Matthew 11:2-11
Even the most confident can have doubts. That’s true at least in our Gospel reading where we find John the Baptist asking questions about Jesus. From everything we know about John, he seems to be an unlikely candidate for self-reflection, let alone doubt. In the story from last week (and really every other scriptural story about John) we find him preaching with confidence, with complete disregard for the possibility that he might offend anyone. John calls them like he seems them–sinners, hypocrites, Messiah–if the name fits, John will say it. So how is that now John is doubting: Is Jesus really the Messiah?
It’s time. John has time on his hands. Stuck in prison, no one to preach at, John has nothing to do but think, and his thoughts aren’t good. John begins to wonder whether his entire message was mistaken. Was he really preparing the way for the Messiah? Could he have been that wrong?
In his preaching, John was careful to describe the Messiah. God’s messenger would be a person of power. John prepared people by calling them to repent and then get baptized as a sign of their intention to change. But the Messiah wouldn’t have a mere ceremony to offer. He would baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit. Repentance? It would be far too late. Once the Messiah comes, the good will be separated from the bad like wheat from the chaff. Finally the right people would be in charge. When the Messiah came, everything would be set right. John knew exactly what it would look like when the Messiah took over.
But Jesus didn’t seem to get that memo. As Messiah Jesus didn’t separate out the sinners–he socialized with them. The only time he had anything to do with baptism was when he joined the line of sinners John was baptizing for repentance. And how about the Messiah being in charge? Jesus is out wasting his time in little backwater villages, preaching to illiterate fishermen and housewives. Where did he get the idea that a Messiah should act like this?
Jesus doesn’t explain any of this. Instead he offers John’s disciples the opportunity to see his message from another side. He is healing and raising the dead. He is offering hope to those who have none. This is what the Kingdom looks like: The Kingdom of God’s mercy. Jesus isn’t out to start a revolution and become another ruler. He is out to blow the whole game sky high–a new community, even a new creation, with new rules and different priorities, and the signs of that new world are here, in the little towns filled with nobodies, for whom God’s love is becoming real.
So John has a decision to make, and so do we. John expects a Kingdom of power, with a ruler and a hierarchy and judgment. Jesus brings a Kingdom of life, founded on mercy and the ultimate victory of love. Which Kingdom will John choose–the one of his expectations, or that of Jesus’ invitation? Our question is the same. Do we live in the Kingdom of power, insisting on our own way and strength, or do we look for the reality Jesus brings?
On this Third Sunday of Advent, what signs of God’s presence do we see? It depends on what Kingdom we’re looking for.