Meditation on Matthew 11:2-11- Doubting John

Matthew 11:2-11

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples 3and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" 4Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. 6And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."

7As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 8What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10This is the one about whom it is written,

`See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way before you.'

11Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."

We hear so much about “Doubting Thomas”—so much, that it has become shorthand in the lexicon for someone who believed, but then begins to question that belief. Why don’t we ever talk about “Doubting John?”

Last week we saw John proclaiming the coming of the Lord. So much anticipation was imbedded in that gospel, which is of course so perfect for Advent. John was proclaiming what he hadn’t seen. When indeed Jesus did appear, Jesus was not exactly what John had been expecting. Isn’t that so often the case? We dream about something wonderful happening in our lives, we anticipate how our life will change after we earn that degree or get that job or win that lucky lottery ticket, and then reality ends up being still so random. John had been expecting the Messiah to be obvious to him. He expected the Messiah to establish a certain way of justice that would reorder society. And that’s not what he got. In Matthew 4:12, John was arrested. The prophet rots in jail for seven chapters, now, in chapter 11, he is forced to send some of his followers to attempt to ascertain whether Jesus is indeed the Messiah.

Sitting in his jail cell, John has doubts. To find the source of his disquiet, simply look at his words of prophecy. He has been foretelling doom, and judgment, and punishment. This is not exactly the Messiah John has been expecting. John was expecting someone who would emphasize repentance more. John was expecting a judge. John was expecting some righteous anger at transgressors and broods of vipers! It is not hard to see the God that operates that way, particularly in the Old Testament.

Yet here is Jesus, doing many prophetic deeds himself, but doing more besides. As we are reminded in Isaiah and Psalm 146, God heals like no earthly king can. God judges, not according to what we deserve, but through self-giving love, through forgiveness again and again.

So John sends some of his followers to ask Jesus straight up: “Are you the One we have been waiting for, or is there another?” There is a little bit of a forlorn quality in the question. John seems to be wondering, “Have I been wasting my time? Have I been wrong about what my role is?” What does a prophet have left to do if the one about whom he has been prophesying is now perfectly capable of testifying himself through words and deeds?

Notice how Jesus answers here, too. Jesus is NOT about Jesus. Jesus does not say in verse 5, “Yes, I am he! I have healed the blind, the lame, the lepers, the deaf! I have raised the dead! I have brought hope to the poor!” Jesus lets the actions speak for themselves. He emphasizes the healing, not the credit that is due. He emphasizes the healing power of the king in the Psalms. He echoes the prophecies we heard in our section of Isaiah today.

So what we see here is that John has not gotten the Messiah he wanted or expected. He proclaimed the coming of the one who would judge strictly. And yet, here is his cousin, Jesus, and he is NOT some warrior king. He is not about restoring the former glory of Israel by having it rise to new power. What he IS about is moving among those who have been outcast. This God, we see, emphasizes mercy over retribution, in contrast to the God that much prophecy describes. Jesus reminds us that his ministry will surprise us, and will lead us in ways we did not expect and heal us in ways we may not even deserve. “Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me” (v. 6). Blessed are those who accept me for who I am, instead of trying to make me fit their preconceived notions of who Messiah will be.

Who is Jesus? John asks. Now in the second half of our reading Jesus asks the crowds if they understand who John is. A “reed shaken in the wind” (v. 7) would have been someone who sought to appeal to popular opinion, who would have said what was pleasing to the crowd. That certainly wasn’t John. Was John an attractive, smoothly groomed, manicured huckster, preaching an easy message in some plush setting (v. 8)? Not close. No, Jesus quotes Malachi 3:1: “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.”  John is a prophet—but more than a prophet. He is the last prophet of the old age, who is pointing to the new age. He is the transition between the Old Testament, which depended upon prophets to explain the ways of God, and the New Testament, which has the Messiah, who is a prophet and God incarnate. Yet the least in the kingdom of heaven—among those who have faith in Jesus as the Christ—are greater than John.

Jesus was NOT the one that John was expecting—but that means that John has forgotten or misunderstood what was supposed to be important. And he certainly wasn’t the only one. Jesus often confounded those who encountered him—and still does, today more than ever! Look around at all the different gospel visions we see proclaimed today in the name of Christ! We don’t own Jesus—Jesus owns us. That’s why we identify ourselves through his title as Christ. Now the next question to logically proceed is this: Who, then are we, and what are we to do?