When Faith Waits for an Answer by Eddie Schwisow 5/30/26 Video Sermon

Waiting enters like those seven minutes of terror, when the signal has not arrived and nothing can be steered, adjusted, or rescued. The silence does not name God as distant. God stays present in the quiet gap between trust and confirmation. John the Baptist stands in that gap. Isaiah names his job description as the voice crying in the wilderness, and John lives it. John preaches repentance, calls out hypocrisy, baptizes, points to Jesus with, Behold, the Lamb of God, and gladly shrinks under, He must increase, but I must decrease. Then the wilderness gives way to a dungeon. Faithfulness lands him in chains.

Matthew 11 opens the prison window. John sends a question to Jesus, Are you the coming one, or do we look for another? The title the coming one carries the weight of Scripture. John had preached the refiner’s fire, the winnowing fork, the judgment that makes things right. The timing, not the theology, is where the rub lies. Isaiah 61 had sung of liberty for captives, yet John’s door stays shut. The question beneath the question is whether the picture of Jesus is wrong when the story does not turn out as expected.

Jesus answers by pointing, not arguing. The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news preached. Isaiah 35 and 61 are walking around in Galilee. Yet one line stays unquoted, the opening of the prison to those who are bound. Jesus withholds a promise he will not give. He is not cruel. He is honest about timing. Deliverance comes, but on God’s clock.

Jesus then gives a blessing and a warning in one sentence. Blessed is the one who is not offended because of me. The skandalon is the trap of a timeline turned into a stumbling block. The silence is real. The gap between expectation and reality is real. The call is to keep sending questions to Jesus and not let the prison become the offense that topples faith.

As John’s messengers leave, Jesus turns to the crowd and names John rightly. Malachi’s messenger is this man, and among those born of women none is greater. The world will mark his life as a loss, but heaven already spoke. Jesus himself will walk through arrest, the scream of forsakenness, and the quiet of a sealed tomb, and resurrection will say that silence is not absence. Revelation’s word stands over the waiting, Behold, I come quickly. The call is simple and hard. Hold on. Remember the Jordan River moments. Yield the outcomes. Refuse the trap. The coming one is already at work.

Key Takeaways

• 1. Waiting holds a sharp holy silence Waiting can feel like terror when the signal has not arrived, yet God stays present in the quiet gap between trust and confirmation. The silence is not proof of absence but the place where faith refuses to steer what only God can land. The pain is real, and naming it keeps the heart honest before God. In that gap, hope rests on who God is, not on how fast the answer comes. [03:06]
• 2. Send questions to Jesus, not away John does not turn doubt into bitterness, he sends it toward Christ with, Are you the coming one. Questions can either sour the soul or become an altar where God meets the mind. A faithful question is an act of trust because it presumes God will answer in his way, on his timeline. Prayer opens the cell window even when the door stays shut. [10:21]
• 3. Look again at the prophecy Jesus answers by pointing to Isaiah happening in front of their eyes, not by arguing a case. The Scriptures often are fulfilled in a slower, stranger key than expected, yet they are fulfilled. Looking again reorders expectations around God’s present work instead of yesterday’s picture. The missed line about prison doors teaches discernment about which promises are for now and which are for later. [17:29]
• 4. Do not stumble over the gap Blessed is the one who is not offended because of me is both caution and comfort. The skandalon is the trap of unmet expectations wrapping around the ankle of faith. Refusing offense does not deny pain, it denies pain the power to define God. Grace keeps trust from tripping when the pictures do not match. [20:13]
• 5. Hold on to the promised reward He must increase today and Behold, I come quickly tomorrow belong together. Endurance is not passive, it remembers Jordan River moments and yields tight outcomes into God’s hands. The final assessment does not arrive on this world’s schedule, but it arrives. Waiting for a Person, not a signal, gives the soul a place to rest. [29:57]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:09] - Seven minutes of terror and silence
• [03:06] - The painful gap between trust and confirmation
• [04:17] - John’s calling from Isaiah 40
• [06:07] - He must increase, I must decrease
• [07:58] - Faithfulness and a prison cell
• [10:42] - Are you the coming one
• [12:01] - Fire, judgment, and timing
• [14:11] - Isaiah 61 and closed doors
• [16:08] - Jesus’ answer: what you hear and see
• [18:29] - The omitted line and God’s timeline
• [20:13] - Do not stumble over offense
• [22:22] - Jesus affirms John before the crowd
• [24:56] - Jesus’ own silence and resurrection hope
• [26:10] - Three practices to not stumble
• [29:57] - Behold, I come quickly
• [31:06] - Bring the silence to Jesus and pray

1. What specific title does John the Baptist use to address Jesus in his question, and why is this title significant? (Matthew 11:3)
2. Jesus lists specific miracles and actions in His response to John. Which Old Testament prophecies do these fulfill? (Matthew 11:4-5; Isaiah 35:5-6)
3. What phrase from Isaiah 61:1 does Jesus not quote in His answer to John, and why might this omission matter? [18:29]

1. Why might John’s imprisonment have caused him to question whether Jesus was “the coming one,” even after he had witnessed Jesus’ baptism and ministry? [07:58]
2. Jesus says, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Matthew 11:6). How does the Greek word skandalon (“offense”) deepen our understanding of the danger Jesus is warning against?
3. How does Jesus’ affirmation of John as “the greatest born of women” (Matthew 11:11) contrast with the world’s view of John’s life ending in apparent failure? [24:12]

1. When have you experienced a “gap” between what you trusted God to do and what you actually saw happening? How did you respond, and what might it look like to bring those questions to Jesus instead of letting them harden into bitterness? [10:21]
2. Jesus points to fulfilled prophecies as evidence of His identity. What “Jordan River moments” (specific times God clearly worked in your life) can you write down or recall to strengthen your faith during seasons of waiting? [26:46]
3. Are there outcomes you’re holding onto too tightly (e.g., healing, resolution, success) that God might be asking you to yield to His timing? How can you practically release control of those today? [27:10]
4. The sermon warns against letting unmet expectations become a “stumbling block.” What current situation in your life could become a skandalon if you don’t actively choose trust? What step will you take to “refuse the trap”? [20:13]
5. Revelation 22:12 reminds us we’re waiting for a Person, not just an answer. How might shifting your focus from “when will this end?” to “how can I lean into Christ’s presence today” change your perspective in a difficult season? [29:57]