Matthew 11:2-11 2001 Person of the Year
The year 2001 is almost over – a little over two weeks to go. Who was the most influential person in the world, this past year? Every year, Time Magazine picks out someone to be their Person of the Year. Here’s the criteria – in the last 12 months, who had the biggest impact on our world – negative or positive, either way – who affected our world the most this past year? Who would you pick? Last year, Time Magazine’s Person of the Year was our current president, George Bush. The year before, it was Jeff Bezos, because of his internet site - Amazon.com, the biggest book distributor in the world. Many years ago, Joseph Stalin was Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, because of the negative impact he had on the world.
Who do you think it will be this year? Strange to think about, but it might be Osama bin Ladin. Of all the people that affected our world this past year, he, many would say, affected our world the most – in a negative way, of course. But maybe it won’t be him. Who has left his mark on the year 2001 more than anyone else? Who will be on the cover of Time Magazine in a few weeks?
If Time magazine would have existed during Jesus’ day, we know who Jesus would have voted for. He tells us in our Scripture lesson for today. In verse 11 he says, “I tell you the truth: Among those born of women, there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.” Jesus would have put John the Baptist on the cover of Time Magazine, as Person of the Year. Why?
Did John impact the world more than anyone else during his day? Compared to some of the other people living at his time, he wasn’t very influential. You have Caesar, conquering and controlling and changing the world. You have the Herod family, building massive and beautiful structures, including the Jerusalem temple. You have Roman philosophers and teachers. All these people, and many more, were influencing the world at that time.
But what about John the Baptist – why does Jesus think John should be Person of the Year? Today, Jesus redefines greatness. According to Jesus, greatness is not just a matter of impacting the world, leaving your mark. It’s something much more. What is greatness? What is Jesus’ criteria for Person of the Year?
Last week, we spent some time with John the Baptist out in the desert. Today, we find him in prison. A lot has happened – during his ministry, John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God, the Messiah. He baptized Jesus, watched as the Holy Spirit descended onto Jesus like a dove. With all the passion he could muster, he pointed people to Jesus as the Messiah. In John’s eyes, Jesus was Person of the Year.
But now John was in prison. He had spoken out against King Herod’s promiscuous lifestyle. He had called Herod a sinner, and as a result, he was thrown into prison. And he would never see the light of day again. As he sat in the dungeon, he heard whispers about what Jesus was doing. Jesus preaching the forgiveness of sins to people. But what about the justice that the Messiah was supposed to bring? What about the greatness of God? The self-righteous religious leaders were still teaching their false doctrines. The sinful pagan Romans were still ruling the world. Everything and everyone was just as sinful as it was before Jesus came. Where is the justice, the greatness of God? Nothing has changed.
What emotion is John feeling as he sits in the dungeon, as he wonders if his life was a waste? The emotion of doubt. Even the most spiritual, even the “strongest” of Christians, have moments of doubt, moments when they wonder – has it all just been a big waste of time? So John sends his disciples to Jesus to ask, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”
Have you ever had moments like John the Baptist – moments of doubt? As you sit here this morning, you don’t look like you have any doubts. But deep down inside, we all have our secret doubts, things in our lives that make us wonder. Has Christ fulfilled all your expectations? Or, do you sometimes feel let down, doubtful, like John the Baptist in prison, wondering, where is the greatness of God?
A week and a half ago, a family in our church body watched as their four year old daughter, Haley, lost her battle with cancer. Haley had been fighting for quite some time, a pretty horrific struggle, including 30 radiation treatments, and she was only four. What if little Haley was your daughter? And you pray to Christ, your Savior. And you have hopes and expectations. But your daughter dies. And you wonder, where is the justice, where is the greatness of God? “O Christ, are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”
Jesus understands why we doubt. He understands why we feel pain, why we feel sorrow, why we have moments of doubt, like John the Baptist. Jesus understands, because he has lived in this world, he has felt our sorrows, our pain.
And he forgives. He forgives us for our moments of weakness. He forgives us, and he comforts and strengthens us. Look how he does that for John: “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” Jesus reminds John of all the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. Jesus refers to Isaiah 35. Look it up in your service folder, verses 5-6: “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.” Jesus assures John that he IS the Messiah. “I’m doing exactly what the prophets said I would do. I am the Messiah. You pointed to the right person, John.”
Jesus says the same thing to us. When you look up into the sky and wonder, “Where is the greatness of God?” – Jesus gently puts his hand on my shoulder, opens the Bible in front of you, and there he shows you his greatness. There he points to all those Old Testament prophecies – 100’s for them! And there on the pages of Scripture you see the greatness of God, as Jesus fulfills every Messianic prophecy ever written.
Do not look for the greatness of God in your life experiences – there is too much trouble, too much confusion. Look for God’s greatness in the Word – look at verse 11, the last half: “Yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Who is Jesus talking about? Christians obviously, but also himself. Jesus made himself “least” in the kingdom of heaven. There was a moment when Jesus himself was in prison, just like John. But Jesus went even lower than that, when he placed himself beneath the entire human race, dying on the cross to take away all of our sins. There you see the greatness of God – Jesus humbling himself, cleaning our sinful world of all of its sin, and then rising from the dead, to assure us that you and I really are children of God. He rises from the dead, to assure us that he really is our Messiah.
You can see the greatness of God, even in the death of a loved one, even in the death of your four-year-old daughter. Because here, in the Word, you see that even though her body was riddled with cancer, her soul is purified by the blood of Christ. Here in the Word, you see that right now, her soul is with Jesus in heaven. Here in the Word, you see that she will someday rise from the dead, healthier and happier than she had ever been the first time she had a body. If you want to see the greatness of God, look in the Word, and listen to the voice of Jesus Christ.
John the Baptist knew this. But here, we see that he needs a reminder. As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus speaks to the crowd about John. He reminds them that John was a prophet, but more than a prophet – he was the one about whom Isaiah had foretold hundreds of years earlier. And then Jesus says: “Among those born of woman, there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.” In Jesus’ eyes, John was the greatest, the “Person of the Year.” Why would Jesus say that? Perhaps because of all the prophets that had ever lived, John was the only one who lived to see the Messiah. He was the only one who was able to stand next to the Messiah and say, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
And then, Jesus talks about you: “Yet, he who is least in the kingdom of heaven, is greater than he.” Before we had mentioned how Jesus is referring to himself here. But he’s also referring to you and to me. You and I, and everyone else who is “least in the kingdom of heaven, is greater than he.” What does this mean? It means that in many ways, we have been blessed even more than John the Baptists. We have seen on he pages of Scripture exactly how the Messiah has taken away of our sins. We have seen how the Messiah has risen from the dead. We have his promises, written down for us, and we can go to them, again and again, when we have moments of doubt. In that respect, God has made you even greater than John the Baptist.
What is greatness? Greatness is what Jesus has done. Greatness is what John the Baptist has done. And greatness is what you do – believing in Jesus, sharing him with others, living a humble life that worships him. In the eyes of God, that’s greatness. Who belongs on the cover of Time Magazine – the 2001 Person of the Year? This year, it will be whoever has impacted our world the most in the last 12 months. But if you think about it, every year, Jesus Christ could be on the cover as Person of the Year, and that would be correct, because no one impacts your life, or your world, more than Jesus Christ. John the Baptist could be on the cover of Time, based on what Jesus has told us today. And yes, even you – any Christian who believes in Him, who loves Him and shares Him and worships him – in Jesus’ eyes, that’s greatness. That’s the Person of the Year. Amen.
