Matthew 11:2-11; 1
Corinthians 4:1-5; Isaiah 40:1-11
In the Name of the Father and of the
+ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Did John doubt, or was he merely asking
Jesus if He was the Messiah for the benefit of his disciples? That is the
question we seem to face each year on Gaudete Sunday. And, I am not too proud
to confess that I have preached to you on this day both ways. Indeed, I have preached
to you that John was no different than you and I, and that, as he was
languishing in prison awaiting his execution at the hands of Herod, of course
he had doubts – we all would, we all do. Thus, we are to be encouraged that a
man of faith such as John the Baptist is so very like us that he could question
and doubt, but also find strength and courage, just as we do, in the Word of
God and its promises fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Likewise, I have at other times
preached to you that John was the greatest of the prophets, even Jesus’ flesh
and blood cousin, who assuredly knew Jesus even better than His disciples. For,
it was John who pointed to Jesus and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world!” Likewise, it was John who confessed that he was but
a forerunner for the Messiah, utterly unworthy to untie the strap of Jesus’
sandals. Therefore, of course John knew and believed that Jesus was the
Messiah. Thus, John questioned Jesus’ being the coming one so that his own
disciples would also know and believe that Jesus was the Messiah after John had
fulfilled his role as forerunner and had been killed. However, this Gaudete, I
am not going to preach to you about the faith or the doubt of John at all, for
I have come to believe that this is of dubious relevance and is most definitely
a distraction from the true theme of Gaudete, which is that we should “Rejoice
in the Lord always! Again I say,
Rejoice!”
Now, to rejoice in the Lord always means to rejoice, not only when
things are going well for you, but to rejoice even when things don’t seem to be
going very well for you at all. I believe that this is the message that is to
be communicated in today’s pericope about John the Baptist in prison. When
John’s disciples came to Jesus with his inquiry, “Are you the one who is to
come, or shall we look for another,” Jesus instructed them to go and tell John
what they have heard and seen: “the blind receive their sight and the lame
walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and
the poor have good news preached to them.” Indeed, John and his disciples had
witnessed all these things. And yet, they did not happen for everyone, did
they? That is to say, not all the blind received their sight, not all the lame
were made able to walk, not all the lepers were cleansed, not all the deaf were
given to hear, and not all who died were raised up. And, this is not to mention
the fact that Jesus intentionally, it would seem, left out the part of Isaiah’s
prophecy that proclaimed “liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
prison to those who are bound,” precisely what John most desperately wanted to
hear.
However, while it is true that these
signs were not happening for everyone, they most certainly were happening, and
that is indeed good news! Further, there was one thing that was indeed happening
for everyone: The poor had the good news of the Gospel preached to them. In
fact, it is the Gospel that is the healing power of the forgiveness of sins,
which is the true ailment we all suffer, which is also manifested, at times, in
the physical healing of blindness, lameness, deafness, leprosy, and even death.
Rare as they might appear to be, these wonderful signs could not happen at all
were Jesus not the promised Messiah come at long last. For, the truth is, we
are all John in prison – that is, in the prison of our own sin and the darkness
of sin and death. And, like John, we want so desperately to be released and to
be set free. While we know in truth that one day we will be released and set
free, what we too often fail to see is that we already are!
Perhaps the Lord has our sinful
shortsightedness in mind. He knows that we are truly blind to His will and His
ways apart from the light He provides us by His Holy Spirit through His Word.
Perhaps this is why he begins His words to John with “the blind receive their
sight” and ends with “the poor have the Gospel preached to them.” Jesus’
message to John is this: “The reign of God’s kingdom has begun. Even now it is
breaking into His fallen creation and restoring it, making all things new.”
Then Jesus adds, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
In what ways might Jesus be an offense
to John, or His disciples, or to us? It offends us that the new creation Jesus
brings does not manifest itself quickly enough, or in the ways in which we
desire or expect. Therefore, we need to change our expectations. Or, better, we
need to have our expectations changed. Our expectations can only be changed if
first our spiritual blindness is taken away and the light of God’s Word
enlightens us. Then, we will receive the eyes of faith to see clearly the reign
of the kingdom of God. Thus, let us be admonished to “not pronounce judgment
before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now
hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.” “The Lord is
not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward
you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach
repentance.” And, “do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day.”
Gaudete! “Rejoice in the Lord always!
Again, I say, rejoice!” Why? Because “the Lord GOD comes with might, and His
arm rules for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before
Him.” Where? Here, right now! Hear with opened ears: Your warfare is ended.
Your iniquity is pardoned. You have received from the LORD’s hand double for
all your sins. See with opened eyes: The Lord GOD comes in Word and Water, Body
and Blood. The Lord GOD comes for you, to comfort you, to strengthen you, to
preserve and keep you until He comes on the Last Day to crown you with glory in
His kingdom that never ends. You are God’s child now, and what you will be has
not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him,
because we shall see Him as He is.
This is a great and holy mystery, yet it
has been, is, and will continue to unfold before you, to you, and through you
until He comes. Indeed, each day you are nearer to your salvation than when you
first believed. We are stewards, managers of the mysteries of God, says St.
Paul. Indeed, it is with great humility, reverence, and boundless joy that I
serve you with the mysteries of God. And, in turn, you have the privilege and
honor of serving your brother and sister and neighbor with God’s liberating
mysteries of forgiveness, mercy, love, and charity. When you encounter them in
the prison of sin and darkness, hopelessness and despair, go and tell them what
you hear and see.
You have been freed from that prison.
The Son has set you free, and you are free indeed! What your ears do not hear,
the ears of faith do. What your eyes do not see, the eyes of faith do. The
shackles are off! The prison door is open! Only you can allow yourself to be
imprisoned once again. You are free! Tell this good news to your brother, your
sister, and your neighbor!
In
the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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