Matthew 11:4–5: “Jesus answered them, ‘Go tell John what you hear and see: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them.’”

This is Jesus’ response to John the Baptist sending messengers to ask, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for another?” (Matthew 11:2–3).

Jesus did not see it as an insult. Jesus understood where he was coming from. Jesus had respect for John and for his limitations. Of course, Jesus is God. But this is a very interesting response.

Remember what John told us about Jesus: “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). We are talking about a global ministry here, if you want to call it that: “the sin of the world.” That is how John perceived Jesus initially. This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And he also said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). He said so many wonderful things about Him.

But where is the global dominance? Where is the global dominance?

Jesus seems content to emphasize the sort of “little, little” things He is doing—things that may be nothing in the eyes of people: “the blind see.” One person touched. One person impacted.

I spoke to a friend of mine about the value of one person, and I derived it from the fact that Jesus said, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36). I saw that as bringing a sharp focus to the value of one soul. One person. One soul. Put it on a scale: one soul vs. the whole world. One soul cracks that scale. The value of one soul. The value of one person you are speaking with, that you are helping.

Of course, we want our faces on the billboards. You want your name entered into the dictionary, to have a Wikipedia page dedicated to you. People will ask you, “You are not going global yet? You should go global.” That is, in a sense, the question behind what John is asking: “You should go global. What are You doing?”

The brothers of Jesus, in John’s Gospel, came to Him and said, “Leave here and go to Judea so Your disciples may see the works You are doing. For no one who seeks to make a reputation for himself does anything in secret. If You are doing these things, show Yourself to the world” (John 7:3–4). “Why are You here? Go to where it is happening. Go to the big city.” Jesus replied that their time was always ready, but His time had not yet come (John 7:6).

One person: “the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them.” Look at how Jesus is seeing His own ministry—different from how many people, even then, probably saw it.

What is the value proposition? What is the “best use” of my time? “This thing You are doing locally now—why don’t You make it international? You are just ‘rotting away’ in this corner.” Don’t you think that is the message behind John’s question? “Are You the One who is to come?” The One. “How are You going to ‘shoot up’ and be number one? How are You going to fulfill the promise that says ‘you shall be the head and not the tail’” (Deuteronomy 28:13)?

Running not the race set before you, but some other agenda—a fleshly agenda to please men and to get validation from people.

Jesus did not say, “Because this question is being asked of Me, let Me change My whole ministry. Let Me rebrand. Let Me ‘scale.’” He did not say, “Wow, I am not making it yet; let Me now change everything.”

Look at John. John is not a local unknown. John is massive. His opinion is massive. So if John is casting doubt on your ministry, that is serious—something you would think you need to address, re‑strategize about.

But Jesus is confident in His ministry, confident in what He is doing, confident in touching one person. “The poor have the gospel preached to them” (Luke 4:18; Matthew 11:5).

All glory to God. Why? Because what is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight (Luke 16:15).

God bless you. See you later.