The Proof is in the Puddin’
Text: 11:1-6
Introduction
Thursday while the area youth ministers were meeting in the sanctuary the vendor for our video projector came to help us troubleshoot a problem. As we went down to my office he asked me what they were talking about, I told him they were practicing sharing with young people why they should consider Christianity. He said, "That’s a very good question, why should they?" This led to an hour and a half discussion of Who Jesus is and what He has to offer.
In the brief story we read today John the Baptist has a similar question about Jesus. He wants to know if Jesus is really the one he had been waiting for.
Proposition: John’s question and the way Jesus responds to it points us toward the path that leads to the truth about Jesus.
Transition: You know, I believe that as each of us walk the path of faith we sometimes find ourselves at the crossroads of doubt, just like John. So this morning I’d like to look at the path the Baptist walked to find the truth about Jesus. There are three important points along that path that I’d like to consider with you the first is the starting point. The path begins with...
1. Inquiry
vv. 2-3 When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
Now let me remind you that at the time that Jesus had been baptized by John he had clearly pointed him out as the promised Messiah.
What had happened? I think that Jesus hadn’t turned out to be the Messiah that John had expected. Remember John’s message was an unrelenting message of Judgment and the need for repentance. John left the sermon title the same in his bulletin every week and the title was "Turn or Burn."
That uncompromising message was what landed him in Jail because He had accused Herod the king and his wife of Incest.
I think he expected Jesus to bring the same message in high gear:
Mat 3:11 I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Yet Jesus came with a message of grace, he came healing, he came associating with sinners, he put a tax collector on the deacon board.
I think John was a little confused, he wasn’t understanding that Grace was the other side of the coin of Judgment.
Jesus wasn’t all that he expected.
You know I have to admit that Jesus hasn’t always been all that I expected either. Life hasn’t always been what I thought should come my way.
Maybe you’ve felt that way too. Maybe you’ve felt like Jesus has let you down. Life has been confusing, things haven’t been fair. You’ve lost those you loved, your dreams have been shattered.
So what did John do? He asked Jesus if he really was the answer. And it’s OK for you to ask too.
In response to John’s inquiry Jesus gives the necessary...
2. Information
vv. 4-5 Jesus replied, "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."
Notice that Jesus doesn’t criticize John for a lack of faith. He understands John’s confusion. Jesus doesn’t fear the question because He has the answer.
Jesus says to John, "You’re focused on the wrong thing, coinsured how what I am doing fulfills the prophecies, healing, restoring, a message of Good News for the outcast."
Yes there are other prophecies that talk about a Messiah who comes in Judgment, and that time is coming when Jesus comes the second time. John had become focused on that narrow portion of the message and Jesus just wanted to remind him, "Hey, remember these other prophecies?"
Similarly when we have doubts about Jesus the source is usually a limited perspective. We get focused on those things that are closest to us, or our own expectations, and we fail to see the big picture.
I believe Jesus asks us to consider the big picture too: "Consider how I’m working in the world, consider my power, consider what I’ve already done, Consider the Good News that I’ve given my life for your sins."
Jesus doesn’t negate our issues, or say that they’re unimportant, He just asks us to consider all the information. And then he asks us our...
3. Intention
v. 6 "Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."
The word translated "fall away" here is the same one that is sometimes translated "stumbling block." Blessed Jesus says is the one who doesn’t stumble over me.
That’s an interesting statement. Stumble over Him why? Well the context seems to be because He isn’t what was expected, because His message is one that’s difficult to accept.
Jesus says tell John what you’ve seen, and then he asks "Will you stumble because you wanted something different than what I offer, or will you follow me in the path I lead in the way I lead it. What is your intention?"
The point I think for us is that while it’s OK to ask "Why?" We can’t live forever in the wilderness of doubt, Jesus calls upon us to state our intention to follow.
The very concept of faith presumes that not every question will be answered, at some point we simply trust Him.
Through the history of the church there has been an ongoing discussion about the nature of faith and understanding. Do we seek to understand so that we may believe or do we believe so that we may understand.
Now while I believe that we must understand something about the gospel in order to have a basis for our faith, ultimately I believe the Lord asks us to reach out to Him in Faith, trusting Him even when we cannot fully understand.
Those who demand complete understanding before they will believe are those who Jesus spoke of who stumble over Him.
INQUIRY INFORMATION INTENTION
