Expect the Unexpected :: Matthew 11:2-11
Say to him, Are you the coming one, or should we expect another? (v 3)
[Introduction]
When you read the story of Israel, there’s a common theme that appears over and over again: God does not always act in ways that people expect.
When God delivered Israel from slavery, he chose Moses, not while he was prince in Egypt but after he became a murderer who went into hiding as a shepherd. When God delivered Israel from the Midianites, he chose Gideon, the least important member of the least important family of his tribe. When God delivered Israel from the Philistines, he did not send Israel’s best warrior, but David, who was just a boy with a sling and a small rock to stand up against a giant named Goliath. When God spoke to his prophet Elijah at Mount Horeb, he did not do it through the spectacular fashion of wind, earthquake, or fire, but through a whisper. And when God brought ultimate deliverance to his people, who would expect he would do it through a baby born to die.
4. Still many in Israel expected God to act in certain ways.
The people of Israel expected God’s reign to come in a way that was irresistible. Some, like the Zealots, expected deliverance from Roman occupation and Israel’s return to political independence. Some, like the Essenes, expected a final end-times judgment in which all sinners ... both inside and outside Israel ... would be condemned and the righteous would be glorified. Yet others expected a sign as grand as Elijah returning to earth the same way he went to heaven ... in his chariot of fire.
Generally, it was expected that when the Messiah did come, he would destroy Israel’s enemies and restore the kingdom to its former glory.
But then along came John the Baptizer and Jesus.
3. John the Baptizer was not the kind of man people expected.
In our Gospel reading, Jesus reminds us what the people expected from a prophet like John. As Jesus said, What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those wearing soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, Behold I, I send my angel before your face who will prepare your way before you. Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen one greater than John the Baptizer (vv 7-11a).
John was everything the people didn’t expect. His whole life was dedicated to preparing for the Advent of Christ. As Luke tells us, he lived in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance in Israel. He forsook soft clothing for something that was coarse, rough, durable ... clothing that represented a simple life to mirror that of Elijah. More notably, he became a fearless proclaimer that we need to repent now because the kingdom of God is drawing near in Christ.
In Matthew 3, when he saw the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, he wondered why. What is the point, he basically asked them. O Brood of Vipers, who showed you [it was time] to flee the ensuing wrath? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And don’t think to say to yourselves that, We have Abraham as our father, for I tell you that God is able to raise children of Abraham from these stones (Mt 3:7b-9). In other words, stop thinking you are without sin. Stop thinking your family’s way of life and traditions will save you. It is God who gives and nurtures faith that saves.
Though he was faithful in his fierce proclamation of the Law and Gospel, I have to think he never expected it would get him killed for preaching against the status quo. In our reading he was already in prison for calling Herod and his sister-in-law Herodias to repentance for living in adultery. In short order, Herodias, who didn’t like being called a sinner, would have his head.
2. Now ask yourself: What are your expectations today?
We might sometimes find ourselves identifying with expectations of John and others ... and find it surprising that God would act in a particular way. Some people will ask, If Jesus is the Christ, why hasn’t he restored all things? If Jesus is the Christ, why do his followers continue to suffer and die today? If Jesus is the Christ, why does he allow evil to continue to exist? If Jesus is the Christ, what do I need the sacraments for?
All of us continue to deal with the effects of our sin ... blindness, disease, separation, divorce, death ... and we may not experience healing this side of eternity. These things undoubtedly cause doubt. When John had heard about Jesus doing the work he was sent to do ... he sent his disciples to the place they too could find Jesus ... in his Divine Service. Say to him, John told his disciples, Are you the coming one, or should we expect another? (v 3)
Though he once stood in the water of the Jordan River and had seen the dove descending upon Jesus, and had heard the voice from heaven say, This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased ... though John himself declared that he wouldn’t have known who Jesus was had it not been for baptism (Jn 1:31) ... John sent his disciples to bear witness themselves that Jesus truly is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
You can expect to sometimes feel the same way.
So Jesus told John’s disciples, when you return, tell John what you hear and see: the blind are looking up, the lame are walking, the lepers are being cleansed, the deaf are hearing, and the dead are being raised, and the poor are being evangelized, and blessed is the one who is not offended by me.
1. In Jesus, God delivers us in ways that are often unexpected.
The world has never expected that Jesus could be anything more than a good man with a good word about good living. But God loved the world in this unexpected way ... by giving us Jesus to make us whole. God sacrificed his beloved son on a cross and then raised from the dead three days later ... as expected by the Prophet Hosea. More than that, even though we were dead in our trespasses, God also made us alive together with Christ.
Talk about the unexpected! We deserve death. But God gives the repentant life.
By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rm 8:3-4). Now blessed is everyone who is not offended by Jesus.
Now we can do all the good works God has prepared for us: Praying unceasingly, returning and receiving his Divine Service every chance we get, caring for the poor and widows, staying faithful to our spouse, teaching our children about the love of God in Christ.
And he enables us to do this in the way the world still doesn’t expect ... through baptism, which now saves us, and through the Supper that never ends.
THIS GOSPEL IS MOST CERTAINLY AN UNEXPECTED BLESSING AND WELCOME NEWS IN THIS WORLD TODAY
Who would have thought the Gospel would be so effective ... giving us life and salvation, setting us free, leading us to repentance, and delivering reconciliation. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus creates unity with God and one another ... in his name. Amen.