ca. 1850 — An illustration from a mid-19th century copy of Grand Catechisme des Familles (Christian Doctrine for Families). — Image by © Stefano Bianchetti/Corbis
Rejoice? Tell that to John
Matthew 11:2-11
December 16, 2018 anno Domini – Redeemer
Rejoice in the Lord always. That’s the name of this Sunday on the historical calendar – Gaudete. Rejoice Sunday.
Now there’s a tough sermon for John the Baptist to swallow. John was in prison for calling King Herod out on his adultery. Things haven’t changed much among our rulers in 2000 years. From 1997-2017 congress paid out $17 million to cover sexual harassment claims against congressman and senators. Our President committed adultery with playmates and porn stars. The only difference today is that tomorrow I won’t get locked up for preaching that. It doesn’t even bother us. We’ve accepted adultery. We watch movies and read books filled with it. Upwards of 70% of our children will live together before they are married and have multiple sex partners before they get married, if they get married. It’s their fault and it’s our fault. We slowly simmered in the poison of perversion and we have grown accustomed to its deadly taste.
Back to John in prison. This is not what John expected. Do you remember that John knew Jesus before either of them was born? When Jesus was less than a month old in his mother’s womb and John had been living 7 months in Elizabeth’s womb the two of them met. John had faith in Jesus. He did some somersaults to celebrate his Savior and Elizabeth felt it his faith.
The Holy Spirit called John to be the final prophet. Every Old Testament prophet pointed ahead to Jesus, now John was called to point to Jesus. God’s people had gone 430 years without a prophet, 430 years without a sermon (you’d like that, wouldn’t you?). By the time John came preaching in the wilderness God’s people had grown far from God’s Word. His congregation was full of hypocrites – Pharisees who believed they were good and everyone else wasn’t. Soldiers who extorted bribes. Tax collectors who felt justified in stealing because they worked for the government.
John’s sermons were heavy on the Law. The Messiah was coming. Shape up. He’s going to sift the grain from the chaff. The grain will be kept. The chaff will be burned. Confess your sins and be baptized for forgiveness.
John was convinced that when Jesus came the wicked would get what was coming to them and the righteous would be vindicated. John probably had dreams about the great prophet Elijah, his hero. Elijah stood alone on Mount Carmel against 450 prophets of Baal. John stood alone in his faithful preaching against the lies of the Pharisees. The prophets of Baal were mighty and many and Elijah was one. John was alone in the wilderness. All day long those Baal prophets cried and cut themselves and begged their god Baal to do something and he didn’t do anything, because he wasn’t a thing. Then Elijah called on the Lord who lit Elijah’s sacrifice and Baal’s sacrifice. The Lord vindicated Elijah and all those prophets of Baal died. All of Judea and Jerusalem came out to hear John the Baptist – He was the new Elijah.
This was John’s expectation when he baptized Jesus at the Jordan, when he pointed at Him and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Jesus was going to clean house, but what did Jesus do? He turned water into wine and made a wedding in Cana the grandest wedding there ever was. He called men to follow him and preach. Perhaps John thought he had the last word. Jesus sat down with prostitutes and those corrupt tax collectors and ate with them and forgave them. He was bringing joy and hope and peace to sinners. Meanwhile John got himself arrested and knew that death was coming.
Rejoice in the Lord always. John found that sermon hard to swallow. He was finding Jesus hard to swallow. Maybe it is a tough sermon for you to swallow. Our experiences do not always confirm God’s love. John is in prison. Maybe you’re caught up in a sin. Maybe a mental illness imprisons you. Perhaps you are suffering for your faith. Your brother thinks you’re crazy. Your children have forsaken Christ and His church. You’re beset by worries, fears, and temptations that your unbelieving neighbor doesn’t have in the least. Like John, this isn’t what you expected of Jesus. Rejoice in the Lord always! Rejoice? I struggle to believe. I doubt.
So did John. He sends his disciples to Jesus with a question, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” John doubts, but he has not lost faith. When in doubt he goes to Jesus (or rather sends his disciples to Jesus.)
Jesus makes no promises to John’s men. He isn’t going to spring him from jail. He isn’t going to drop the hammer on the Pharisees. He isn’t going to rain down fire and brimstone on King Herod. All Jesus gives John is His Word. Go and tell John what you see and hear: 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. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Jesus was sort of a smart aleck when it came to questions. He usually didn’t answer directly. He sent people to His Word. He told them to examine the facts. Jesus points John to Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 61. Those chapters tell what God’s Messiah, what the Christ would do when He came. He would make the blind see and the lame walk. He would raise the dead. He would preach good news to the poor. Could a known sinner hear any better news than this? I forgive you. Could there be any greater joy for any of us than this? Christ Jesus came into the world to undo sin. Wherever He went, whenever He spoke, whoever He touched, sin was undone and everything that comes with sin was reversed – blind eyes saw, lame legs ran, dead men rose, shortages became abundance.
Rejoice in the Lord always. Why? Because Jesus did what God’s Word promised He would do. Jesus said He would die for the sin of the world and He did. The Roman soldier’s spear and the several witnesses to His death confirm it. Even the American Medical Association confirms that Jesus was most certainly dead after the crucifixion. Jesus said He would rise three days later and He did. Mary Magdalene hugged him and the Emmaus disciples walked with him, and Thomas saw the nail holes in His living hands. Everything Jesus says is trustworthy. You can believe Him. Your sins are forgiven. If you believe in Him you’ll live forever. Your blind eyes will see and your deaf ears will hear and your fuzzy mind will be clear because your dead body will be raised and made new.
Rejoice in the Lord always. That doesn’t mean be happy and smile through every difficulty. That doesn’t mean you won’t shed tears or end up in jail or suffer for your faith. Paul doesn’t say, “Rejoice, some people have it worse,” or “Rejoice, it’s going to be fine.” He says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Rejoice, because Jesus came to preach good news to the poor. Rejoice because Jesus came to save sinners. Rejoice because the Lord has you in jail, in suffering, in death. Rejoice always in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm