false pride of scribe and Pharisee who
stood before Him in haughtiness and scorn, but we never knew Him to say
a harsh word to a creature that was sore stricken in soul. No, "He will
not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax." No, He will
not send a curse; He will send a blessing. That will be more like Him.
He will say, "Go tell John again those things that ye do see and hear;
the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed,
the dead are raised, the poor are evangelized, and _blessed_ is he that
shall not be offended in me." Not a curse, but a blessing will He send.

How much like his treatment of us! Do we not remember when we first came
to Him as our Saviour, how He forgave, freely and gladly, all our sins,
and sent us on our way rejoicing? Do we not recall how shortly after,
when we had sinned and spotted the clean white sheet of paper He had
given us, that when we brought it back to Him all spotted with sin He
freely pardoned, gave us another clean sheet, and, without upbraiding,
sent us away, saying, "Thy sins are forgiven; sin no more"? Yes, we
recall it. We believe in the deity of Christ, not because of the
metaphysical arguments that have been produced to prove it, no matter
how elaborately stated or eloquently discussed; not because our library
shelves are groaning beneath the weight of evidences of His deity; no