Who is this Jesus?

Mid week communion service at St Giles

Gospel Matthew 11

Alleluia, alleluia.
Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
All Alleluia.

When the Gospel is announced the reader says

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to N.
All Glory to you, O Lord.

¹¹I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who 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 forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of 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 He who has ears, let him hear.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
All Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

On Sunday next, the gospel reading is all about John. It’s from the first chapter of John’s gospel. John is never actually called John the Baptist in John’s gospel. He’s John the Witness. In answer to men sent by the Pharisees to find out about him, John the Witness tells us what he isn’t. He is not the Messiah. He is not Elijah. He isn’t even a prophet. All he will admit is he is a voice crying in the wilderness. He points to the Christ who is to come.

In Matthew he is John the Baptist. Jesus says he is Elijah who is to come. An obvious contradiction for the fundamentalists to explain. A minor matter of detail to the rest of us.

Now it’s John who sends messengers. His ministry is over. He’s in prison awaiting his fate. He hears all sorts of things about what Jesus is up to. He’s clearly worried. All this peace and love does not square with John’s notion of what the Messiah should be like.

So he sends his disciples and asks Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another? Jesus does not give a straight answer. When does he ever? No – he tells John’s men to report back what they have seen and heard. Jesus makes no claims for himself. But what he they report back to John is clearly messianic. The blind see. The sick are healed. The deaf hear. The poor receive good news.

Jesus is constantly asked questions about his identity. John’s question is the same as the one people have asked down the generations. It’s the same question we are challenged to answer during Advent. Is he the One?

John had expectations, and it’s reasonable to assume Jesus was not fulfilling them. The Romans had not been thrown out. People were still suffering. The world was still an unfair place. Evil still had the upper hand.

We can say the same. We can ask the age old questions about why the innocent suffer. Why there is disease. Why evil seems so prevalent. Why the distribution of the earth’s resources is so unequal. Why the rich are super rich and the poor lack the basic essentials of life. How much of all this is our fault – and where is the promised Kingdom of God when all will be made right?

At the start of his ministry John seemed so confident. Now he’s not so sure. For Matthew, blessings are the key mark of discipleship. The flip side is that we are scandalised by what he says. The key question this Advent is whether the good news of God’s blessing in Jesus takes root in us and produces the fruits of faith. Or whether it will be the cause of our turning away.

Jesus asks Are you willing to accept the good news? He who has ears, let him hear. Amen