Advent 3 C
Rejoice in Prison? Really?
Luke 7:18-28
13 December 2015 – Redeemer
Today is “Rejoice” Sunday – at least that is what it was called when all the Sunday’s had names. You see the remnant of that old name in the Introit, which quotes the first verse of the Epistle, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” Back in the days when Advent was a purple season, a season of repentance, this “rejoicing” was reflected in the color of the season lightening up – the paraments went from purple to rose – that’s why we light the rose colored candle on the wreath and why I’m wearing my rose chasuble – it’s all about rejoicing.
Which makes you wonder why the Gospel reading for this Sunday is about John the Baptist. John the Baptist is in prison for preaching – obviously his sermon didn’t cause any joy. He had called the King to repent for having sex outside of marriage with his brother’s wife. So the King threw him in jail. John wasn’t having his best life now and soon King Herod would silence him by death. Think about John the Baptist and rejoice. That doesn’t seem to work too well.
So why should we rejoice today? Should we rejoice that we aren’t in jail? Should we rejoice that the government isn’t putting us to death for our confession? That doesn’t sound like much joy to me. And that’s not John’s joy either. John knows he won’t be around much longer – you don’t call the King a adulterer and live very long, but he has joy and he wants his disciples to rejoice – so he sends them where true joy is to be found. He sends them Jesus, with a question.
“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” John makes it sound like his question, but it really is a question for them. John is in prison – He has pointed to Jesus Christ as the final and only source of joy. But if Jesus is the One sent by God to bring joy to the world, why is John in prison? Are his words true, is he right about Jesus? Shouldn’t he, of all people, Jesus’ cousin and forerunner, have a better life than prison and death?
So John’s disciples ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” We might expect Jesus to make one of His bold proclamations, like He did at other times, “I am the One God sent. I am the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” But He doesn’t. He invites the disciples of John to examine Him, to check Jesus out according to the Word of God and against the Word of God.
Jesus had already given them the Word by which they should check Him out. In Luke 4, Jesus was in His hometown on the Sabbath, and He went to the Synagogue, and read these words from Isaiah the prophet, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18–19, ESV) Jesus tells John’s disciples, “Check Me out. Look at Me and listen to Isaiah. Does what I’m doing square with Isaiah? Those words of Isaiah were written almost 700 years before Jesus was born. Listen to Isaiah and look at Jesus.
When they looked at Jesus – this is what those disciples saw. 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.” (Luke 7:21–23, ESV)
Rejoice, because Jesus is the One whom God sent – listen to the Old Testament and look at Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus did exactly what Isaiah foretold, and not only Isaiah, but Moses, David, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and every other prophet of the Old Testament.
This then is the reason to rejoice, Jesus has come. Saint Paul, (who is also in prison) preaches that same joy in today’s Epistle. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand.”
That is why this Sunday and every Lord’s day is rejoice Sunday – the Lord is at hand. God’s Kingdom has drawn near in the person of Jesus. John the Baptist rejoices even in jail because the Lord is near. God Himself has come to deal with the very cause of your sadness and anxiety, your fear and uncertainty. Can you imagine the joy when that person with macular degeneration in Jesus’ day saw clearly again? Or the joy when that woman with breast cancer was healed and didn’t have to go back to the Jerusalem hospital for chemo? When that deaf man could hear his grandchildren sing once more? What joy Jesus gave! But that wasn’t the greatest joy.
Jesus alludes to the greatest joy when He says, “And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” John the Baptist could have been offended. Isaiah said Jesus would set free the captives, but Jesus doesn’t give John a “get out of jail free” card. John doesn’t get the joy of living or freedom. The Apostle Paul also was imprisoned and killed for the Gospel. Not every blind person received her sight. Not every deaf man was made to hear. And they all could have been offended if they did not believe the real reason Jesus came into the world.
He drew near to save you from your sin. He drew so near to you that He became you – He took on flesh by being born of the Virgin Mary. He became the sinner you are – being baptized into your sin at the Jordan and into your death at His cross. Now the fact of the matter is – the forgiveness of your sins doesn’t give you as much joy as being cancer free, or breathing easily, or having the demons of depression driven from your mind. And that’s why Jesus says, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
If you looked at John the Baptist, you might conclude faith in Jesus doesn’t work very well. But if you listened to God’s Word you would know Jesus is the One whom God sent. If you look at your life, the last thing you might think you need for joy is forgiveness, but if you listen to God’s Word, that’s exactly what you need, your sin is the source of your every trouble and sadness. The Word of God tells you, Jesus drew near to you, for you, to take away the one thing you needed to be taken away – your sin.
You can live through prison and death. You can live through blindness and being lame. But you cannot live through sin. Blessed is the one who is not offended by by that message. When your sin is forgiven in Christ (and it is) then you know that God loves you and favors you. In Christ Jesus God has said to you – everything between you and me is right. I’ve taken care of your sin in Jesus. That’s cause for rejoicing, for now you know, that even in prison, in sickness, in trouble, in death, the Lord is near for you. Do not be anxious about anything. He is as near as Jesus in His flesh and blood, as near as your baptism, as near as His Word, as near as His Supper. So, lighten up this Advent or better yet, “Rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always, for He is near to you and for you, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
12 December 2015