Transition Tension

A Reflection on the Gospel for December 15th, 2019:
Third Sunday of Advent

Matthew 11.2-11

When John the Baptist heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples who said to 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 offence at me.”

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? 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; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

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A time of transition. When John the Baptist appeared, it was to shake up the children of Israel. As a prophet, his calling was to unsettle them in their comfort and to call them to repentance. John the Baptist is the sort that sounds like a warrior Messiah – feisty, wild, eating locusts. Likely a Bear Grylls sort, come to think of it. When they made the movie, the Greatest Story Ever Told, they cast none other than Charlton Heston to play John the Baptist. That’s a man ready to come in and draw a crowd, at first for the spectacle but then for the force of his conviction. It was a fractious time in Israel. They were a people groaning under the weight of foreign rule, whose Scriptures had foretold the coming of a Messiah who would finish the work promised to Abraham — to make them a great nation.


But John knew he wasn’t the Messiah. Despite all the questions swirling around him, all the suspicions and gossip, he had met the Messiah when he was still in the womb and leapt for joy in recognition. He was ready and willing to cede his moment in the spotlight to the One Israel – and in fact the world – was waiting for. He had spent many years in the wilderness, making a way and preparing those with ears to listen. His entire life was designed around waiting and making room for the very thing the people didn’t know they needed. Because what they needed wasn’t a warrior King in the earthly sense. They and we need the same thing: we need a Messiah who comes to conquer not by waging war, but by sacrificing Himself.

"[W]e need a Messiah who comes to conquer not by waging war, but by sacrificing Himself."

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So when John asks Jesus if He is the One to come – the Messiah, Jesus’ answer is exactly right. He has come to heal, to cleanse, to raise the dead – He has come to save. He hadn’t embarked on a massive military campaign, rallying the young and the able. Rather, He sought out the broken, the hurting, and the weak. This was the answer John needed. This was the answer John was waiting for his whole life. This was the answer that the world was holding its breath for. The Messiah has come to save us.


Stephanie Potter

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