Matthew 11:2–11
2 When John heard in prison what the Messiaha was doing, he sent word by hisbdisciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” 4 Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepersc are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. 6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.” 7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? Someoned dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet?e Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ 11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
Conversation: “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”
• I am wondering what kind of expectations we have of God?
• If Jesus came to our community today would we know it?
• What would Jesus be like?
• Would what Jesus does be worthy of notice?
Sermon: “What did you go out to see?”
1. Jesus asks the people around him…about their encounter with John the Baptist. He asks them what their expectations are for how God’s prophet should look and sound. This is a very good question… What ought the prophet of our all-powerful God look like? Should God’s prophet be strong and handsome…like Hercules? Should God’s prophet be clean shaven and tidy…like an executive? Should God’s prophet be dressed in the clothing of royalty? Or should God’s prophet have an angelic appearance… with wings or a convincing halo?
And how should God’s prophet speak…with a thunderous voice commanding everyone’s attention? Should a prophet sound like the fire and brimstone preachers of old…warning people and threatening them? Or should the voice of God’s prophet be gentle and soft creating…not enough wind to damage a bruised reed?
The description of John’s appearance and voice make contrast very much with what we might expect when we think about how God’s prophet should appear and sound. Rather than appearing angelic or dressing suitably or speaking persuasively John’s rough appearance might surprise us…and might certainly cause us to wonder about him being a prophet of God. Developing an adequate representation seems quite difficult when we are attempting to draw a picture of a typical prophet of God.
2. Yet even this strangely dressed prophet, John, also has a difficult time picturing the Messiah for whom all of Israel has been waiting. Jesus has been given sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, healing people with all kinds of illness…and he has even raise a little girl from the dead. But even though he has done these powerful deeds and crowds are following Jesus from place to place…to John…the unlikely prophet…Jesus is not sufficiently dynamic to be the Messiah.
Sure Jesus has questioned and irritated the religious authorities… and he has rebuffed and annoyed the political authorities. But Jesus has not shown the type of power that John is expecting from the Messiah…or the power Mary sings about in her song. He has not turned the world upside down as her song suggests.
He has challenged and embarrassed the proud…but has not scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has not brought down the powerful from their thrones. He has been accompanying the lowly ones and shown them that they are worthy for healing…but he has not lifted up the lowly to positions of importance. On occasion Jesus has fed people with loaves and fishes…but he has not sent the rich away empty. The Roman Empire is still reigning powerful as ever…and Jesus has not become the reigning king. To John the Baptist God’s glory surely has not been completely revealed in Jesus. Jesus just does not quite measure up to his expectations of the Messiah.
3. We are very much like the people who went out to the Jordan to see God’s prophet. We are also like John the Baptist who send his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the one or whether we should look for another. Because Jesus has not done what we expect…we too have asked; “Are you the one or should we look for another?” We have chased after the god’s of the world…never questioning the powerful…instead we try getting close and impressing them. We have ignored the lowly and have refused to lift them up. We have not fed the hungry. We have ignored prophetic voices… We do not recognised Jesus in the people we have encountered.
We don’t recognize Jesus because like John… we have our own ideas about the Messiah. For John the Messiah has to be strong like a warrior… For us the Messiah has to be holy…humble and meek. For John the Messiah has to be able to put religious authorities in their place. For us the Messiah becomes part of our religious community. We are Lutherans, United, Anglican, or Roman Catholic…and for each of us the Messiah appears in specific ways. But each of us has a formal picture of how we would recognize the Son of God… We are sure that given the opportunity we would likely recognize the Messiah.
4. There is a problem though. None of us not even one of us has a complete picture of who are God’s prophets are what they should look like. And none of us has a complete picture for God’s Son… the Messiah. As individuals and church bodies… we have all taken God’s son and shrunk him down to make him fit into our limited imaginations.
But the son of God is more than we as individuals and even more than we can collectively imagine. Jesus is more than a cute and helpless little baby … He is more than a wise teacher…more than a brilliant story teller… Jesus is more than one who performs miracles. He is even more than one who dies and rises to save us from our sins. Jesus is much more than any of these…all put together.
We may have an incomplete picture of the Messiah and we may have an incompletely understanding for what Jesus does. But as incomplete as our picture is, we do know a few things. We know that our God loves us…with a love beyond our understanding. We know that our God wants us to feel that love. So God’s Son Jesus becomes human with all the human characteristics and all the human experiences. Through his life and death Jesus teaches us about God’s love. He walks with us and because of his human life he knows what we experience. Because he knows us we have a kinship with Jesus…and we see his love for us. We also see his love because he walks with us through our daily life…the good and happy days and our most difficult and sad days. Most significant Jesus willingly dies to save us…all because he loves us. Jesus lifts us up and makes us important in the eyes of God… He lifts us from our sinful place to a special place in God’s kingdom.
Therefore let us open our hearts to the love that God offers to all people. And let us not worry about what he looks like or whether Jesus does what we expect. And let be thankful that our Messiah is much more than we could ever imagine. Thanks be to God. Amen
Out of the Wilderness 