Advent 3

Matthew 11:2-11 - Advent 3 - December 11, 2011
Blessed is He who is not Offended by the Gospel

In the Old Testament, God sent prophets to His chosen nation Israel in order to preach the law against sin and to preach of the Christ who would come and take their sin away.  In the New Testament, Jesus sent out His Apostles commanding them to make disciples of all nations by preaching the law against sin, and by preaching the gospel that He Himself has taken all sin away on the cross.  There are no more prophets; John the Baptist was the last one.  But when Jesus sent out His Apostles, He instituted what we call the Office of the Ministry in order that we might believe in Him today.  A prophet’s job was to speak the word that God gave him to speak.  The pastor’s job today is much the same: to preach the word of God and to administer the sacraments. 

God has always required of His messengers that they properly distinguish between the law and gospel.  The law exposes our sin by revealing our disobedience to God; the gospel covers our sin with the perfect obedience of His Son Jesus Christ.  Jesus takes our sin, and gives to us His righteousness.  We call this the blessed exchange.  This blessed exchange occurred on the cross 2000 years ago.  But we receive the benefits here and now through His word, which He continues to speak to His Church. 

The Christian faith is the only faith that justifies sinners before a righteous God and that saves our souls from hell.  This faith comes by hearing.  We need to hear the word of God.  And as baptized Christians, we have the right to hear it.  That’s why we insist that it be preached to us in its truth and purity.  And since we cannot hear without someone to preach it, we call pastors *** who teach and preach, and administer the sacraments the way Jesus gave them to us. 

Jesus said, “BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO IS NOT OFFENDED BY ME.” 

People don’t like to hear that they are lost and condemned sinners, and so naturally they don’t like to confess that they are poor and miserable either.   People are offended by the claim that all of their good works offered so piously and energetically to God are worth nothing toward gaining eternal life.  And so they despise this blessed exchange and choose instead to hold onto their own righteousness, which of course is only to hold onto their own sin. 

It’s an unpopular message that God’s prophets and preachers proclaim.  People grow tired of hearing that they are sinners.  Pastors get tired of telling them.  It’s easier for pastors and people to get together and come to an agreement on what will be preached and how much of it.  And so they do.  They concoct all sorts of different needs that their preachers can fulfill without requiring that they confess their sins to God.  *social—health—relationships—woes-of-society—or just a watered-down gospel with no law* At least this way there appears then to be less offense.  People hear what they want to hear, and when.  And pastors can know that what they say is pleasing to their audience. 

Now, this might help avoid a lot of hurt feelings and offended sensibilities; it might even attract larger crowds.  But the offense of the gospel remains.  The word that Jesus used for offend is where we get the English word “scandalize.” It means to cause someone (or oneself) to stumble and fall into misbelief, despair, or other great shame and vice.  When people deny their need for Jesus they stumble and fall into the very trap that the devil has set.  To deny one’s need for Jesus is to be offended by Him. 

When sinners are not forgiven for Jesus’ sake, then the poor remain poor, the helpless remain un-helped, and those who are spiritually blind and dead in their sins remain without their Savior.  This does not cause less offense; it causes more offense.  Jesus said, “BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO IS NOT OFFENDED BY ME.”  This is why we need God to send us faithful Ministers to say what God tells them to say. 

John the Baptist was just such a faithful prophet who said what God told him to say.  He was a bold preacher.  He did not bend to the demands of popular opinion like a reed blowing in the wind.  He didn’t impress people with a flashy appearance.  All he had going for him was the word that he preached from God.  But it was no more popular then than it is now.  He preached the law against the public sin of King Herod who had taken his own brother’s wife; and he was thrown into prison for it.  He had only done what God had told him to do, but now the ministry God gave him was clearly coming to an end.  And from the eyes of the world, what a reckless failure it looked to be. 

Our Gospel lesson begins with John sending his disciples to ask Jesus whether He was the Coming One, or if they should wait for another.  John was right to direct his disciples to Jesus.  After all, it was to bear witness to Jesus that he was appointed a prophet in the first place. “Yes, and more than a prophet,” Jesus said.  “This is he of whom it was written 400 years ago, by the last prophet who came to you, “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.”  No other prophet was prophesied of.  But all the prophets prepared their hearers for Christ. 

St. Peter tells us in his first Epistle, “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you.”  Think of that! The prophets studied their own prophecies in order to learn more about Jesus!!  That’s remarkable! They wrote words by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and then searched those very words, and returned to them again and again in order to find comfort in their distress, just the same as we do with their words today.  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for this very purpose: to show us Jesus.  It is no wonder that the prophets did this too. 

And St. John the Baptist did the same thing.  He didn’t record any of his prophecies in a book.  But he certainly did return to that which he had spoken—– John pointed to Jesus with his own finger saying, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”  No other prophet could make such a claim —saw so clearly.  The peace that Isaiah preached about, saying “Comfort My people; tell them that their warfare is over,” was a prophecy concerning this very Lamb of God whom Isaiah never saw.  But this Lamb of God would make peace between God and sinners and pardon their sin by suffering the due penalty of the law in their place.   But what glory was there for John who saw and pointed so clearly?  What reward did he receive compared to any other prophet who never beheld Jesus?  He received the same glory: he was persecuted and despised, and even put to death. 

It is often supposed that John sent emissaries to Jesus because he had doubts concerning whether or not Jesus was the Messiah.  I don’t think so.  And if he did have doubts, they were no more significant than yours or mine.  What was significant is that he directed all the doubt of the world to Him who alone takes all doubt away.  John remembered and searched his own prophecy for comfort in his affliction.  And by telling his disciples to go to Jesus, he simply sent them to Him of whom he had been preaching all along.  And he received from Jesus the answer he was looking for. 

Jesus confirmed John’s testimony by pointing to the works that He had done.  “Tell John what you hear and see. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them, and blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”  It is as though Jesus had said, “Everything that the prophets spoke about Me is coming true.  You, John, might look like a rejected loser, but what you have preached about Me is true as well.”  What wonderful and comforting confirmation this must have been for John—not just because his own mission was validated, but because his salvation was made more certain.

The word of God belongs to us; it’s ours.  God has given it to us—just as surely as He gave it to John the Baptist and to all the prophets before him.  Of course this doesn’t mean that we can do with it what we want as though we can produce our own results.  The word of God remains God’s.  St. Paul writes, “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.”  It is not required that Christ’s ministers be successful.  It’s required that they be faithful.  It was not required that John or Malachi or Isaiah or any other prophet accomplish what they longed to see accomplished.  It was required that they be faithful. 

They didn’t see their words fulfilled while they were living.  But it was fulfilled.  Because God required that Christ be successful.  The Father required that His Son accomplish what we in all our efforts have failed to accomplish.  He required that He live the life that every single one of us has failed to live.  And He required that He die the death that our sin has earned.  And He did. 

We do not look for our success in what we are able to accomplish.  We find all our spiritual and moral achievements, not in what we do, but in what Christ has done for us.  So also, we do not look for the success of God’s word in what we can do for the church.  Instead we look to see where God is working.  Like John, we seek out the word of Jesus in order learn the success of His ministry among us.  And what do we find?  We find that where the word of God is taught purely, our sins are being forgiven.  We find that where His sacraments are administered according to His command, that the dead rise, the blind see, the deaf hear, and the poor receive the Bread of Life.  Jesus does not confirm His work among us by showing us glory.  He confirms His work by pointing to what He has accomplished for sinners on the cross, and by giving us this salvation through word and sacrament.  By forgiving us our sins, Jesus accomplishes for His Church what no charming motivational speaker, or church-growth guru ever could. 

Jesus said, “BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO IS NOT OFFENDED BY ME.”  In misery and humiliation, Jesus earned our salvation.  In seeming failure, His faithful stewards distribute to you the mysteries of God.  These means of salvation are offensive to those who do not heed John’s call for repentance.  But to us who come here to be saved from the sin that grieves us, the Gospel of Christ is the power of God to do just that. 

The Ministry that frees us from all our sin is humble and lowly.  It has always been this way – even among the greatest prophets.  Jesus said, “Among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”  This means that although the message of salvation come to us in a lowly form, although it be despised by the world, God calls it great.   How much greater then, are those who receive this Gospel in faith.  We don’t look great.  But God calls us great.  We don’t look righteous and sinless.  But for Jesus’ sake God calls us pure and holy.  And so as often as our natural eyes see the opposite of this, we continue to come to where Jesus confirms what our ears have heard by giving us what He has accomplished for our salvation. 

In Jesus’ name, Amen.