Sunday, December 11, 2022

Advent 3

Isaiah 35:1-10; Canticle 15 The Song of Mary; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11

The Rev. Clint Brown

“When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’”

If you are wondering why John the Baptist is asking this question, you are wondering the same thing I was when I first read through the lessons for today. It is surprising that John, of all people, should see the need to clarify who Jesus is. This is, after all, the same John who baptized Jesus; who witnessed the sky torn open and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him; who heard the voice from heaven say, with unmistakable directness, “‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased’” (3:16-17)? And don’t forget that, according to Luke, these men were cousins and we can reasonably infer that they had grown up together. John had had a front row seat to Jesus’ messiahship, so why does the one who would seem to be in the best position to judge who and what Jesus is now doubt?

At this moment, John is sitting in the dungeon of the fortress at Machaerus as the prisoner of Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee. He is there for condemning Herod’s brazen contempt of the Jewish Law (Lev. 18:16; 20:21) by marrying his brother’s wife (14:3-4), as well as for being, in general, just a real pain in the neck. So one may wonder, along with other interpreters if, perhaps, John’s question merely reflects his situation? Perhaps John’s crisis of faith is a moment of weakness, of questioning everything he believes in in the way that anyone in a similar situation might do. This is one possibility. Or perhaps, more generously, John is just playing dumb and could not really mistake Jesus or express a doubt, so he must be pretending for some other purpose. John, ever the teacher, is sending his disciples to Jesus with the question because he knows his time is short and, while he knows the truth, they still needed convincing and this ploy is designed to take away their apprehensions and redirect their allegiance. As John says in another place, “He must increase, and I must decrease” (John 3:30).

But the most likely explanation is that John’s question is sincere and that he is genuinely confused. After all, recall the striking personality we encountered at the beginning of the gospel. Like a prophet of old, his program was for judgment, to clear the air of false religion and purify the land. Any tree not bearing good fruit, he said, deserved to have an axe put to its root and be thrown into the fire (3:10). It was this apocalyptic vision for a cosmic reordering that he presumed for Jesus when Jesus came to him for baptism and it is for this vision that he now finds himself in chains. So we can appreciate his disappointment as he began to receive reports of what the Christ was actually doing (11:2). There had been no purge of the priesthood; no purification of the people; no judgment on the earth’s tyrants and oppressors; no final victory over the enemies of Israel. Instead, there had been a lot of walking around and talking, but very little judgment. Where, John wonders, is the passion and the fire in the belly? Why this under-whelming performance from the one of promise whose way he had given up everything to prepare?

That the Messiah might come in love rather than violent conflict was a thing that no one had prepared for. In asking his question John is not speaking just for himself but for the whole of Israel, and especially for those Jewish Christians who were the first readers of this gospel: “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” (11:3). Jesus understood their confusion, and as proof of his alternative vision he does not acknowledge the title about which there were so many preconceived notions, but, instead, describes what he is doing. He is a restorer of what is broken in human nature, physically, mentally, and spiritually. The Messiah does not come to conquer armies but to conquer hearts.

Whether it be worldly success, material gain, or satisfying our own needs no matter the cost to others, we, too, are guilty of looking for the wrong thing. We, too, need to have our hearts conquered. If John and his contemporaries were guilty of over-emphasizing Messiah as Judge, our problem in contemporary America is the exact opposite. We who live in relative ease and comfort, we who have grown accustomed to recruiting Jesus to be on our side in the great debates of society, forget that his proper place is to be sitting over us judging our values and assumptions. We are not very good at making the right choices. We are all too easily beguiled by what is transient and inessential. Which is what the season of Advent is all about.

In Advent we are presented with fresh eyes to see Jesus as we approach Christmas rather than all that gets in his way. Advent directs us to scale back and simplify and put into practice a way of moving through the weeks leading up to Christmas in a way that is at odds with the predominant culture. And, as I said, we are reminded that Christ is our once and future judge, calling all our certainties and assumptions into question. Which brings us to Mary and her magnificent song. “He has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” There’s just no way that makes sense in the world you and I know. But, then again, neither does a King born in a barn. Just one more example of how we are always looking for the wrong thing.