Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities.  When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?"  Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.  And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."

Jesus rarely answers our prayers in the way we expect or want.  Instead, he gives us what we need.  John asks "Are you the one who is to come?" perhaps expecting a 'yes' or 'no' reply.  Instead, Jesus tells John's disciples to go back to John and bear witness to him, telling him all that they have seen and heard.  John already knew these things for the text says "When John heard what the Messiah was doing..."  Perhaps he wanted to hear directly from the mouth of Christ that he was the Messiah.  But John's acceptance of Christ had to be based on what he heard from others - just like ours.

St. John says "We declare to you what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands...we declare to you what we have seen and heard.  This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you..." (1 John 1.1-5)  The apostles saw Jesus, heard him, touched him with their hands.  This is their authority: they are eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ in the flesh, who commissioned them to spread God's word.  To this day our faith comes down to us from that authority.  It is not based on a personal experience we have had, or our own intuition or thoughts.  That would be building on sand.  "You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone." (Ephesians 3.20)

Elsewhere Paul says "I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me..." (1 Corinthians 11.23-26)  Also, "I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins...was buried...was raised...and appeared to hundreds, most of whom are still alive." (1 Corinthians 15.1-8)

When we come to reflect upon what our faith is built, we realize it is bedrock.  We are less easily shaken in our faith when we realize that we have been grafted in to the vine who is Christ.