Matthew 11:2-11
2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by
his disciples 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
lepers 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? Someone 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? 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.
"Are you the one who
is to come, or are we to wait for another?"
·
Over time, as a pastor, you hear the
same questions. Some are simple; others are not. One of the toughest questions
faced by a pastor has to be “Why?” Why has this happened to me? Why didn’t God
do something about this? Why is there evil or cruelty or sickness or terror or
death if God is good? “Can you tell me that, Pastor?” That question came up
just during this past week. What are we to think in the face of stories from
the trial in London over the young child burned with hot coffee… or stories
from Syria or Iraq… or news reports of murders in Detroit or Chicago or
wherever… or personal pain from next door or from upstairs? “Can you tell me,
Pastor?”
·
The simple answer and the toughest
answer is simply “I can’t.” It pains me to say it, but my only answer has to be
“I can’t tell you why… because I don’t know.” To make up an answer would be a
disservice to the questioner. To parrot some pious quote really never helps and
if often makes thing worse. When it comes down to it, despite years of
training, study, and pastoral experience, I’m as much at a loss in cases like
this as anyone else. I’d love to have something that made sense of all of it.
·
We’re not alone in this. During his
imprisonment and before his execution, John the Baptizer was concerned about
who Jesus was and what he was about. He knew that his mission was to “prepare
that way.” The Gospels tell us that John met Jesus at the time of Jesus’
baptism. Whatever may have happened at that incident, it certainly was a
turning point for Jesus. In some versions told in the four Gospels, John knows
who Jesus is and what he’s about. The question we hear today from Matthew’s
Gospel may be to confirm what John already knew and the confirmation might calm
John’s anxiety as he awaits the punishment he thinks might be coming. There are
some scripture scholars who feel John sent his disciples to ask this question
of Jesus in order to prepare those people for what would come after John
was executed. The question may have been their introduction from John to the
ministry of Jesus, a way of transferring their discipleship to Jesus as John’s
ministry ends with his execution.
·
Jesus’ answer to John’s disciples is
this: "Go and tell John what
you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news
brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."
We’ve heard this before. Jesus appears
to paraphrase Isaiah: Then the eyes of the blind shall be
opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a
deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. Isaiah is
uttering prophecy regarding what the coming Messianic age would look like.
John’s disciples took Jesus’ answer back to John in prison and his answer means
“These are the signs that the Kingdom has come near. No more waiting for
someone else.”
·
Strangely enough, John’s question – “Are
you the one who is to come…?” – echoes in our own day particularly
when we are faced with the unanswerable questions of “Why?” If Jesus is the one
who is to come and bring in the Kingdom, where the changes we’d want to see?
Wars go on. Corruption continues. Abuse remains. Sickness and pain and loss are
daily realities. Where is “the one who is to come”? Or are we to wait for another?
·
Despite what we might see, our faith
tells us there is no need to wait for another, even as we wait for the
fulfillment of all the promises given to us. Those promises are being
fulfilled, and they are often fulfilled through opportunities given to us to
participate with God in the building of the Kingdom in our midst. God never
gives up on giving us - and the whole world - opportunities to become closer to
the Kingdom of Heaven, that Kingdom that both John and Jesus assure us has come
near.
·
The question - "Are you the one who is
to come, or are we to wait for another?" – has been answered
by Jesus. We are not waiting for another, even though we wait for the
fulfillment of all the Kingdom is to be. If we are willing to accept that, the
other questions we have, especially the “Why?” questions, can remain
unsatisfyingly unanswered, at least until all things are fulfilled. We will
have to carry on with what God gives us to do despite not knowing the answers. This
means that we are busy doing what God has asked of us and what God has
commissioned us to do in our Baptism.
·
Living with such questions is not
simple and it is not satisfying all the time. We do need to keep asking those
questions, aware that there might be no answer or that the answer might be a
challenge. A few years ago, I read a comic strip that attempted to give an
answer to that “Why?” question. One character said “Sometimes I’d like to ask God why he allows poverty, famine, and
injustice when he could do something about it.” The second character asks
him “What’s stopping you?” The first
character responds by saying “I’m afraid
God might ask me the same question.”
"Are you the one who
is to come, or are we to wait for another?… "Go and tell John what you hear and see…”
W
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