| | Restoring FaithMat 11:2-19
To the casual eye this dialogue seems unusual. John the Baptist, after all, is the one who opens Jesus' ministry with, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." Why, now, does he send his followers to ask, "Are you the one?"
- Some might think that this was because John did not really see what was happening; but Jesus assures us he is a prophet.
- It might appear that, in the loneliness of his prison cell, he began to doubt even his own memory.
- Possibly the fear of death was upon him, as Herod's axe came closer.
All these are likely thoughts to us today, but a careful examination of verse 6 tells us the answer. In the hearing of his disciples, Jesus warns them against falling away. John sent these men as the last step in bringing his own disciples to Jesus. John cared for his disciples and did this one last thing to bring them to the truth.
Jesus honors John in this. By asking the crowd about the "reed blowing in the wind" he tells them that John is not a man of weak faith. Indeed, they would not have gone into the desert to hear from such a man. John is in fact the last and greatest of the prophets of the Old Testament period. He is greatest because it is his privilege to introduce the Christ; as such, he is the Elijah spoken of in prophecy.
To the crowd, however, he points out one of their chief difficulties. It doesn't matter who God sends to them, they just don't want to believe and repent. God sends a man like John, an ascetic fellow who fasts, lives in the wilderness and is roughly clothed. Did they respond to such devotion? No, they preferred to eat, drink and be merry. John, in their view, is a nut case. So then God sends his Son, eating, drinking and making merry—the very things that they wanted of John—and he obviously is making friends of all the wrong people.
But the Wisdom of God—Christ himself—tells us that wisdom is proved right by her actions. Those who believed the ascetic John now come to know the Savior. Those who reject his ascetic life style in favor of wine and food now find one just like themselves. The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. The question is, will you be one of the children of Wisdom?
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| | Posted 3/14/2006 8:39 PM - 1 view - 1 comments
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