Advent 3
Series A
15 December 2019
Matthew 11:2-11
Evidence that Jesus is the Messiah
Let Jesus be Jesus
If you come to the conclusion - after examining and
surveying the evidence - of the life and work of Jesus. That He is the Messiah.
What are you to do about it? The disciples of John the Baptizer went back to
report to John what they had heard and seen.
But was John convinced? The record does not say. But
we believe he was satisfied that Jesus truly was the promised one.
It is easy for us to make a confession of Jesus as the
Christ. But we so often let it go at that. What is the implication of such a
conviction? If Jesus is the one who is
to come. Then what?
1. We should
believe in Him as the Messiah.
It is a scary thing to notice how few people recognized
and accepted Jesus for who He was. Some did. According to Matthew the wise men
did. And also Herod![1]
A woman with a hemorrhage.[2]
A Roman Centurion.[3]
The Syro-Phonecian woman.[4]
Perhaps the crowd at the Triumphal Entry[5]
believed - briefly, at least. The Centurion at the tomb.[6]
He believed. The disciples? They we're
not so sure: "Some doubted."[7]
But what is scary are the number people who never did
recognize Jesus—the very people, one would think, who would have. Jesus'
hometown neighbors condemned him.[8]
The cities of Corazon and Bethsaida rejected him[9].
Above all, the chief religious authorities, the scribes and Pharisees, who
ultimately conspired to crucify him.[10]
Even in today's lesson. John the Baptist. At the beginning.
When he had baptized Jesus in the Jordan.[11]
John had been certain. But now. Alone in his cell. As word gets through to him
in bits and pieces about what Jesus is doing. He is not so sure. Is Jesus the
Messiah or not? Can we at last stop waiting, expecting, longing? Or must our
hope, already taut and thin, be stretched even further?
The problem with God's anointed is that they so seldom
turn out to be what people have been looking for. They do not say the things
people have been waiting to hear. Or do the things people have been expecting
them to do.
God-called leaders - like Moses - are hard to follow.
God-chosen prophets - like Jeremiah - are next to impossible to live with. It
often turns out that what God's idea of a God-anointed leader and what humans'
idea of a God-anointed leader should be are two vastly different things.
Jesus - God's own Messiah could be so, well, so
offensive. That is. He could say and do some very un-messianic things. Such as
forgive sins. Heal on the Sabbath. Ride roughshod over time-honored traditions
and prejudices. Treat women with respect. Commend and extol hardship and
suffering.
Although John is the only person we know of who actually
blurts out the question. The odds are good that the question was asked many
times by many people. Can this Jesus possibly be the promised Messiah? But it’s
a question asked in faith. So it’s a good question.
We’re told that John the Baptist was at the time
spending time in prison. What about the
kinds of prisons in which many persons in our congregation find themselves?
What are the difficulties that persons are having in their lives? Inevitably. During
this season of the year. We encounter people who do not share the cheerfulness or
the merriment of the season.
Something troubles them. An addiction that only is
heightened by all of the office parties. Memories of broken relationships. Or a
missed opportunity for a better life. Now, because of these or other events,
their hearts are broken. They are imprisoned. Their hopes have been dashed by
the circumstances of life. Their “best life
now” got up and left.
With all that is proclaimed or heard at this time of
year. These questions are pertinent to those who are in pain."Who is this
Messiah? Who is this Jesus? Who speaks to me in the prison of my own life? Can He
speak to my situation? Or do I have to look for another?"
Jesus does not come to meet our expectations. He comes
to overturn them. John the Baptist served as the agent to address this. At that
time.
The question is still asked— And it needs to be asked.
It needs to be asked because, as in John's case. It forces us to address the
Christological question. Quite appropriate for this season of the Church year.
Who was/is this Jesus? How is He our Messiah? In what
ways does He meet our expectations? More important. In what ways does He
offend? Because. More often than not. One's answer ends up reflecting one's own
subjective needs and ideas.
Even unintentionally. We are likely to modernize. Or
domesticate. Or spiritualize. Or psy·chol·o·gize the "real" Jesus of
the Gospels. We are likely to be influenced by personal attitudes and outlooks.
“You can safely assume you've created God
in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”[12]
Today's "user-friendly" church may require a
"user-friendly" Jesus. Or today's emphasis on ambition and success
may lead us to discover a "success-oriented" Jesus—or as one ad puts
it, "Jesus the Super-Salesman."
2. We should join the cause of Christ – become a
disciple.
In the biblical story, Jesus invites John to answer
his own question—And provides the evidence. In an autobiographical sketch of
only one sentence, Jesus summarizes His messianic mission: of healing,
restoring, and preaching. There is not much here in the way of messianic
glamour. The Romans still rule. God's people are still captive. King David's throne
sits empty.
So it is true. All the bells and whistles of popular
messianic expectations are missing. In fact. So much is missing that Jesus has
to conclude His little sketch with a back-handed warning. (And it comes in the form
of a blessing.) "Blessed are those
who do not take offense when I do not meet their messianic expectations."
3. We should
continue His work through the mission and ministry of the Church.
The persons who did recognize Jesus. Who gratefully
received Him as God's anointed. Needed no warning. They simply accepted what
Jesus had to give. No questions asked. They did not demand that Jesus be a
Republican or a Democrat. Or help them feel good about themselves. Or that He
end abortion. Or punish environmental polluters. Or that He join their
denomination. Attend their school. Or at least drop by their country club.
The blind. The lame. The deaf. The dead. Lepers and prostitutes
and especially the poor —These did not insist that Jesus fit their Christology.
They changed their Christology to fit Jesus. They surrendered to the Reign of
God. No matter what form it came in. And no matter how Jesus offered it. Mainly,
of course, because they were in no position to do otherwise.
Unlike so many others. These were the persons who did
not miss the Messiah when He came. Because they took no offense at Him. Or at His
strange and confounding ways. They. So to speak. Let Jesus be Jesus.
Words- 1,215
Passive Sentences – 4%
Readability – 75.8%
Reading Level- 4.6
Advent Image copyright © Higher Things
[1] Matthew 2:1-18
[2] Matthew 9:20
[3] Matthew 8:5-13
[4] Matthew 15:21-28
[5] Matthew 21:1-11
[6] Matthew 27:54
[7] Matthew 28:17
[8] Matthew 13:54-58
[9] Matthew 11:21
[10] Matthew 26.:1-5
[11] Matthew 3:13
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