December 16, 2007
First Church of the Brethren
H. Kevin Derr
Matthew 11:2-11
“Proclamations”
2When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent his disciples 3to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”
4Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
7As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10This is the one about whom it is written:
” ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’
11Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
It is often easy for us to miss the importance, the power, the subtle and yet open message of Christ. We are overwhelmed by all the activity of the Christmas season, the planning, the preparation, the shopping, the food, the services, parties, gatherings of family and friends, the calendar fills up all to quickly. Our busy days become even more filled with appointments and responsibilities. We have less time to do the things that we normally do, the things that include our times for devotions and mediation. Is it possible to forget Jesus amid the tress, the stockings, the decorations, the gifts, the paper, the Christmas specials, the parties and the next item on the list of things to be done?
Of course it is possible, it in fact may be probable. It is I suppose, not so much different than it was in Jesus day. Oh, then it was not Santa Clause and Reindeer, but it was when would the Messiah deal with the Romans, or when would the Kingdom be restored? Missing the Messiah now is just as possible as it was then, the reasons indeed may be different, but distractions are just that distractions. It does not matter what pulls our attention from those things that really matter, to the perceived pressing issue of the day. The reasons may indeed be different, but in the end the result is the same, we miss the Messiah.
Prayer
I. John sends his disciples to Jesus to ask a question, one it would seem that he already knows the answer to, so why does he ask?
a. Matthew presents the question like this, 2When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent his disciples 3to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”
i. So, the question becomes does John ask this question for himself or for his disciples?
1. This arises because of what Jesus has doing.
2. He was apparently doing something that was not assumed to be the activity of the Messiah.
3. Thus, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”
ii. We are shaped and formed by the culture we live in, just as John’s disciples were shaped by theirs. They were shaped to expect specific things from the Messiah.
1. What have we been shaped to expect from Jesus?
a. A warm and fuzzy, always yes, never a harsh thing to say?
b. Weak, meek, passive
2. What happens when we combine this with the traditions of Christmas in the present culture?
a. Do we even notice Jesus?
b. And if we don’t, the Jesus we’ve created doesn’t mind and will just be happy when we do notice him again.
c. All of this is far from the Jesus revealed to us in Scriptures.
b. Jesus response to this inquiry of the disciples of John the Baptist is a reference to the scriptures. He says, 4Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.
i. Jesus points to another understanding of the Messiah, one that does not start with killing the Romans. He takes them to a passage in Isaiah 66 which reads,
1. 1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn, . . .
2. You see very quickly where this takes us, the day of the Lord is indeed coming, but before that day of judgment comes a time of good news, a time when the good news is proclaimed to the poor, freedom for the captives, release for the prisoner.
3. Jesus says, I am the Messiah, but before the day of Judgment, I bring good news.
a. See the blind see, the lame walk, those who are sick become well, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor hear good news.
b. A day of judgment is coming, but the good news comes first, and you are hearing it.
ii. Then Jesus says these words, 6Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
1. He is saying, “You expected someone else, or rather you expected me to do other things, don’t fall away because of that.”
2. It has to do with what they expected.
a. They expected the King to come and take the throne and drive the Romans and the Greeks from their hone and to restore the Kingdom of David
b. But this is not about David, this is about the Kingdom of Heaven.
i. David may have pointed toward heaven, but his kingdom was not the Kingdom of Heaven
ii. The Messiah is bringing something much better than Kingdom of David
iii. It begins with the pronouncement of Good News, with Healing by Jesus who is the Messiah.
II. Jesus then talks to the gathered crowd about John, he says, 7As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces.
a. He asks them “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind?”
i. You don’t go out into the wilderness to see a reed blowing in the wind, you can see that out in the wilderness, but that in and of itself is no reason to go out into the wilds.
ii. Or you could read this, “Did you go out to see someone who could be swayed as easily as a reed in the wind? Of course not, no one wants to hear a prophet that has no convictions, what’s the point.
b. He then asks, Did you go out to see A man dressed in fine clothes,
i. You don’t go out into the wilderness to see a person dressed in the soft clothes, the clothes for an easy life in the palace of the kings and powerful.
ii. You don’t go into the wilderness to see a common thing, a reed being moved in the wind, and you don’t go into the wilderness to see people dressed in fine soft clothing.
iii. So why did they go out to the wilderness? Jesus says, 9Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10This is the one about whom it is written:
” ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’
1. People went out to see a prophet, this the people knew and understood
2. Then Jesus states, “Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.”
a. How does one see more than a prophet, how do we understand that, how did they?
b. I don’t know how they did, what they thought, but I do know how Jesus explained this role of John the Baptist
c. He was the herald of the Kingdom of Heaven, he is the one who prepare the way for the Messiah.
d. John came and announced the coming of the Kingdom, now Jesus is hear! Now the good news is being preached to the poor, the blind see, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the lepers are made whole.
e. Just because it was not what people were anticipating, does not mean that it was not worthwhile.
f. And right now we are invited to ponder, to realize a little more the power and impact of the coming of the Messiah, and the realization that a day of Judgment is also coming
III. Here is the shocking revelation in this text, Jesus says of John, 11Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
a. Jesus says, of those born of women, there is no one greater than John the Baptist.
i. Consider who that means, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Sampson, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha. . . John is greater than them all.
ii. But here is the shocker, the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than John.
b. The difference will not be realized until Easter, when Jesus is crucified and raised to life, and the kingdom established.
i. We enjoy the benefits of the resurrection, and admittance to the Kingdom of Heaven
ii. Something prophets like John longed to see, something we often forget because it ha for us become common place, comfortable, assumed
iii. In our comfort, let us not become complacent, perhaps this Christmas season we can pray that the comfortable will be afflicted and the afflicted will be comforted.
