Advent is trust (Sermon at FFMC 15/12/19)

² Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples ³ and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” ⁴ And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: ⁵ the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers^[a] are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. ⁶ And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

⁷ As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ⁸ What then did you go out to see? A man^[b] dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. ⁹ What then did you go out to see? A prophet?^[c] Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰ This is he of whom it is written,

“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
    who will prepare your way before you.’

¹¹ Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. (Matt 11:2-11)

We come again this week to the character of John the Baptist. This man, Jesus’ kinsman/cousin, was in prison (v.2). This is the one, who, after a gap of 400 years without a prophetic voice in Israel, had burst on the scene to speak from the wilderness with God’s voice. He had boldly proclaimed that Jesus was the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:35) the one whose “strap of whose sandals (he) was not worthy to untie” (Jn 1:27). He had baptized the Lord with his own hands. He was the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy – the voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord (Is 40:3). He was the promised messenger of the covenant in Malachi 3:1). Even in the womb he had been filled with the Holy Spirit and had leaped when the pregnant Mary had visited his mother. (Lk 1:41)

And he was in prison. He had offended powerful political figures. His uncompromising stance had offended Herod. We know from Mt 14 that his head would be promised to the daughter of Herod’s lover. The uncompromising, unconventional voice in the wilderness was bound in a dungeon. It was a sad end to a brilliant ministry. And in the midst of this trial John does something we often do in tough times. We doubt. God did not live up to his expectations

“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (v.3). We read this after 2000 years from our comfortable seats in an airconditioned hall and might groan inwardly and ask how good men like John could forget all the conviction and authority he once had, and begin to doubt. Wavering, hesitant uncertainty of mind strikes most often when things do not go well with our physical bodies. The cell may have been uncomfortable, but John suffered most from mental torture: what is he had been wrong about Jesus all along?

What does our Lord do? He is kind and full of mercy. He aimed to fortify John’s faith in his last, brutal days. Jesus does not break a bruised reed or quench a smouldering wick (Mt 12:20).. I imagine him turning to John’s disciples with tears in His eyes to speak words of comfort and assurance.

This passage tells us who doubt to trust Jesus. Why?

1. He is the one who is all we need.

Jesus spoke of messianic prophecy fulfilled (Is 26, 29, 35, 61) “²¹ In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. “(Lk 7:21). His actions proved his identity. This is something only the true King of David’s line, Immanuel, God incarnate could do. He had divine power to do miracles then. He has divine power to do miracles now. Jesus is mighty to save – not only from sin and death, but in and from every situation.

2. He is the one who knows us through and through

Jesus spoke about John’s calling - a prophet and more. He characterized hm as one whose life had been harsh, without luxuries. He understood what John had been through and the sacrifices he had made.

Jesus knows and sees us in completeness – in all our good and bad, greatness and depravity. He made us, and He has planned our days. 

3. He is the one who trusts us more than we trust ourselves.

“On the day that John the Baptist said the worst thing about Jesus, Jesus said the best thing about John”  “There has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist” (v.11). Jesus gave a glowing tribute to the man.

Jesus knows us best, and He loves us the most. Because Jesus knows us  best, he can often see our potential and worth even when we do not.

4. He is the one who provides us with his own constant presence.

Why is John so great? And why is the lowest follower of Christ greater than John?

Is John greater than Adam, or Abraham, or David? Jesus said that he was, but how so? The answer is what Jesus meant by ‘greatness’. He said that in this way of looking at greatness, even the youngest, lowliest Christian believer was greater than John. This only makes sense if we define greatness as closeness to Jesus. John was unique in being the man to prepare the way for the Lord, the unique forerunner. But we who are born not only of woman, but of the Spirit (“born again”) are more privileged than John, because we have the blessings of the New Covenant. We have the Spirit of Christ living in us, helping us in all our doubts.

What else can we learn from this story?

1. Righteous people suffer. We should not be surprised even when we walk blamelessly in God’s will that apparent bad things happen to us. We must trust that God makes all things work for our good (Rom 8:28), even suffering. And that is why we rejoice in suffering (Js 1)
2. God may or may not spare us physical suffering.  Jesus could have saved John, but He did not. In the early days of the church (Ac 12) Herod (Antipas)’s nephew Herod Agrippa would execute James and would imprison Peter. God saved Peter miraculously, but did not save James. His promises are not that we will not suffer, but that we will have His presence with us, We may go through  valleys of the shadow of death, but only because He leads us with his staff and rod. Jesus told his followers: ¹⁶ You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers^[c] and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. ¹⁷ You will be hated by all for my name's sake. ¹⁸ But not a hair of your head will perish. (Lk 17:16-18)
3. Jesus is a kind Lord. He speaks lovingly of John. He comes to us who doubt with invitations to search out the truth – to touch and see. He invites us to faith without rejecting and condemning us for our weakness.

Conclusion

There is a fifth reason why we should trust Jesus – a reason John never knew but a reason all of us who know the Lord already know. This is also one aspect of why we are “greater” than John.  This Advent, We know that Jesus was not only an earthly Messiah, but the Incarnate Son of God. We know that He humbled himself to come down from infinite glory to a humble stable and a life of suffering. We may not always understand suffering as a whole, or why we ourselves must suffer, but we know this: Jesus Christ, God the Son, entered our suffering world to suffer and die that first Christmas. When He spoke to John’s disciples and praised John, He knew that the Cross lay before him in agonizing death infinitely greater than John’s death would be.

So in a sense, Jesus has earned the right to speak to our suffering. Those of us suffering various physical torments, those who have lost jobs, failed exams, felt the hurt of broken relationships, those abandoned by relatives, suffered miscarriages or the death of loved ones, those subject to abuse and violence. All of us who have expected God to step in to help us – and He has been silent! All of us who have expected God to act - and He has withheld his power! All who are disappointed in a God who did not meet their expectations -

Jesus has one word for you today: “blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Blessed is the one who keeps trusting and stays faithful to the end. Blessed is the one who keeps loving me when you are unsure if you are loved by me.”

Audio here