Advent
3 – Matthew 11:2-11 – December 16th and 17th,
2017
In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +
In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +
Not to
spoil the story, but John is going to die there in prison. Our
Gospel lesson begins with John the Baptist in prison, in a dungeon,
and he's going to die there. Herod will lop of his head; John is not
getting out of this one. When we see John this evening/morning, we
don't hear the lessons where he is brashly and bluntly preaching
repentance to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. We don't see
him point to Jesus and exclaim, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world” - although we will sing that today. We
don't even get the cantankerous and blunt John telling off Pharisees
– you brood of vipers! Who told you to flee the wrath that is to
come? John's not out in the wilderness by the Jordan baptizing right
now – no, he's down in a dungeon waiting to die. And any dreams he
might have had about reforming all of Jerusalem, standing by the
Messiah's side as He fixed things, well, those are dying as well.
When
John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by
his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the One who is to come, or
shall we look for another.”
John's disciples, his students, hadn't abandoned him after his
arrest, and they would come and visit, bring him updates about the
world, and John heard what Christ was doing. But wait, what? Wasn't
I supposed to be there? Wasn't I supposed to be part of the Jesus and
John tag team? And so, there in that prison, the contrast is stark.
And doubts and fears come rolling in. This isn't how it was supposed
to be, this didn't go how I thought it would. Was I wrong? Was I
wrong to believe, was I wrong to point people to You, is there
another Messiah coming, because I'm going to die in here, and I need
to know.
And
so John's disciples go, and they talk to Jesus, and Jesus responds.
“Go and tell John what you hear and see: the
blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and
the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good
news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by
me.”
So the disciples get to take a message to John, and Jesus gives a
list of things. The blind see, the lame walk. Lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear, the dead raised, and the poor have good news preached
to them. Now, first things first – this is the laundry list of
what the Messiah would do. Giving sight to the blind, the deaf
hearing – that is literally textbook Messianic activity. Later on
in the year we will have Gospel lessons where Jesus will restore
sight or fix some fellow's ears – and chances are the Old Testament
lesson for that day will be a prophecy pointing out how the Messiah
would do these sorts of things. Same thing with the lepers and the
lame being cured – they'll get to enter into the temple and
worship, it will be a wonderful thing. And then there are the big
miracles – the dead being raised. All things that point to Jesus,
that establish His bona fides as the Messiah. Go tell John that you
have heard and seen all these things – they ought to identify who I
am – oh, but there's one more on that list. The poor have good
news preached to them, so blessed is the one who isn't offended by
Me.
The
poor have good news preached to them. Doesn't that seem a bit... odd
for this list? A bit, humdrum? I mean, it's just preaching.
Nothing special there – John himself had been a preacher. I mean,
we proclaim the word – not just me; you yourselves have told the
good news about Jesus to family, friends, your kids, what have you.
Doesn't seem that big of a deal. I mean, how many of you are going
to run out of here saying, “Wow, did you hear, there was a sermon,
I can't believe it!” Now, if I had held my hand up like this and
went <> and suddenly all of your hearing aids were
to blast out of your ears and your glasses and contacts flew off
because you didn't need them anymore, well, that would be something
cool to hear and see, right?
Except
where is John? He's a poor man stuck in prison, stuck away from out
there where Jesus is running around. There's all those miracles and
I'm stuck in this prison and there's no miracle coming for me and I
am going to die, what about me Jesus, have you forgotten me, Jesus!
My life isn't going the way I thought it would, and I was a prophet
for crying out loud, I should have seen this coming but I didn't and
what does this all mean? It means, John, that even the poor in
prison have the good news preached to them. It means that dead are
raised, even you John, even after the headsman's ax comes for you.
Your eyes will see even after they have been closed in death because
of Me. You'll walk again, you'll hear again, you will be clean
again, in fact cleaner and purer than you've even been because I will
raise you to new and holy and perfect life John. And the fact that
you are in that prison cell, that things didn't go the way YOU
expected, doesn't change a thing. I knew this was coming, and I came
to be your Messiah, your Savior, and I will raise you and you will be
at My side for all eternity. All of this is for you John, even as
you are there stuck in prison just waiting to die. I came to be your
Lord and Savior, and I still am even this day.
And
as those disciples head on back to go preach to John in prison, Jesus
turns to the crowd that is with Him, and He starts to talk about
John. “What did you go out into the wilderness
to see?”
What were you expectations, O crowd – what were you expecting? “A
reed shaken by the wind?”
Something thin and wispy and weak that just went with the flow? No!
“What then did you go out to see? A man
dressed in soft clothing? Behold those who wear soft clothing are in
kings' houses.”
What did you go to see – someone rich dandy who was going to make
your life all rich and dandy? No. “What then
did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a
prophet. This is he of whom it is written, 'Behold, I send My
messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'”
No, you went to see a prophet. Someone who would speak the Word of
God bluntly and clearly, come what may – oh, and by the by, how do
things end up for prophets? Well, they end up in exile, or stoned,
or beaten, or dead in kings palaces. And John prepares the way for Me
– He preaches ahead of Me, and He gets to die ahead of Me too –
but still, all that He preached was true – I am the Messiah, and I
will defeat sin and death.
Lots
and lots of misguided expectations are addressed in today's text.
John's slid off, which is easy enough to understand. And then Jesus
plays off of some expectations that we often like to have. A reed
shaken by the wind? Well, to be honest, we can sort of like that.
We can like people who will just tell us what we want to hear, we can
like them to sing our tune. In fact, if we have any clarinet or oboe
players in here – how do clarinets and oboes and bassoons work? A
reed shaken, vibrating by your breath. And there are times where we
will go and listen to people who let us call the tune, who tell us
what we want them to tell us. “Confirmation Bias” is the trendy
term for that – where we are more apt to listen to the folks who
simply tell us what we already think, who agree with how we want
things to be. Or there's the fine clothes crowd – you know, rich,
powerful, successful. I hate to harp on it again, but aren't
prosperity preachers popular? They are for a reason. Wouldn't you
like it if I could say, “you will get stuff out the wazoo all
throughout 2018”? But here's the thing – Scripture doesn't
promise that. And the Scriptures sometimes tell us things about
ourselves that we don't like. And sometimes reality sets in, and
there are times things in your life will stink on ice. I hope it's
not, but maybe 2018 will be a terrible year, where your eyesight or
hearing just gets worse. Maybe because of the family drama Christmas
will seem like being stuck in prison this year. It happens. Every
single one of us in here has hurts and pains, physical, mental,
emotional, social – and there are times those pains will flare up –
and while I wish I could go “zap” and fix them, I can't. I have
been given a job, though, and that is to preach good news to the
poor.
This
Sunday in Advent is the pink Sunday. It is the Sunday of
refreshment, of rejoicing, of comfort. So then why, do you think, do
we have such a dour and dark Gospel lesson? Why do we have John in
prison today? Can't we have something a bit more cheery, can't we at
least fake it for a hour here? No, because Jesus doesn't give fake
comfort to fake sinners – He comes to give real comfort to real
sinners who really hurt and are even in really dark places. And I
hope your holidays are good, I hope 2018 is fabulous for you, but
what I want you to know and remember is whenever things turn south,
however disappointing and however painful things might be – be it
next year or even 40 years down the line – Jesus doesn't abandon
you. He doesn't leave you alone in muck, in whatever prison this
world throws you into. He is with you, for you are Baptized and
joined to Him. He has not promised that you will never see sorrow or
hardship in this life, but He has promised to forgive your sin and
raise you to everlasting life – that's what your Baptism is.
That's what the Supper is. That is precisely the good news that is
preached to you over and over again whenever you see how poor you
are. The way you know that God loves you has nothing to do with how
rich or successful you are, or whether your dreams are coming true or
your plans are working out. Those things, great as they are, all
come and go – but what remains constant and steadfast for you? Oh
give thanks unto the LORD for He is good, and His steadfast love
endures forever. You are and remain His baptized and redeemed child.
He has forgiven you. And this remains true whether you see good
times or bad – for better or worse, in sickeness and in health –
He remains faithful to you. He has promised to be your Savior, and
so He is. Your life may take strange and bizarre turns that none of
us could guess, but not to spoil the story, you end up risen from
the dead and living with Christ in joy and bliss forever. Come
quickly, Lord Jesus – Amen.
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