Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another? That's the question of the day. We have plenty of representatives in the gospels who don't seem to need to ask that question. There are plenty of people who are sure and certain the first minute they encounter Jesus. We can start right off with Simeon and Anna, that aging couple who spend all their time in the temple waiting for God's revelation. We have no trouble picturing them taking this little baby Jesus from the arms of his mother when he's seven days old. They peer into his face and gaze on his eyes and proclaim "oh Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace for my eyes have seen your salvation." They knew, they knew instantly that this was God's anointed.
Then there's the wise men, those astronomers
from the East that the gospel writer Matthew talks about. They
weren't even Jewish but they followed that star and when they
encountered that infant born of such poor parents they fell to
their knees and worshipped him. How very odd! How did they know?
What did they see to make them so certain, so sure? But then that
was only the beginning. Remember that woman who had suffered with
a hemorrhage for years. She scouted Jesus out. She knew that she
had only to touch the hem of his garment and she would be healed.
How, how did she know? From whence did such certainty spring?
People who weren't even expecting a messiah, people who weren't
even heirs of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They would experience
Jesus and they would know. They would know that in this man was
hope, the savior of the world. There was the Canaanite woman who
begs for the health of her daughter and argues with Jesus, not
taking "no" for an answer. And then there is the Roman
Centurion who declares at the crucifixion, "Surely this was
the son of God."
John might have been numbered among these many who recognize and declare the Christ. We remember early on that Mary pays a visit to her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth is also pregnant, with John. When Elizabeth first sets eyes on Mary she embraces her and declares "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me. For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy." Much later, John is out in the wilderness, attracting a crowd, exhorting them to repent for the kingdom is near. From the shadows a figure approaches-a man seeking baptism by John. Instantly John acknowledges Jesus, " I cannot baptize you, you should be baptizing me for I am not fit to carry your sandals." John knew. He was sure and certain. This was he who was to come. This man before him was the Messiah. He knew.
Why then, we ask, why now does he send his followers to Jesus to inquire, "Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another?" This is not an unimportant question for us. For there are times when our faith seems sure and strong. Times when it is clear and certain who this Jesus is, times when we can with confidence proclaim our Lord and our God. The message seemed so clear and sure the day we stood before the altar in our white robes and nervously gave voice to the ancient creed; "I believe." The blessedness of the world and surety of God's presence were so evident as we sat with family and friends at a marriage or baptism. And then there are other times-times perhaps of uncertainty and doubt. Times when our faith is tried almost to the breaking point.
What had John expected of a Messiah? Surely not what he got? Here he sits in Herod's dungeon, indicted as a fanatic, an enemy of the state. Each day, each moment here could be his last. He survives only at the whim of a tyrant. This is hardly the world that he thought the Messiah would usher in. Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another? We all seek for reassurance. We all want to know that the affirmations we made yesterday are still true today. No one wants to believe that they have been duped. We doubt.
Perhaps those moments of doubt are brought on by personal crisis; an illness, a sudden death, the betrayal of a trusted relationship. If Jesus came as messiah, if he came as the embodiment of God's love why is there still heartache and hatred and fear. At the very least, why are we not able to pass through these trials with equanimity and peace? Rather than seeing doubt as a personal failing or fearing its results, perhaps we should consider it a necessary element to a vital and active faith. Questions lead us to explore our assumptions more deeply. Doubts challenge us not to accept easy or superficial answers.
John queries, "Are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another." Note how Jesus responds. Jesus does not chastise the questioner. Rather Jesus points John in the direction of a new answer. He expands his thinking to embrace a bigger picture. John was waiting for the kind of Messiah who would usher in a day of judgement and reckoning. His world view says this messiah will come "with his winnowing fork in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat in to the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." John's assumptions are eschewed, his understanding is cloudy. When the kingdom doesn't come as he expected it, as he anticipated it, he doubts.
Jesus shares a different vision. Jesus shows John a world where the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have good news brought to them." Like John our vision is often limited to the prisons walls in which we reside. Sometimes we doubt because the messiah doesn't meet our expectations. Our doubts lead us to Jesus. Jesus would have us see that; yes there are hungry people but there are those who would feed them. Yes, there are homeless but there are many who provide temporary shelter and work to find permanent homes for them. Yes, Aides is a horrible epidemic but there are those whose intelligence works to find a cure and those whose care brings relief.
We wait. The world is not yet what it will
be. But we wait with expectation, with hope, with anticipation.
Come Lord Jesus!
Amen.
