"Look No Further" Third Sunday in Advent Gaudete December 14, 2014 Matthew 11:2–10
How low do things have to get before you start to wonder? How long do you have to suffer before you begin doubting Jesus? What if your world turns upside down and you are no longer able to do the things you have been doing? What if it’s not temporary but it appears that this is the way it’s going to be from now on? Is your Lord still with you? Is He still working in your life and blessing you? Or are you on your own now? Your world could come to a sudden change in direction in a number of ways. You could lose your job, you could be hit with a devastating illness, your identity could be stolen, you could get thrown in prison. This is what happened to John the Baptist. He was carrying out his calling. He was the Forerunner of Christ. He was paving the way. He was calling people to repentance and forgiving their sins. He was Baptizing them. Now he was in prison. What kind of calling was this? How was he able to prophesy when he was surrounded by four walls? Did God call him to be the Forerunner of the Savior only to quickly give him over to a cell? What would happen to him? Is this how he would end up for the rest of his life? And if so, was the one he had paved the way for the one? Or would he and his disciples look for another? He sent some of his disciples to Jesus to ask. Jesus’ response to the disciples of John is, “Go and tell John what you hear and see.” This alone is enough to answer John’s question and any questioning of your Lord you might have. John the Baptist was the one who had been called by God to proclaim and Baptize. People heard the preaching, they saw the Baptizing. What they heard and saw was the Gospel at work. This is how the Holy Spirit does His work, through preaching and the Sacraments. John himself even gave the people something else to see: the Lamb of God Himself. He pointed right at Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” So now that John is in prison, does that mean his ministry is over? Paul and Silas had been in prison and through their proclamation the jailer was converted. Ministry is never hindered no matter how many walls might surround you. John, whether because he was beginning to wonder about Jesus or trying to convince his disciples that Jesus was the one, continued his ministry in that prison cell if for the one fact alone that he sent his disciples to Jesus. To the end John was pointing people to Jesus. And though he was no longer able to go about proclaiming and Baptizing, here his disciples were now sent back to John to tell him what they had heard and seen. This is the ministry that continues to go on even when a prophet, an apostle, or a pastor becomes incapacitated in some way. This is what the apostle Paul says in the Epistle reading: “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” God has continued to call men into the ministry down through the ages to proclaim the Gospel and administer the Sacraments. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus tells the disciples of John to tell John what they heard and saw, but then tells them what those things are? The blind are given sight. The lame now walk. The lepers are cleansed. The deaf now hear. And the dead are raised! These are amazing things to hear and see. These are things Jesus Himself had been accomplishing. So what do you think, should you look for another? The things Jesus was doing He was doing not simply to help out those in need but to fulfill Scripture. This Scripture John and his disciples knew. They knew that the Old Testament prophesied these specific things would be accomplished by the Messiah. That seems like that should wrap things up for John and his disciples. But there’s one thing I left of the list of Jesus. It is the last thing He mentioned. After an astonishing array of miracles and acts of restoring to people sight, hearing, the ability to walk, and even coming back to life!, Jesus says that there’s one more thing they have heard and seen: the poor are evangelized. They have the good news preached to them. They are the recipients of the proclamation of the Gospel. This is the crowning achievement in the list of all His achievements Jesus sends them with back to John. Now, the irony here has to be readily seen by John’s disciples and then when John hears of it, by John himself. Look at all the wonderful things Jesus has done! Look at all the many people He has helped! And yet, there John sits in his prison cell. No Jesus to come rescue him from his bondage. No Jesus to come preach the Gospel to him. John is just stuck there, left to wonder. Ever felt like that? Does each day bring you more wondering? Where is Jesus? Where is He to deliver me from my prison of illness, or discouragement, or struggles I face every day? Where is He? And is He really the one? Jesus isn’t being callous toward John. The fact is, not everyone is delivered from blindness, deafness, leprosy, or paralysis. And it’s plain to see that when people die, they’re staying in their grave. Jesus did not heal everyone, did not raise every single person who died. What He did is preach the Good News to the poor. He came to proclaim the Gospel and that is the essence of His ministry. This is the core of what it means that Jesus is the one and we don’t need to look for any other. This is why John had pointed people to Jesus in his ministry. Jesus is the one who came to restore people not just to sight, hearing, even life, but to God Himself. He came to bring forgiveness and that happens through the proclamation of the Gospel. The poor have Good News preached to them. In the Epistle reading Paul speaks as an apostle about the ministry of Christ. It is a ministry carried out by ordinary men such as John the Baptist or Paul himself. People, Paul said, ought to regard us as stewards of Christ, stewards of His mysteries. Some people will always be offended by this. Certainly if people are being healed, most people would welcome such a ministry. But the ministry as it is carried out in the Church down through the ages is a ministry of the last thing Jesus gave in His list, “the poor have the Gospel preached to them.” Paul speaks in the Epistle of people judging those who carry out this work. Jesus speaks in the Gospel reading, “blessed is the one who is not scandalized by Me.” These are pretty strong words. John the Baptist was, after all, John the Baptist. John the Baptist was the Forerunner of the Christ. He was the Elijah who was to come. He was the one Isaiah prophesied of, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way for the Lord. He was the one who was not afraid to tell Herod the king that he shouldn’t commit adultery with his brother’s wife! John the Baptist was no weak Christian. And in even more irony, following Jesus’ words to John’s disciples Jesus spoke to the crowds about John. Jesus speaks very highly of him. But Jesus spoke these words. Blessed is the one who is not scandalized. Caused to stumble. By Me. Many people have tripped over Jesus and have rejected Him. And yet, here in Jesus’ warning, there is a beautiful promise, isn’t there? Blessed is the one. Blessed is the one who, though he may have doubts, though he struggles even in weak faith, nevertheless comes to Jesus anyway. Are you the one Jesus? Shall I look for another, or are you the one? John never gave up, he still looked to Christ, even if it seemed that this is where he would end up. There’s an irony not spoken of here that we’re aware of, that John ended up not staying in that prison long at all. He might have had it not been for Herod’s brother’s wife. She wanted nothing more than for John the Baptist to be taken out of the picture, and she guaranteed that he was, completely. John was beheaded. One thing we know about John is that shortly before he was, he had heard this word of comfort, this proclamation of the Gospel to him, by his Lord Himself, “blessed is the one who is not scandalized by Me.” Was John even aware of the greater irony that existed? I’m not sure anyone was even though Jesus would speak of it a few times. Mostly He accomplished the things He had referenced, of restoration and fulfilling the prophecies of the coming Savior. All of these were ultimately pointing toward the one thing He would do in which He would no longer be going around restoring sight and hearing and raising people from the dead. He would not go to a prison cell as John had found himself in. He would be hanging on a cross. There was no escaping this not because He couldn’t escape it, but because He wouldn’t. Where it seemed He was most accomplishing nothing to help others in their needs He was accomplishing salvation for the greatest need of all, restoring sinners to the Holy God. When things get so low you may think you need to look for another. Look no further than Him. Jesus said of John the Baptist: “This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’” Look no further than to the one John pointed you to. Look no further than to your Baptism where your Lord comes to you with His salvation. Look no further than to His Supper where He gives you His body and blood for your forgiveness. You can never be so low or things get so bad where you must look for another. Jesus is the one. Amen. SDG -- Pastor Paul L. Willweber Prince of Peace Lutheran Church [LCMS] 6801 Easton Ct., San Diego, California 92120 619.583.1436 princeofpeacesd.net three-taverns.net It is the spirit and genius of Lutheranism to be liberal in everything except where the marks of the Church are concerned. [Henry Hamann, On Being a Christian] _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list Sermons@cat41.org http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
