The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Luke, the 7th chapter:
The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ” In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” When John’s messengers had gone, 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? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, “ ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Here’s the problem: John knew that his cousin, Jesus, is the Messiah. He knew He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He knew that Jesus fulfilled all prophecy, did miraculous things, was worthy, even, of sending his own disciples that they might follow after Jesus like Andrew and Peter. But, life comes at you hard sometimes. And so, John, the last of the prophets, the voice of the one crying in the wilderness, the forerunner of the Christ, thought this was it. The end was coming, and it was going to be good.
It’s not to say that John the Baptizer was like Jesus’ apostles, who totally confused the role of the Messiah. They thought Jesus was going to ride into Jerusalem, take out His sword and His whip, and cast everyone out, the Romans, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, anyone who stood in His way, and set up an earthly kingdom right then and there. Of course, they were wrong. John didn’t really think that way; at least we’re not given to understand he thought that way. Rather, John understood the Scriptures. He knew that Jesus was the Son of God. He knew that His kingdom was not of earth, but of something far greater. He knew that Jesus’ soldiers were the angels, that His servants were the people. He knew that Jesus could do miracles, raising the dead, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, turning water into wine. John knew all of this. He had seen it, he had heard of it, he studied it in God’s Holy Word.
John, however, was wrong about one important thing: timing. You see, John was languishing now in prison. Despite Herod feeling predisposed to him, you can’t imagine that prison was fun or easy. I mean, John was used to eating locusts and honey, but still, the food probably stank. There was no sun to tell the days by. He probably was in chains. The threat of death loomed over him every day. And to make matter worse, John was about to get his head cut off and he probably knew it.
He was suffering greatly, and he was looking to Jesus to free him. Certainly, Jesus wouldn’t let the last of the prophets suffer such a fate as had come to so many prophets before, right? I mean, they were stoned, sawn in half, beheaded. They were chased, slaughtered, imprisoned, cast out. John, the cousin of Jesus, the only prophet to see the Messiah with his own eyes, had to be special, right? He expected Jesus to come into His kingdom as soon as the news of John being imprisoned reached Him. At the very least, John expected Jesus to come tearing down the walls of Herod’s palace soon after it all happened to rescue him; certainly His cousin’s imprisonment would hasten Jesus coming into His kingdom, right?
Wrong. You see, even John, the greatest prophet ever to live, because of his own suffering began to miss the plot. He began to focus on himself. And because of that, he began to doubt. That’s why he send his disciples to Jesus, “Hey, Jesus, are you the One or not? We’ve been waiting. Let’s see what you do here, Jesus.” But what John needed was not a message of, “Patience, John. You gotta hold on just a few more days.” What John needed is what we all need, to be turned back to the Scriptures.
John knew them well. An Israelite, the son of a priest, and a prophet instructed by God Himself to boot, John was well aware of the prophecies of the Messiah. John knew all of this, but in his suffering, he lost track of the hope he was to have by faith. By faith, we would always have hope in the Messiah, no matter His timetable. It might sound easier than it is, or maybe to you it sounds harder than it is. What we learn from John today is that, in all things, have hope, no matter what.
Jesus didn’t give John a pep talk. He pointed him back to the Scriptures. The Messiah would heal the blind, the lame, the lepers, the deaf. He would raise the dead. The poor would hear the Good News of God. This is what the Messiah would do, and John’s disciples saw this with their own eyes, heard it with their own ears, and told John it with their own tongues. This is the hope Jesus points John towards. “Take heart, it is I,” He says, “I have done all that has been foretold. I will continue to do it, even to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
This might not have been what John wanted to hear. He wanted to know that Jesus had cleared away the enemies of God, that Jerusalem could rejoice again for the Lord dwelled within her walls, that all the Israelites could return home to be a part of the Church again. John wanted Jesus to come now into His kingdom. But it wasn’t to be.
John wanted amazing things, but Jesus coming into His kingdom still wouldn’t free John from prison. John might have wanted to get out of that prison, to walk into the Kingdom of God with his head held high. But, that was not to be. John entered the Kingdom, alright, but holding his head in his hands as it had literally been separated from his body. John would enter eternity before the Lord would deal with all the world. And this is where Jesus brought John back to. Hold on. Peace is coming.
So it is for us. Our Lord waits to make all things new. And that’s hard. We might not be languishing in prison like John, but we are sitting in prisons of our own making. Depression. Cancer. Illness. Finances. Lust. Complaining. These things hold us in our prisons, delivering spoiled food, full of the maggots of sin. We feel as if we’ve been left to die there. We’re chained to sin so that we can’t escape, or we’re chained to our circumstances so they weigh us down. We sit in the prison od death and we wait.
We hear the Good News that the Messiah has come and that He is coming again. But, we wonder. How long will He keep us here? Why can’t He release us now? Why can’t He open wide the doors and release the prisoners? Certainly, He’s forgiven all our sins, why can’t He make all things new now? Why is He waiting so long?
I don’t have all the answers for you, but I can tell you this: Jesus waits for His time. Just as it was not time for Jesus to die when John sent his disciples to Him, and thereby redeem all humanity, so it has not yet been time for our Lord to return until now. We don’t know when He is coming back. But here’s what we do know: our Lord kept all His promises. He healed the blind, the lame, the lepers, the deaf. He raised the dead. The poor heard the Good News of God. Even Jesus was cursed for our transgressions, being nailed to the cross, and rose again from the dead, never to die again. He promised He would do all these things. And if a man promises He’ll raise Himself from the dead, and then does, then whatever else He promises you can believe.
You might be suffering right now. You’re not alone. And your God hears your cries for mercy. He hears you and He sends you what you need. You have your sins forgiven by Christ, given to you through Baptism. You have the promise of life everlasting, strengthened by His Supper. You even have the benefit of seeing Jesus as He is now, born, living, died, risen, and ascended. John did not yet have that. This is why you’re greater than John. You can see it all. And so you know, yes, Jesus was the one who was to come, and He is the one who is to come. Jesus fulfilled all things. He will fulfill all things. That is His invitation to hope. Trust Him, as John did, and as John would come to remember to do. You may suffer like John, but look to the one who suffered all things for you, that He might give you hope in His coming again soon. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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