John the Baptist was in prison. Never one to shy away from saying exactly what he was thinking, he told the Tetrarch Herod that his marriage to his brother’s wife was sinful and violated the Law of God. Herod didn’t like it when this crazy-looking man said things like that, and his new wife didn’t like it either, so they had John thrown into a dungeon.
Our Gospel lesson for today begins with John sending two of his disciples to Jesus, where they are to ask this simple question: “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” It sounds like these two disciples have their doubts about whether or not Jesus really is the Messiah. It sounds like John himself is having some doubts about whether or not Jesus really is the Messiah.
Now remember – this is the same John who leapt in his mother’s womb when the newly-pregnant Virgin Mary entered the room. This is the same John who saw Jesus coming toward him at the Jordan River and announced for everyone to hear: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” This is the same John who heard God the Father say “This is my beloved Son” and who saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descend on Jesus as He emerged from the waters of John’s baptism. This is the same John who confessed, “I have seen and have borne witness that this” – and he’s pointing to Jesus here – “is the Son of God.”
But John is no longer proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He’s no longer stirring up the crowds by calling their religious leaders a “brood of vipers” or by saying things like “even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees.” John is in prison. His preaching and baptizing days are over. And things weren’t turning out quite the way that either John or his disciples expected. After all, John had preached about God’s wrath – and so far, he hadn’t seen any wrath coming from Jesus. He’s been hearing a lot about healings and miracles – but not a bit of wrath. In addition, in the first sermon that the Gospel writer Luke records, Jesus says that he has come “to proclaim liberty to the captives” – and from John’s viewpoint, it’s hard to see any evidence of any liberty when you’re chained to a wall in a prison cell. Jesus is certainly not living up to John’s expectations of Him.
And so John sends two of his disciples to Jesus, and they ask Him: “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
How does Jesus respond to their question? Well, he works more miracles. He heals more people. He heals people who have diseases and plagues and evil spirits. He does exactly what the prophet Isaiah said that the Messiah would do. He tells John’s disciples to go back and report what they had seen, for both they and John will clearly understand that Jesus is fulfilling every one of Isaiah’s prophecies. But before they go back to John, Jesus offers these final words: “And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.
The Greek verb that Jesus used here was σκανδαλίζω – and if that sounds just a little familiar to you, it’s because it is the root word of our English word “scandalize.” Σκανδαλίζω means “to take offense,” but it can also mean “to give offense.” When St. Paul wrote that “we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,” the word translated as “stumbling block” is – you guessed it – σκανδαλίζω.
When Jesus says, “blessed is the one who is not offended by me,” he’s referring to the fact that the Jewish people were, for the most part, greatly offended and scandalized by the mere thought of a Messiah who didn’t measure up to what they expected the Messiah to be – who showed no signs of being the Messiah they had imagined and dreamed of. They expected a strong Messiah, a man of military might and force – not a seemingly meek and kind man who went from town to town healing people. Many were offended when Jesus openly clashed with the Jewish religious leaders, and still others were scandalized when he was seen talking and socializing and even eating with scum-of-the-earth types like tax collectors. And the final scandal came on Good Friday, when this man who claimed to be the Son of God was arrested and tried and nailed to a cross just like a common criminal. After all, God’s Law from Deuteronomy chapter 21 made it clear that anyone who was hung on a tree was cursed by God. Scandalous – absolutely scandalous.
So there’s no way that this Jesus of Nazareth could possibly be the Messiah. They wanted a different Messiah – one who would be what they expected and do what they expected and give them what they wanted.
What about today – 2,000 years later? If you stop and think about it, large numbers of so-called Christians today have the same problem that the Jews had way back when. They want a different Jesus – a different Messiah. They want Him to be something else than what He really is. They want Him to be a nice guy who gives them pretty much anything they want. Do you want to be rich? No problem – Jesus wants us all to be wealthy. Do you want to be happy? No problem – Jesus wants that, too. Do you want someone to always tell you how good you are – no matter how bad some of your actions or your lifestyle may be? You got it.
When you go to church, do you want to hear some old-fashioned sermon about how sinful and corrupt you are – or do you want to hear a positive, upbeat message about the 10 steps to becoming a better you or learning how to live your best life now? Do you go to church to be fed with the Word and the Sacraments – or just to be entertained?
Well, I’m no John the Baptist – not by a long shot – but I will tell you this: when you come to St. Paul Lutheran Church, I’m going to preach about the Jesus who is revealed to us in Scripture – period. I’m not going to throw a lot of clichés at you about Jesus wanting you to be happy or healthy or wealthy – because Jesus doesn’t say those things. I’m not going to tell you to go out and do anything you want – just because some Bible writer 2,000 or 4,000 years ago said that it was wrong but things are just a whole lot different today – because those things are still wrong in God’s eyes. I’m going to talk about sin, because sin is a problem that all of us face. In fact, sin is the very problem that Jesus faced – head on. As St. Paul wrote in his second letter to the Corinthians, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Yes, I am going to preach about the Law and the unavoidable fact that since all of us have broken God’s Law, each and every one of us deserves the death sentence to which our sins have condemned us. But I’ll also be preaching the Gospel, the good news that since Jesus died for our sins, we have been declared forgiven and righteous and holy in God’s sight. I won’t preach about a false Jesus who mostly cares about your earthly dreams and ambitions – but I will preach about the real Jesus who cares about your sins and your salvation. I won’t preach about a happy-clappy Jesus who gives you a to-do list for a better life – but I will preach about the real Jesus who did everything for us by suffering, by dying, and by rising from the dead.
After John the Baptist’s disciples had left Jesus, our Lord turned to the crowd and asked, “What then did you go out to see? A prophet?” And then Jesus answers His own question with a resounding “Yes!” Why would anyone go to hear a prophet? One reason: to hear the Word of God. John the Baptist wasn’t much to look at with his strange appearance and his strange clothes, and he wasn’t easy to listen to when he referred to people as a “brood of vipers.” But he preached – and when he preached he preached the Word of God and nothing else. I can guarantee that John the Baptist never gave his listeners a step-by-step list of things to do so that they would be more successful. Instead, he preached a gospel of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He preached that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. He preached that the Messiah was coming. And he preached, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
Why do you come to St. Paul Lutheran Church? You come because this is the place to hear the Word of God, straight and pure. You come to receive the forgiveness of sins through Christ’s own body and blood. You come because this is where we preach Christ crucified and nothing else. You come because Jesus is here. Not the Jesus of our dreams or our wants or our imaginations – but Jesus as he really is, as he is revealed to us in Holy Scripture.
John’s disciples asked, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Thanks be to God, we don’t have to look for another. Jesus came looking for us. He found us. He redeemed us. He saved us. He is the one who already came as the baby born on Christmas. And He is the one who will come again in judgment and glory to bring us home to be with Him in heaven. On this “rejoice” Sunday, this is most certainly a reason for all of to truly rejoice! As Christians have been saying for centuries and continue to say, “Come, Lord Jesus.”
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