Who Do We Expect Jesus To Be? (Matthew 11:2-15)
Sermon Text: Matthew 11:2-15
Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Two
of the most important questions that you can answer in this life are the
questions, “Who is this Jesus and what is my relationship to Him?” Indeed, these are two of the most important
questions that you can ask yourself.
They are important because your answers reveal who you believe Jesus is
and who you believe you are. You see,
how you understand Jesus dictates and defines how you understand the church,
how you read the Bible, how you live, and how you understand truth. My friends our understanding of these two
simple questions have lasting ramifications in this life and the next.
So,
who do you say Jesus is? Is Jesus a
mascot that cheers us on in this life with inspirational slogans, as we stumble
and get up? Is Jesus a Life Coach that
coaches us and shows us how to live; a mere example that we must follow? Is Jesus an overconfident Jewish Rabi
preacher that found the true path to right living and the secret knowledge that
opens up the flood gates of wisdom? Is
Jesus a new Moses? A new Moses that came
to give us new and improved commandments to follow?
Depending
on whom we believe Jesus to be will lead us to yet another question. That question is, “Who do we expect Jesus to
be?”
Both
you and I know that expectations are very powerful. There is not one of us here who hasn’t
expected something to be one way and it ends up being totally the opposite of
what you expected. Therefore, what do
expect Jesus to be and do for you? And
has Jesus always met up to your expectations?
As a
pastor, over the last 10 plus years of interacting with people over the
Christian faith, one of the most painful things that I have encountered is that
of unfulfilled and failed expectation.
My heart grieves when I hear of the pain, misery, and tears that people
experience in life when hopeful expectations of marriage, family, and the
church are shattered. Painfully though,
the greatest heartaches that I experience as a pastor are when I hear of
people’s expectations upon Christianity and our Triune God. You know what I am talking about. The expectations that God will do something,
only to realize that He won’t fulfill those expectations.
John
the Baptist, in our Gospel text today, is no stranger of failed
expectations. In our Gospel reading for
today we see that John the Baptist had been arrested and imprisoned. From prison he sent word to Jesus by his
disciples with the question, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait
for another?” Yes, John raised these
questions and sent these questions through his followers to Jesus. You see, this is important for us to
understand because before John went to prison he confessed and said the
following about Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world. This is the One who will baptize
you with fire [fire being understood theologically as judgment]. This is the One who will separate the wheat
from the chaff with His Judgment Day winnowing fork. This is the One who will bring release and
freedom and prosperity to those languishing in bondage and despair.” But now, in prison, John is experiencing the
frustration, doubt, and pain of false expectations. Keep in mind that “prisons in those days
weren’t like prisons today. There were
no TVs or beds or showers or medical care or three hot meals. Prison was essentially a dark, dank dungeon
where people basically wasted away. If
and when death came, it was a blessing.”[1] Therefore, in John’s question to Jesus, “you
can almost hear John’s angst screaming out from the question. ‘Hey!
I’m dying here! The Messiah is
supposed to put an end to all of this misery and suffering and bondage and
oppression! If you really are the
Messiah, now’s the time to pull the trigger!
If you really are the Messiah, how about putting an end to this bondage
and oppression?! Start with me!’”[2]
The
issue at hand with John the Baptist is that he, like others, questioned Jesus
because all he heard about was Jesus’ works of grace. Both John the Baptist and
the people ‘expected’ a Messiah of grace and ‘judgment.’ Therefore, when Jesus did not meet up to his
expectations, he questioned and he doubted.
You
see, John the Baptists was right to expect a Messiah of Grace ‘and’
Judgment. However, what his expectations
were not ready for was that Jesus’ coming in the manger was His coming in
‘grace’ and that Jesus would return later at His second coming with ‘righteous
judgment, power, and glory.’ In other
words, John’s expectations were not prepared for the suffering and misery that
came between Jesus’s first coming in the manger and His second coming at the
end of the age.
Is
this not the same struggle that you and I experience as Christians living in
between the two comings of Jesus?
“You
and I both know that it’s very easy to proclaim the joy and wonders of God when
things are going well in life, but as soon as things go south the first words
out of our mouths often echo the questioning of an imprisoned John the Baptist:
‘Why is this happening to me? Should I
be looking elsewhere for some help? Is
all this just a sham? Is it a waste of
time? If you really are almighty God,
make something happen! Fulfill all that
talk about victory and release from bondage and prosperity and life and health
and joy!’ As soon as life hits a rough patch the very first thing we often do
is question God and His means of grace.
‘I’ve been baptized. I go to
church. I eat and drink this bread and
wine that I’m told is the very body and blood of Jesus, yet nothing has changed
in my life. I still languish while the
foul unbeliever gets ahead.’”[3]
My
friends, as baptized believers in Christ we live in this strange paradox. We live in between the two comings, the two
advents of Jesus, and in so living in between the two comings of Jesus we
believe, teach, and confess that the powerful kingdom of God has broken into
human history in Jesus Christ in that manger some 2,000 years ago. However, we can know and expect that the
power of the evil world still remains strong and Christ will not overturn evil
until His second coming. We also
believe, teach, and confess that Jesus has come to save us from our sins, yet
we know and expect that the world stands in opposition to the truth of the
Gospel and that we daily war against this sinful nature that still clings to us.[4]
Therefore,
you may ask, “What does all this mean for me then? Should I trash all my expectations of Jesus
and simply learn to pull myself up by my bootstraps as I live in between the
two comings of Jesus?” No, my friends,
for you and John the Baptist need to hear and see what Jesus has done and will
do. You see, after John the Baptist’s
question was brought to Jesus, Jesus responded, “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.” In other words, Jesus is
proclaiming to John that He is indeed the Messiah despite John’s doubt, for
Jesus was truly fulfilling the prophecies of the Old Testament, even though it
was not happening according to John’s expectations. John needed to hear in the
midst of that prison the message that Jesus was indeed the Messiah regardless
of what his expectations told him about Jesus.
John’s expectations of Jesus needed to be refined. John’s doubt, his questions, his false
expectations were met with the reality of Christ and who Christ was and what He
was accomplishing.
It
is same for us today. In the midst of
our false expectations, in the midst of our helplessness, and in the midst of
our lives in between the two comings of Jesus we are to see and hear what Jesus
has done. And get this, unlike John the
Baptist, we get a complete picture of what Christ has done and we can hear the
promises of what Christ will do.
Therefore, when you find yourself saying, “Where is God when I needed
him the most?” The scriptures answer you
and me saying, “He is on the cross, where you need him the most. There Jesus fulfilled God’s promise for you:
‘Neither death, nor life … nor anything else … will be able to separate us from
the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There we discover ‘in all things God works for the good of those who
love him and who have been called according to his purpose.’”[5]
Who
is Jesus? He is the suffering Messiah
who came in a manger and the glorious Lord coming again. Who is He to you? He is the one who came to ransom you from
sin, death, and the Devil. He is the one
who atoned for your sin. What can you expect of Him? You can expect Him to continually come for
you in His Word and His blessed Sacraments, where He declares you forgiven and
delivers to you real grace. You can
expect that He will never leave you nor forsake you and you can expect that He
is coming back to you to take you with Him to paradise forever.
May
the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1] Jason Zirbel, Christian Expectations: Advent 3, Series A
Sermon (www.pericope.org: Accessed 12-13-2013).
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Jeffery Gibbs, Concordia Commentary: Matthew 11:2-20:34 (Saint
Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2010), 557.
[5] Richard Eyer, Pastoral Care Under the Cross: God in the
Midst of Suffering (Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1994),
143.
To join in the conversation on Facebook, CLICK HERE.
Follow on Twitter, CLICK HERE.
Follow on Twitter, CLICK HERE.
Comments