Advent 3 The Coming of the Coming One Gives Us Cause to Rejoice Matthew 11:2-11 by Rev. Michael G. Lilienthal Dear seekers of the Christ, How long has it been since Christ appeared? He hasn t walked visibly on the earth for almost 2,000 years. We ve been waiting a long time. Because of this long wait, many have become impatient. It seems that the numbers of he impatient are growing every day, as churches empty out, the percentage of people who claim to be Christian in the U.S. is dropping, and religion is an increasingly dirty word. But this trend isn t new or surprising. Enter by the narrow gate, Jesus said. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few (Matt 7:13-14, ESV). Because it is so easy to slip off into the wide, easy way, Christians have always needed encouragement, like the Thessalonians, to whom Paul wrote, But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. Therefore encourage one another with these words (1 Thess. 4:13-14, 18, ESV). Even the great St. John the Baptist needed such encouragement while there is a great deal of discussion about whether John had doubts or not, and what the precise reason for sending his disciples to Jesus with this question was, it is not out of place to
Matthew 11:2-11 2 think that he was facing some very real doubts and struggles. After all, there was a prophecy spoken of John before his birth: he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared (Luke 1:16-17, ESV). His father, too, sang at John s birth, And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; / for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, / to give knowledge of salvation to his people (Luke 1:76, ESV). But now John was in prison. The one he had pointed to, instead of being hailed and praised by all, was rejected by many. Very understandably, he was thinking, Did I get it right? Did I back the wrong man? So the question he sent his disciples to ask was, Are you the Coming One or should we wait for someone else? This occasioned a lesson from Jesus to strengthen the faith of John the Baptist, of his disciples, of all the crowds who stood by, and of us. We are comforted by Christ, and strengthened in faith that the coming of the Coming One gives us cause to rejoice, I. When We See the Reason, and When We Don t Notice what preceded John s sending of his disciples: While John was in prison, he heard about the things Christ was doing. He d heard a report! Maybe this was discouraging, that he was hearing about how Jesus was upsetting the Pharisees and Sadducees and the government, and how many were plotting to kill him. But maybe, and I d say probably, he heard the report of the miracles Jesus was performing, the
The Coming of the Coming One Gives Us Cause to Rejoice 3 teachings he was proclaiming. Hence the wording: he heard about the things Christ was doing. John wanted to believe in his cousin. He wanted faith in his Savior, even while he was trapped in Herod s prison. Locked in that prison, where he was blinded to the work of his Savior, he was easily falling into despondency and depression. So when the encouraging report reached his ears, about the things Christ was doing, this was a straw that he, in his faltering faith, sought to grasp. He wanted certainty. He heard about these things, and he wanted to hear it from Jesus own mouth. His prayer was like the prayer of the man with a demon-possessed son: I believe; help my unbelief! (Mark 9:24). This is a prayer useful for us all to pray. We may not be locked in prison and kept from seeing our Savior in a literal sense, but we are locked in a prison and made blind to our salvation in a very real sense. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. (Gal. 3:22-23, ESV) We are imprisoned in the Law by nature, and this is because through the law comes knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20, ESV). This prison of our own sin blinds us to the Savior, in one of two ways. First, it blinds us because our human nature belittles our sin. We think, I m not so bad. I m at least not as bad as that world outside! I m not as bad as these
Matthew 11:2-11 4 millennials! I m not as bad as finish the sentence how you like. And even within that same problem, I point this out to you, and no doubt there are some of you who think, Yeah, people should stop comparing themselves to others! At least I don t do that. You see, how even that thought is the same thing? The point you must see, your sin kills you! Your sin, even a snide word, even a nasty comment, even an unkind thought, causes you to deserve hell! When we start to think, My thoughts aren t that bad, then we have obscured our Savior and locked the prison doors on ourselves. And the second way this prison blinds us to our Savior is through despair. That is, the Law confronts us with our sin, beats us down, declaring to us, All your righteous deeds are as filthy rags. You have fallen short of the glory of God. You do nothing righteous. You brood of vipers! For your sin, the Almighty has turned his wrath toward you. In terror, we shrink back into our prison, seeing no escape, and we weep and cower and wait for destruction to come upon us. But this second imprisonment is really the more blessed. In the first imprisonment, we have replaced the true God with a god of our own devising the god of ourselves, or the god who will do our bidding. For this reason, we think that salvation may be accomplished by ourselves, because our god is friendly toward our works. This is base idolatry and nothing more. But in the second imprisonment, we are confronted with the prison of our God s own designing. You must have noticed how Paul phrased it: But the Scripture imprisoned everything (Gal. 3:22, ESV). This is no
The Coming of the Coming One Gives Us Cause to Rejoice 5 prison of idolatry, for it is the true God who confronts us, with his very Word but it is his Word of the Law. And if the Law has come in and terrified us of our sins, this is the dead seeding ground for the Gospel to come in, take root, and grow. This was where John lay, in prison. The bars locked around him showed him his limited self, his nature trapped in sin and death. He was terrified for his sins. But a glimmer of the Gospel came to him, about the things Christ was doing. It was so sweet to him, he wanted more, he wanted to be assured: Are you the Coming One or should we wait for someone else? Jesus response, while it initially may seem disappointing, is in fact exactly what John needed to hear. Jesus answered them, Go, 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 gospel is preached to the poor. In fact, what Jesus determined that John needed, was more of the same. He heard about the things Christ was doing, and Jesus response was more of the things he was doing. That is, what John needed was more of the same Gospel he had heard. He would not see the fulfillment of salvation. John would die before the kingdom of God was established in his Messiah on the cross. But he would still receive the Gospel, and this would give him cause to rejoice. When Jesus says, Blessed is the one who does not take offense at me, this is a blessing that extends to John. It was encouragement to John. Jesus, in effect, told John that, even though he may not see these wonderful things with his own eyes, blessedness was offered to him, salvation came to him Jesus is the Coming One, his Savior. This was a similar statement to what
Matthew 11:2-11 6 Jesus said after all had been accomplished: Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29, ESV). Indeed, now we have great difficulty seeing the reason to rejoice. Perhaps we don t see it at all. Yet we believe it, and we do still rejoice, and we are blessed to do so, because, in a certain sense, we have seen his coming. II. For We Have Seen His Coming From the time John was a growing infant in the womb, he had seen his Lord s coming: And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby [John] leaped in her womb (Luke 1:41, ESV). This is not because John could see Jesus through the wombs of their respective mothers, but it is because he heard the blessed greeting of one who had already received him, Mary. Later, John would certainly see Jesus. As cousins, they would have known one another as boys, but when John took up the mantle of prophet and lived in the wilderness, baptized in preparation for the coming kingdom, Jesus had not yet taken up his role in the public. It wasn t until Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him, and John objected, I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? but when he was convinced, he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased (Matt. 3:13, 14, 16-17, ESV). That miraculous Word from God declared who Jesus was, and John really saw him.
The Coming of the Coming One Gives Us Cause to Rejoice 7 Thus did Jesus debut upon the public scene, and many people saw his coming. Throughout the three years after this event, Jesus came, performing miracles, preaching, doing all these things that John heard about, and that Jesus told his disciples to report back to John. To the people standing by when the disciples of John the Baptist asked these questions, it may have seemed as though John, although he had seen the Christ, was faltering and failing, and so they may have wondered, If John has doubts, can we be sure this Jesus is who he says he is? But Jesus extends the lesson to them: What did you go out to the wilderness to see? he asked them. A reed shaken by the wind? No, they had not gone out to see a reed shaken by the wind. Such a one would be what James describes: If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:5-8, ESV) A reed shaken by the wind would be one of those teachers to suit [the] passions of the masses (2 Tim. 4:3, ESV). These people did not go out to see John as a person who would reaffirm their prejudices, would tell them that they were right, would be a mushy, happy preacher. What did you go out to see? Jesus asked again. A man dressed in soft clothing? No, those who wear soft clothing are in kings houses. They didn t go out to see a wealthy person who might offer them material benefits, or would see to it that
Matthew 11:2-11 8 they were secure in worldly things. The very fact that they went out to the wilderness to see John shows that this was not what they were expecting, because no well-dressed noble would spend his time living out in the desert. So what did you go out to see? Jesus asked a third and final time. A prophet? Yes, I tell you! They wanted to see someone who would proclaim the truth from God. That is what a prophet is. But there s more: And he is much more than a prophet, Jesus said. This is the one about whom it is written, Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you. John the Baptist was no mere prophet, but he was the prophet, the one who would be the forerunner of the Messiah. This is why Jesus describes him, Amen I tell you: Among those born of women there has not appeared anyone greater than John the Baptist. John ended the Old Testament, opening the door for Christ, announcing his presence. All the Old Testament prophets longed to see the day of the Messiah, but John was the one enabled to prepare his way, and even to baptize him, to anoint him for the work he was to do. But there is also a paradox: Yet, Jesus said, whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. While John was the most perfect ambassador and preacher of Christ to come, he never saw the fulfillment of the kingdom. He had to anticipate, just as all the prophets before him had to anticipate. But after him, all who came after the kingdom was fulfilled in Jesus crucifixion, death, and resurrection, live in the age of the New Covenant. Now we look back and see the kingdom established. We have seen Jesus coming, and the perfection of his work, the payment he offered for all sin, the
The Coming of the Coming One Gives Us Cause to Rejoice 9 resurrection he gives to the whole world. Because of this, we can be firm in our faith. John had to wait to see Jesus accomplishment, and never did see it until he entered heaven. We have seen it. This is meant to be an assurance for our faith. Remember what Jesus told to comfort John? The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the gospel is preached to the poor. This is truly Good News, and pointed to Jesus as the One indeed to Come, but now, for us, Jesus would add something additional: The Christ suffer[ed] and on the third day r[o]se from the dead. You are witnesses of these things (Luke 24:46, 48). This is what gives us cause to rejoice. We have seen Christ s first coming, have seen what he accomplished. This gives us confidence in his second coming. He has given himself to us, and he still gives himself to us in Word and Sacrament, and he will come for us once again to give us himself fully and in glory. We found our faith on the Gospel, and we rejoice in the fulfillment of that Gospel, when we, John the Baptist, and all believers will see the Coming One come again. Amen. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Heritage Version TM (EHV TM ) copyright 2016 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved. www.wartburgproject.org Some quotations from the Old Testament are samples and may not reflect the final wording. Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.