John the Baptist

Thursday 10 December 2009

 

Gospel Matthew 11: 16 – 19

¹¹ Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, ^[d] and violent people have been raiding it. ¹³ For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. ¹⁴ And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. ¹⁵ Whoever has ears, let them hear.

Sermon

• Chapters 11 and 12 headed The Response of Israel.
• Recounts failure of this generation to accept God’s messengers
• And failure to accept Messiah
• Rejection punctuated by signs of hope – not all is bleak
• Last messenger is John the Baptist
• In prison – hears what Jesus is doing – sends disciples
• Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?
• Jesus replies, telling disciples to say to John what they have seen
• Blind see
• Lame walk
• Lepers cleansed
• Deaf hear
• Dead raised
• Poor receive good news
• These are signs of Kingdom
• Surprising questions – after John recognised Jesus in chapter 3
• At baptism – I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?
• One will come after me who will baptize with Holy Spirit
• This is my Son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased
• Who is John?
• One of messengers – a prophet?
• Yes – and more than a prophet
• See I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.
• No one has arisen greater than John the Baptist
• He is Elijah
• But the response of this generation both to John and Jesus himself is lacking
• We played the flute for you – but you did not dance
• In Advent – first week focuses on particular groups
• First week – Patriarchs like Abraham – our father in faith
• Second week – Prophets – those who foretold coming of Messiah
• Third week – John the Baptist – who proclaimed Jesus at Lamb of God
• Fourth week – Mary whose humility and openness to God made possible the incarnation
• This is where John the Baptist fits in the Advent season
• As we observe a holy Advent – we take our place – together with the forerunners of the Hebrew scriptures – in preparing ourselves and the world for the coming of the Messiah at Christmas. Amen.