As Messiah
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The Messiah We Need
12.11.22 [Matthew 11:2-11] River of Life (3rd Sunday of Advent)
They say: Never meet your heroes. But at 8 years old, I had never heard that before. I don’t think I would have listened if I had.
One summer, a real live NFL player was coming to my dad’s work to sign autographs. He wasn’t my favorite football player—that was the team’s QB— but he played for the same team. So I went to my room and got out my long cardboard box of football cards and searched for him. After rifling through the whole set, I found it. He was on the Vikings, but no matter. I was still really excited to meet him.
But you know what they say: Never meet your heroes. But at 8 years old, I had never heard that. I don’t think I would have listened.
That Saturday, I met him. He was a lot taller than I expected. And built like a Mack truck. I gave him the one card of his I could find. He smiled widely & signed it. He was really nice. It was awesome.
That fall, I bragged to my school buddies about meeting him. They didn’t believe me. So I showed them the autograph. He wasn’t my favorite player before, but he was quickly becoming one of them.
The more I talked about the autograph the more I learned about him. He won the Heisman & a national championship. Some told me he was the greatest college football running back ever. By the time he was done playing football, he had gained the 2nd most all purpose yards in NFL history. And that was after playing 3 years in the USFL.
His athletic ability grabbed headlines off the gridiron, too. He was a 6th degree black belt in taekwondo. He competed as an Olympic bobsledder. At 47, he fought in Mixed Martial Arts. He was the man.
But as I’ve grown up, I’ve told the story about meeting him less & less. I mean who cares about a 90’s NFL running back anymore?
Until suddenly everyone did. Not because I was talking about him. But because Herschel Walker was running for the U.S. Senate.
Suddenly, the man who signed his autograph for me at 8 was being made fun of for being ineloquent and unqualified. Then it got worse. Rumors leaked that he had a violent streak. Reports came out that he had paid for abortions. Never meet your heroes. Even decades later, you’ll see that they are flawed human beings.
Finding out that the athlete whose autograph you got as a kid may not be a great person is a bummer. John the Baptist was dealing with a much greater let down. John the Baptist had spent much of his life telling people to get ready for the coming Messiah. John said: (Mt 3:7) Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. He warned people that Mt. 3:10 the axe is already at the root of the trees. Mt. 3:8 Produce fruit! or be thrown into Mt. 3:12 unquenchable fire. He assured people that God’s Anointed One already had (Mt. 3:12) his winnowing fork in his hand. John the Baptist didn’t blink. He wasn’t afraid to call the Pharisees (Mt 3:7) a brood of vipers, or lambaste (Mk. 6:18) Herod for divorcing his wife so that he could marry his brother’s wife, Herodias.
It was that last one, that got John into hot water. Surprisingly, Herod (Mk.6:20) liked & respected John. Herodias did not. (Mk. 6:17) She pressured Herod into arresting John and throwing him into prison. That’s why John is where he is at the beginning of our text. Sitting in a desert prison, hearing whatever news trickles into his prison cell.
And what he heard about Jesus was disappointing. Not that Jesus was running around developing a bad reputation. People loved him. But John had been telling people, in no uncertain terms, that judgement was coming. And Jesus didn’t seem to be doing much of that. So John sent his disciples with a simple question: (Mt. 11:3) Are you the one who is to come or should we expect someone else?
That description—the one who is to come—is an Old Testament description of the Messiah. John was afraid he had literally pointed people in the wrong direction. Yes, Jesus was healing the sick and curing diseases and casting out demons, but where was retribution? Where was the axe-wielding servant of the Lord? The people were still lost. The hypocrites were still running things in Jerusalem. Where was Jesus’ support for John? Why hadn’t he said anything about Herod’s marriage and his wrongful treatment of John? Why hadn’t Jesus even come to visit his cousin, John, in prison? Why wasn’t Jesus doing something about all these injustices?
You don’t have to be behind bars in a desert prison to have that struggle. When we are emotionally drained, it’s easy to wonder why God is letting the bad guys get away with so much and blessing us so little. When we are stuck in some place or situation we don’t want to be in, it’s easy for us to get frustrated with what God isn’t doing.
When God doesn’t match our expectations, we come face to face with the temptation of doubt. Moments of doubt force us to make a choice. Will we trust God’s wisdom, when he isn’t following our plan?
Will you trust God’s love when you’re feeling trapped in a loveless marriage? Will you trust God’s goodness when every single day you physically feel worse, or weaker? Will you trust God’s wisdom when you can’t make sense of it all? Or anything that is happening to you? Will you trust your heavenly Father is in control when you can’t seem to get your kids under control? Or your finances? Or your health?
It is these moments—and thousands more—when we feel weak and weary, lost and challenged, burned out and exasperated. And that’s why this text—and Jesus’ response—is such a blessing. Listen to what he says: (Mt. 11:4-5) Go back and report to John what you hear and what you see: The blind receive sight. The lame walk. The lepers are cleansed. The deaf hear. The dead are raised. The good news is being proclaimed to the poor.
Jesus is not saying to John, Look I’m doing some good stuff right now, why do you have a problem with that? No, he is speaking right to John’s doubts. I am doing the things that only God can do. I am doing the things that the prophets foretold. John, stop doubting whether or not I am the one who is to come. Jesus was pointing John the Baptist back to the Old Testament words of the prophet Isaiah. He didn’t say to John, who are you to question or criticize me? He didn’t say: John, you’re just having a weak moment. Snap out of it. Jesus was telling John, and us, that in moments of doubt, we need to dig into the Word we already have.
Jesus knew why John was struggling. God’s Messiah didn’t match his expectations. So he told John, and us, (Mt. 11:6) Blessed is the one who does not stumble on account of me. Jesus was not exactly what John expected. He wanted Jesus to judge and destroy, to condemn and overhaul the whole thing. He wanted to see big sweeping changes, starting with the leadership in Jerusalem. (Jn. 3:17) But God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. The condemnation, the judgment, the axe-wielding, winnowing into unquenchable fire will come. But first, the Son of God came to (1 Jn. 2:2) make atonement for our sins, and not only for ours but for the sins of the whole world.
But Jesus didn’t come to impress John. He didn’t come to talk a good game, but to do a good thing. A new thing. Jesus came to be the Savior we need, not the Deliverer we expected. Jesus came to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world by taking that sin upon his own shoulders and dying for them on the cross.
Instead of setting up shop in Jerusalem, Jesus showed his love for all by mostly ministering in Galilee. Yes, he rebuked the Pharisees--even calling them a Mt. 12:34 brood of vipers--but he spent his time with much less important people. Jesus ate and drank with the lost--prostitutes, tax collectors, and fishermen--because he loved them.
Before God would let the hammer of judgment fall on sinners, Jesus came to experience the righteous wrath of God in our place. Jesus allowed himself to be insulted by sinners, even though he had only spoken words of comfort, truth, and grace. He allowed himself to be condemned, even though he had never done anything wrong. He chose to die, so that we might have life in his name. He rose from the dead and personally met with his disciples so that they might be strengthened and commissioned to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. Again and again throughout his ministry, Jesus ran into interference, obstructions, and deterrents who thought they knew what Jesus should be saying and doing. But Jesus remained resolute.
This was the Messiah that John the Baptist needed. And we do too. You see, in these verses, Jesus wasn’t just speaking to John. His message to John, through his disciples, ended in verse 6. Then (Mt. 11:7) Jesus spoke to the crowd about John. And he was effusive in his praise of John. He told the crowds, John wasn’t not swayed by the winds of culture. John didn’t live in the lap of luxury. Its the sycophants and the yes-men that eat at the king’s table. No, John is my messenger. he is the great forerunner the Old Testament prophets looked forward to. (Mt. 11:11) Truly, I tell you, among those born of women, there has not risen anyone greater than John.
But there’s more. Yet, whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. It’s the kind of thing that makes you scratch your head, right? Jesus kept saying John was great. Then he said he was the best. Then he says, the least in the kingdom is greater.
But remember what John & Jesus had been preaching. (Mt 3:7) Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. What is that kingdom? It was Christ’s coming into this world to save the world. To announce and accomplish The Way. That kingdom has come. And it dwells in your heart by the Holy Spirit’s work. That kingdom grows within you each time you study his Word and receive his supper. That kingdom is advanced through you each time you point people to the forgiveness of sins found only in Jesus Christ. Rejoice that you are among the leasts in the kingdom of heaven, because you know who Jesus is and what he has accomplished for you. You are great because you have a great Messiah, who has done great things for you. Jesus is his name. Amen.
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