Matthew 11:1-6
Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities.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?” Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the 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. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.”
I find John’s question rather heartbreaking. Heartbreaking because bold and outspoken John, the one who had first heralded Jesus as Messiah, is apparently now racked by doubt. So much so that he sends his own disciples to ask Jesus whether he is, indeed, the one they had waited for, hoped for, longed for…or whether they should look for another.
There is good reason for John’s doubt. He has been imprisoned by King Herod and his fate is uncertain at best. No doubt as he paced the perimeter of his dank cell, he could only wonder whether his ministry and mission had been in vain and, in short, whether he had been wrong to back the one called Jesus.
But I suspect that it wasn’t only his circumstances. I suspect that he had not only believed that Jesus was God’s Messiah but also imagined the kind of Messiah Jesus would be: a messiah who would come in judgment, winnowing out the evil-doers of the age and exalting the righteous; a messiah who would purify the nation and restore right worship; a messiah who would rescue Israel from it’s oppressors by casting out the Romans. And yet Jesus had done none of these and the prospects of him doing so now seemed dim.
And so John sends his disciples to ask that one difficult question upon which so much hung: are you the one…or should we wait for another?
I wonder how John received Jesus’ answer. Jesus doesn’t correct John’s perceptions. Jesus doesn’t defend his actions. Jesus doesn’t make excuses. He simply tells John’s disciples to go and report what they have seen – blind who now see, lame who now walk, lepers cleansed, deaf who hear, the dead given new life and the poor encouraged by God’s good news.
It’s not the messiah John imagined, perhaps, but it’s the messiah the world needed…and still needs. A messiah who comes in mercy rather than judgment, who comes to comfort rather than purify, and who lives – and eventually dies to be raised from death – to free us from sin and death rather than merely mortal foes.
No, it’s not the messiah John imagined – and perhaps not the one we always look for either – but it is the messiah we need, the messiah who reveals the heart of God to be that of a loving parent desperate to find and redeem all of God’s children.
Prayer: Dear God, help us to see in Jesus your grace, mercy and love, and encourage us to share what we see with those around us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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