Matthew 11:2-11
In the past two weeks, our Advent lessons have taught us to prepare to celebrate both the past and the future - to celebrate both the birth of Jesus 2,020 years ago and to heighten our anticipation of his coming anew at a date and time no one knows for sure.
The lessons have stressed the importance of inner preparation - aligning our attitudes and behaviors with God's desires for all and not just busying ourselves with tidying the house.
Today we enter the third week of Advent – with it, the anticipation of the Birth of Christ. In just a little over one week, we will be sitting in this sanctuary celebrating Jesus' birth - the arrival of the Messiah. Today is Rose Sunday, or to the Anglican community, 'Stir It Up' Sunday. In the Collect, we ask God to 'stir up his power' in us.
This Kingdom of God is what we are waiting for as we continue this Advent Season. As we anticipate the birth of that baby in Bethlehem, let us keep our eyes fixed on the real prize:
The Kingdom of God!!
But today's scripture is not foretelling the birth of Jesus. Today's lesson cuts to the heart of the matter and asks THE question that every follower of Jesus in every age must want to ask:
Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another? (Matthew 11:2)
The question is rather oddly and interestingly put.
In today's scripture, we find John the Baptist languishing away in prison, put there because he renounced Herod Antipas' marriage to his brother's wife. He has been there for over a year and probably getting very cranky – not that he wasn't before. He hears rumors that the Jesus he had baptized and proclaimed to be the Messiah was traveling the countryside.
His hopes were high, and he was sure that Jesus would ride in on a white horse and rescue him.
Matthew begins by reporting that the imprisoned John the Baptist had heard what Jesus was doing. Doesn't that suggest that John - or others - had already concluded that Jesus WAS the Messiah?
And at the time of Jesus, Nazareth was a hillbilly, backwoods hamlet. And Jesus was the conceived-out-of-wedlock son of Mary, married to that weakling Joseph who didn't do the honorable thing of publicly disgracing Mary when he found she was pregnant, who made his living as a peasant woodworker.
In other words, Jesus was at the bottom of the status ladder.
But on the other hand, Jesus was saying and doing things that got people talking about him. Gossip was spreading, even into the prison where John was. People were starting to wonder - Just who was this guy? Could someone like that possibly be the Messiah? What were they to make of him?
He heard that Jesus was performing miracles, preaching mercy, compassion, and love. This was not what he expected of the Messiah!!! Jesus was not proclaiming himself the Messiah King, bringing about the destruction of Rome and overthrowing Herod's rule. He was not preaching revolution and smiting evildoers! He was proclaiming good news for the needy, the broken-hearted and downtrodden, the captives, and the oppressed. He was even saying people who believed in Him would be persecuted.
Even though they were cousins and had known each other since the womb, John was no longer sure that this Jesus was the Messiah.
He sent his disciples to speak with Jesus. After all, John had prophesied that the Messiah would come with fiery judgment, pitchfork in hand, and with an axe. This man was preaching and teaching hope and love and healing, not fomenting revolution. What was going on here?
Imagine you were John and had been extolling the virtues of this Messiah, only to find out that He was not a revolutionary – or at least not in the sense John expected. Jesus was preaching and healing, not riling up the citizens. There was no message of revolt in his stories. He stressed the compassion and inclusion of everyone in the Kingdom of God. The Jews had been waiting with expectation for the appearance of the Messiah that would save them from Roman oppression and restore them to their rightful kingdom. This Jesus was certainly not acting like that Messiah!
John wanted to know if their waiting was over or if there was another Messiah who would be coming.
Had he been wrong about Jesus?
Was he looking like a fool?
I don't think so.
When asked
“are you the one”
Jesus does NOT answer the question directly. Instead, he tells the followers of John to go back and report what they have seen and heard. In other words, John had to make up his own mind and decide who Jesus was.
The scripture goes on to say that Jesus affirms John and his prophecy. Jesus reminded John that he was “the voice crying in the wilderness”, in goat skins for clothes, eating locusts and honey. Jesus reminded him of his calling as a 'preparer' – baptizing many in the wilderness. He was more than a prophet; he was a forerunner, reformer, and way-preparer.
Those times for which John was baptizing people and foretelling had come to pass. Just as Elijah foretold of Jesus' birth, John foretold Jesus' life on earth. John's purpose was to prepare the people for the arrival of Jesus among them.
The prophecy foretold in Isaiah was fulfilled in the person of Jesus:
A Jesus that was a man of words and compassionate actions, not one of authority and military might.
Jesus tells John’s disciples to look around and see what was happening. God is on the move. People are being reached, and their lives are being changed. The blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news preached to them. Even though John is imprisoned and disappointed, God is moving. Jesus is doing what God called him to do.
Jesus sends John's disciples back, telling them to tell John what they have seen. Tell John about the
Healing the sick
Casting out demons
Raising the dead
Forgiving sins
Preaching to the poor.
We can only hope that when the disciples returned and told John what they had seen and heard, he remembered the prophecies of Isaiah about the marvels that would take place in the wilderness. And he remembered his faith in that man he baptized so long ago.
But wouldn't it have been natural for John to have been a little upset that he was sitting in prison for an itinerant preacher who gave mercy to anyone who asked (even Romans) and would lead his followers to a brutal death? John possibly sent his disciples to Jesus to try and prod him into the action he expected from the Messiah.
But Jesus, the Messiah, was not what John the Baptist expected. He was here to establish the Kingdom of God. He was not coming to destroy Rome; the Romans could and did that without his help.
Jesus was here to establish the Kingdom of God, where everyone is welcome and loved, and mercy and compassion flow like waters.
We are waiting for this event as we continue this Advent Season.
Are we preparing for the coming of the Kingdom of God?
Though we have attempted to live righteously, we find ourselves imprisoned by our failures. Sometimes we feel more like John sitting in a prison; we are shackled and imprisoned, and we can't see any escape.
• We have sensed God's call upon us and tried to follow the path that God has called us to walk, but things didn't go the way we expected.
• We feel we are failures at work, in our families, and in other areas of our lives.
• Our fears imprison us. We fear failure, so we don't try.
• Our sins shackle us.
• We can't turn away from our selfishness and self-centeredness.
• We can't seem to break loose of the habits, compulsions, addictions, and desires that keep us from leading righteous, obedient lives as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Like John, we struggle with disappointments and despair.
Like John, sometimes we are disappointed that Jesus doesn't do what we expected or wanted him to do. John was disappointed that Jesus wasn't more judgmental and that he didn't preach more hell, fire, and brimstone. Disappointed that he didn't charge in and take control and establish the awaited kingdom.
We sometimes act like football players who occasionally run off the field and tell the coach what plays he should call and what he should do. The coach nods, and we think he understands and agrees with us, but when we run back onto the field, the coach doesn't call the play we thought he should. We are disappointed because we forget it is God’s plan.
We struggle to understand that our life of faith is not so that God does what we want him to do—instead, a life of faith is to boldly and obediently follow God's guidance and direction in our lives—to do what God wants us to do.
This Advent season may find us less than celebratory. We may be struggling in many ways, and we may not be living out the freedom and power that is ours as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Amid our imprisonments and disappointments, God assures us he is establishing his kingdom. God also invites us to participate in his kingdom by taking up the ministry of Jesus—serving others and sharing the good news.
The world around us needs us, and God is with us.
We need to be prodded and poked to strive for a sinless life. We need to be pushed forward to who is coming. We need to be reminded in this Advent Season that Jesus comes not only as a human child but promises to return to triumph over death and make that possible for us. Jesus comes twice to bring eternal life and peace in an everlasting Kingdom.
Can we throw off the shackles that imprison us?
Can we rid ourselves of our disappointments?
Are we ready for that Kingdom?
Amen.
Delivered at Saint John's Episcopal Church, Columbus, OH; 11 December 2022
