Reflection on Matthew 11:2-11

“Are you the one…” John the Baptist asks from behind the locked doors of the prison.  I know this may seem odd, but I actually find some comfort in the fact that John asked such a question.  You can hear the uncertainty and doubt behind the question.  “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” John the Baptist asks, his uncertainty breaking through.

This is the great John the Baptist!  John is the one who leapt in his mother’s womb at just the sound of the pregnant Mary.  John is the one who journeyed into the wilderness just like his ancestors as they exited Egypt, trusting in God’s provision; eating locusts and wild honey.  John is the one who proclaimed the coming of the Messiah.  John is the one who baptized Jesus, God’s Messiah.  John is the one about whom Jesus describes as:

“A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,

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

who will prepare your way before you.’

Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist…”

Even the great John the Baptist asks the very human question, “Are you the one?”  I find comfort in the fact that such a great man asks this question because I have looked up to heaven and asked, “Are you the one?” 

“Are you the one who will heal my Dad?” 

“Are you the one who will get me out of this tight spot, because it looks pretty hopeless?” 

“Are you the one who is going to straighten out this mess of a world?”

John the Baptist seems like such an unshakable character.  He is the guy who calls people a “brood of vipers.”  He is the guy who challenged the people of his day to turn their minds to God and God alone.  He is the guy who felt no reservation in chastising the powerful people of his day…to their faces. 

But, when your own, personal world starts to crumble, when you are the one looking through the bars of the jail cell, even though you are certainly innocent; even the great prophet, John the Baptist starts to question.

I hear you John.  So do I.  So do I.  I question too.

Life is fragile.  Goodness is sometimes like a wisp of fog or a fleeting breeze of autumn warmth.  Like a stack of children’s blocks, a lot of hard work can come crashing down with one mistake.  Everything that you thought was stable and good and whole can come crashing down, and you are left staring at the pile of blocks, not knowing what to do or who to trust.

“Are you the one?”

When the stress of the school year and the innate depression overwhelmed the young college student, he went to the first person who came to his mind, his campus pastor.  For an hour, he unloaded his burden onto the ears of the campus pastor, and for an hour, the campus pastor let him.  When he had said all that could be said, the campus pastor said in her soft, yet determined voice, “Come with me.”  She led him three blocks to a nearby church who was serving a meal to the poor.  She placed him in the line of servers and put a spoon in his hand.  “Help to dish up the meal,” she said simply as she took her own spot. 

For an hour he served up shredded lettuce onto plates.  And, for an hour kind faces looked into his eyes and said, “Thank you.”  After the meal was done, he walked back to his room on campus.  The pastor had not said any more to him, other than to thank him for helping, but she did not need to.  Sometimes, when you cannot see the Lord’s goodness, your eyes need to be kindly forced open.  And, what did he see?  People down on their luck, like him, getting fed.  People alone in the world, like him, gathering together for a meal in the name of the Lord.  He saw the goodness of the Lord.  It was what he needed, and the Lord provided.  Yes, the Lord is the one.

When his word seemed to be falling apart John sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “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 offense at me.” 

Sometimes our Lord, Jesus Christ needs to remind us exactly what his kingdom looks like, so that we can see it in action.  Sometimes we need to be reminded to listen to his mother, Mary’s song which boasts of the greatness of the Lord, who is always, “casting down the mighty from their thrones and lifting up the lowly.”  Who has, “filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.”  And, who has “come to the aid of…Israel,” and reminded the people of the Lord’s “promise of mercy.”  Sometimes we need to be dragged by the Lord from our place of hopelessness, to a room filled with hope and good things, just as the young man was dragged to that shelter to see the Lord actively reversing people’s fortunes through a meal and conversation. 

Sometimes we need a spoon put into our hands to remind us that we are a part of it.  Jesus has drawn us into his kingdom of love and grace.  Jesus has placed a spoon in our hand to serve those in front of us.  Jesus has shown us love, but we just forgot. 

Here’s the thing, the whole reason that John the Baptist was in jail was because he was actively living out Jesus’ values in the kingdom of God.  John was actively doing what Mary dreamed about in her song.  He was speaking words of righteousness to the powerful.  He was bringing the powerful and conceded down and lifting up the lowly.  He was baptizing the hopeless and chastising the proud.  He was a part of it all!  But, sometimes we forget what the kingdom is about when the world turns on us.

Sometimes, we need a reminder that the Lord is active in the world still.  Sometimes, we need a reminder that just because our situation has changed does not mean that the Lord’s hopes and dreams for us have changed.

You are loved by the Lord with a grace that would go to the cross for you.  You have been brought into the kingdom of heaven to be a kingdom people, and sometimes that very work makes life hard.  But do not forget, you are a part of it.  If we allow the Lord to show us, we will see that, “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.” 

We are truly blessed when we are brought to trust that the Lord is working good in the world and in our lives…even now.  Even now the Lord is turning the world up-side-down with his grace and healing.  Even now the Lord is healing all that is broken.  Even now, we trust in the Lord who never forgets his promise of mercy.  Especially on the days that are hard, we trust in the Lord, and look for God’s goodness.