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Grace to you and Peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus.
And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
This is Your word heavenly Father. Sanctify us by the Truth. Your word is Truth. Amen.
Fellow redeemed: John is locked in prison, in today’s Gospel reading, but he is bound by something more serious than the stone walls and iron bars of his physical captivity. He is bound by his fear and doubting which grew so great as to impel him to send two of his disciples to Jesus to ask: “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
John’s dark doubting, so desperate for hope, is recorded in the Holy Gospel for your benefit. You have also endured dark doubtings, desperate for hope. What is one to do when the easy glory days seem all gone? The crowds of disciples no longer surround the Baptizer as they had years before. The babbling flow of the Jordan, the dust of the shuffling feet, the drenching cool waters, the open air excitement that had drawn all Jerusalem down to the river: all were gone now. The void of a sealed dungeon cell enveloped the forerunner of the Christ. He had only a pair of disciples still nearby to dispatch on his mission of hope to Jesus. He was, but for the soft-garmented murderous enemy above in the throne-room, all alone. What is one to do when the easy glory days are all gone, and life’s parade has passed you by? Your confidence (you still may be able to put on a good show; but it’s only that), is all gone. That virtue, beauty, talent, genius upon which you once relied has proven fragile and fleeting. You are too alone too often with too many of your darkest heartfelt doubting thoughts. And there you dwell in the dungeon cell of your despairing heart. Is this all there is? Or, is there something else; something more, to fill the weary emptiness of your sin-sick soul?
Come to think of it, your despair has always been there, hasn’t it? But oh, it was so much easier to ignore in those brighter days. Now there’s no avoiding it; not much longer anyway. What shall you do? “Jesus, are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?
In those days there were no shortage of things to throw into the pit of man’s despair. Tired of the mainstream, cults too numerous even for the historians to remember had sprouted. For a price they offered you an shiny new cardboard god (exciting at first flush, till you realized there wasn’t anything to him; just a flashy promise without anything to back it up). You could tailor your own mystery cult if you dared. Lots of stuff like that was going on. Or, you could throw yourself headlong into the business of business, devoting your life to the acquisition of wealth and earthly power (the money would devalue, and the power would soon enough be all dust). Or, you could fill the hours with whatever pleasures and distractions you might find in things that for a while could distract, numb, and occupy the flesh. The dominant Greco-Roman culture offered all sorts of consumer creature comforts. It sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Nothing satisfied then. And nothing satisfies the despairing heart of man today. John the Baptizer wasn’t immune; neither are we. The lights and decorations of Christmas aren’t quite so magical any more are they? The anticipation and dreaming... it’s not so captivating as it once seemed to be. The children sing their hopeful Christmas songs, but it’s too much like a desert in your heart. The words may be on your lips, but the sweetness has gone all to dust for you. You are captive in the prison of the heart, with John.
And so, now what?
“Oh, come, O Key of David, come, and open wide our heavenly home; make safe the way that leads on high, and close the path to misery!”
John desperately needed the Key of David to unchain his heart; how about you?
The disciples go looking for a locksmith for their captive teacher and find the Key Himself. The people in Jesus’ crowd that day must have been astonished to hear such doubting from the abandoned, but still well-known John the Baptist. But Jesus knows how it is in the dark hour of the heart. Jesus knows how it is with you, and He loves you. See how He unlocks John. “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind receive their sight and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” It’s nothing new, is it? Jesus simply relies on the-already-in-those-days-ancient text of the prophet Isaiah. Jesus confidently employs God’s Word to release John from his prison-house of doubting. And that is sufficient. For the Word of the Lord is certain and true. Where gimmicks and flash, distractions and novelties all prove empty, the voice of the Good Shepherd speaking is certain, strong, unchanging, and able to fill the empty heart that nothing else can.
Too long and too often have too many of us run after such solutions to our yearning as the world affords. But too great and too powerful is the desperation that remains at day’s end. God help us that we not come to life’s end so empty, so chained, so dry. But thanks be to God! He does help us, unbind us, un-despair us! And it is just as with John; with the sturdy, unchanging Word. The Word made flesh speaks and restores to us the joy of our salvation, creates in us clean hearts, and renews His right Spirit within us.
Do we judge the heart of the Baptizer? Do we judge one another as being weaker than we ought to be in the Faith? Do we cast shadows over our fellow christian for not seeing the ‘big picture’ which we seem so easily to see? Then dear ones, see it clearly, you are judging the very Creator and Giver of the Faith, our Lord and God! Would we even go so far as to doubt how His Gifts are effective? And know that the days of ease in the meadows of the Good Shepherd may also be followed for each of us by hard and dry travel over the rocky and desert places of life. Those in the meadow today, take care not to judge those who hurt because they are traveling in the desert -- they may well be ahead of you on this journey! This warning Jesus gently spoke to those who may have had such thoughts concerning John : “As [John’s disciples] departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’ Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
The warning is well-meant, and well-spoken. Do not hold up your brother’s failings to shame him. God already knows them, and forgives; and loves; and calls you to love him too. And understand that the journey which may show the weakness of your fellow christian, this is a journey which you will travel too. And know that the helpless heart which too soon is revealed by the desperate cry of the hurting believer is met not with God’s angry accusation, but with that which is able to fill the need– the Word of the Lord. For the Word came and dwelt among us weak and desperate ones. He became man. And Jesus took all our shame, all our sin, all our heartache, and died in our place, under our penalty, for John, for every sinner, for you too. And now christian, Jesus calls you to this: to hear the Word of the Gospel, and believe it; to believe that His death is for you, the payment for your sin which sets you ever free. You are in Jesus the children of the living God, the people of His pasture, the sheep of His hand. He is the Key of David that unlocks heaven to you even in the midst of your trouble. His Word is for you, to set you free, to be the oil of gladness, the joy which passes all understanding. Jesus forgives you.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
