Who Are You?

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.