Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ. The text on which this morning's message is based comes from our Gospel lesson (Matthew 11: 2-11) read earlier.
"Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" This question from John the Baptist has always startled me. Here we have John, a prophet, indeed the one by Jesus own admission is more than a prophet, one who fulfills prophecy himself. But John seems to have doubts about Jesus. "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
It seems startling to hear, but perhaps it shouldn't. Here we have John, who knew he was called to be the messenger. He knew that he was "the voice crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the LORD." The LORD had revealed to him that He was preparing the way for the Messiah, the one so powerful that John was not worthy even to untie his sandals. This Messiah would baptize the people with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
John left no doubt what he meant by fire when he said (3: 12): "His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." It's pretty clear that John thought the Messiah was coming in judgment, soon, very soon.
John must have been elated when he saw Jesus coming to the Jordan. But even then, John's first surprise about Jesus came. Jesus wanted to be baptized by John. "But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?" But Jesus gently corrected his prophet, instructing him that they were to fulfill all righteousness through Jesus' Baptism. John must have again become excited about the imminent end of the world when the Father spoke "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased" and the Holy Spirit appeared.
But then Jesus does the strangest thing. He doesn't seek to establish his powerful kingdom at that time. He doesn't call down legions of angels to clear his threshing floor. He doesn't burn up any sinful chaff with unquenchable fire. No, he goes out into the desert to be tempted. You can just imagine John standing in the river looking at Jesus saying "Where are you going?" Jesus returns in 40 days to do some teaching. In the meantime, John gets thrown into prison by Herod Antipas. The king didn't like it that this camel-hair wearing nobody from the desert was willing to publicly denounce the king's adultery, so he arrested him. John was expecting that sinners like Herod should already have been burned up with unquenchable fire. He shows his impatience, his own humanness with the question: "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" In a sense John is saying "Let's get this show on the road Jesus. God told me to say those things about the threshing floor and burning up the chaff. Why aren't you fulfilling those expectations yet, Jesus?"
Has Jesus ever not met up with your expectations? Have you ever thought "Jesus, if I were in charge of the world, I would work things out this way." "Lord, if I were in charge of your church, I would handle things this way." "Lord it would be easier for me to believe in you if you simply hurried and answered my prayer." Have you ever had doubts like John the Baptist's in your mind: "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" "Is this way things are suppose to happen, or should we expect something different?"
What situation in your life you would like to see Jesus change? What could he do to meet up with your expectations better? Would you want him to improve your financial or career situation? Would you want him to make school easier for you? Would you want him to make you more popular? Would you want him to improve your physical health? Or would you want him to mend a strained relationship? What could Jesus do to better meet up with your expectations? What could he do that would remove your doubts, to strengthen your faith and trust in Him?
Did you notice his response to John? He didn't say: "You're right John, it's time I did some clearing of the threshing floor. I'll zap old Herod right now and get you out of prison." He doesn't even give John a direct answer like "Yes, John I am the Messiah. Just show a little more patience and you'll understand." No, Jesus turns instead for an answer from God's Word. "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" Jesus answers by sharing from our Old Testament text in Isaiah: "Announce to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the deaf hear" Jesus even elaborates, he tells John that even more striking things are happening than Isaiah prophesied: "those who have leprosy are cured, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor." Isaiah was prophesying about the great and wonderful coming of the Lord, the end of times. But Jesus uses these verses to say that those times are being fulfilled. Where Jesus is, the creation is being restored. His miracles are not just proof of who he is. They are a manifestation that the kingdom of heaven. Where Jesus is there is life. All manner of healing and salvation flow from Him.
Often we today in 2001 want to have those sorts of miracles performed in our lives. The challenging question to Jesus is "why don't you do for me what you did for those people then?" We tend to think of God actively working among his people in Bible times, but absent from us today. Not so true. While there are a few miracle stories sprinkled throughout God's Word, with closer inspection we discover that miracles were prevalent only twice: At the time of Moses and at the time Jesus and the Apostles. Of the 2000 years detailed in Scripture between Abraham and Paul, there were only two 40-year periods of active miracle making. Two periods, first when God saved his people Israel through Moses from captivity in Egypt and took them to the Promised Land, and second when God saved all his people in the world through Jesus and brought them out of the captivity of sin. Of the 150 or so generations of people who have lived since Abraham's time, only two generations were privileged to see frequent and active miracles among God's people. And even then only those who were poor of spirit and willing to listen to God's Word realized the meaning of God's salvation and turned to him for the greatest miracle, eternal life.
John's question "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" hints at John's expectation of a different kind of Messiah, a Messiah who would fulfill all John's expectations at that time. But Jesus responds with "Now your expectations will be partly fulfilled, but something else must happen first. First, the Father's expectations must be fulfilled, payment for sin must be made. That is what the Messiah has come to fulfill first. God's Word has a NOW and NOT YET quality to it. NOW the Savior of the world has come, made himself known, and preached the Good News of his coming to us, the poor. NOW Christ's cross is the ultimate manifestation of God's love, sacrificing Himself for the world's salvation. But Lord chose to be patient until his Second Coming, to NOT YET fulfill everything that was prophesied about Him.
Even during those two generations when miracles were prevalent, the Lord's power obviously manifest, His miraculous power was not always used. Even Paul, who God gave the power to work many miracles, could not always work them when he wanted to. In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul says of himself: there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 …. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Christ's power, which is His love, was shown through his weakness, giving himself up on the cross for us. We might not always be able to see God's work in our lives in just the way we would like to see it. We will often struggle with weaknesses, with injuries, with relationships, with finances. But through all of our struggles we can be confident in the one who has borne our troubles on himself, our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Jesus, the Father has miraculously brought us salvation and life. Through our weaknesses Jesus can show the world his strength.
The grace and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us always as we wait for Him. Amen.