John the Baptist

Matthew 11:1-19
Luke 7:18-35
      John the Baptist sent two disciples to Christ and asked him two questions:
1. Art thou he that should come?
2. Or look we for another?
Upon asking these questions our Savior cured them of their infirmities and did perform many miracles then told them to go on their way and tell John the Baptist of the things they did see and hear.
If I had been with those two men I can't help to think of the things I would go and tell John the Baptist.
If I had been there and witnessed Christ heal the sick and cast out devils and cure my own infirmities there is no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't go and tell John that He is the Christ, the one that the world has been looking for. I would tell him that we do not need to look any further and I would tell John the Baptist that if he doesn't or can't believe that for himself then to go to Jesus and find out for himself.
  It seems confusing why John would send his disciples to Jesus and ask those certain questions because we know that just a few months prior to this when John baptized Jesus the heavens opened and John saw and heard that Jesus is the Christ. He heard Heavenly Father's voice testify that Jesus is His son. So why was John curious? Did John struggle believing Jesus' true identity?
    No.
   John had many disciples that believed that John was the Messiah. He had been working so hard to persuade his followers that he was not the one and that they should follow Christ so John the Baptist sent them to Christ to help them find out for themselves. (Funny because I said I would tell John the Baptist do the same thing). I don't think it is any different now than it was for those men then. If we have infirmities we shouldn't go to everyone around us, we would go to the Savior himself to find out the truth.
    Jesus said there is no greater prophet than John the Baptist. I believe John to be the greatest prophet of the Lord and Savior because of the many things he did on this earth to prepare the way for Jesus. It says all over the New Testament that he was sent to prepare the way. John the Baptist also had the privilege and glory to baptize the Savior and I am sure he felt it should be the other way around. That the Savior should be baptizing him. I also think what made John stand out is his loyalty to Christ. Christ prophesied himself that there is no greater prophet than John the Baptist (Luke 7:28). Like I mentioned before John had many disciples that believed he was the Messiah and John did not allow them to follow him. He did all that he could to help his men believe that Christ is the Messiah.
     In John 3:30 it says "He must increase, but I must decrease." This is John the Baptist speaking of the savior. This is another testament that John understood the divinity of Jesus Christ and his mission here on earth. John knew that he needed to do all that he could to make the people that believed him to be the Messiah to realize the truth that Jesus is the Messiah. I think that statement can run deeper than that though. The thoughts I had while reading that and pondering how we could apply that attitude in our own lives is obviously not to have to convince others that we are the Savior but to think of it in the sense that we are spirits in a body that has the tendencies to do evil or in other words we are constantly fighting the natural man. I believe that if we were all to take this attitude upon us and to stop thinking so much about what we want or what we think is the best for us and to increase God in our lives. The Spirit cannot reside in unholy temples so if we have unresolved sins we will have some trouble increasing God in our lives. I know that as we "increase" God in our lives we will be so much happier.