Matthew 11:2-10
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
From prison, John sends two of his disciples to Jesus and puts this question to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” It seems that Jesus’ ministry clashed with John’s expectations. John had preached that the Coming One would have His winnowing fan in hand to thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Matt 3:12). He would sift between repentant believers and the wicked. He would gather repentant believers to Himself, much as a farmer gathers wheat into his barn. But the impenitent and wicked He would burn up as chaff. Except that wasn’t happening. Jesus wasn’t separating the believing from the unbelieving. The righteous were not thriving. The impenitent weren’t experiencing the fiery condemnation of God’s wrath. In fact, the entire reason John was in prison was that he rebuked the ruler, Herod, for his evil works, especially for taking his brother Philip’s wife as his own. Thus the question: “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
Jesus responds, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” Jesus points John to the very ministry which seems to clash with his expectations. What do John’s disciples see? The blind receiving their sight; the lame walking, lepers cleansed of their leprosy, the ears of the deaf opened, the dead raised to life, and most importantly, the poor have the gospel preached to them. By poor, He doesn’t mean the financially poor. He means the spiritually poor, as He says in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” To be spiritually poor is to be a spiritual beggar, to be emptyhanded before God, and desire only to receive His merciful help and consolation. To the spiritually poor the gospel is good news because it offers them forgiveness of every sin, new life, and the promise of eternal salvation and blessedness with a merciful God. But to the spiritually arrogant who think they need nothing from God, or need just a little bit from God, the gospel is not good news, but something to be despised, thought little of, and passed by. They stumble at Jesus’ humility and the fact that He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matt 9:13).
Jesus’ ministry fulfills much of what the prophets—and John himself—foretold about Him. There are a few things left to fulfill at His second advent. When Christ returns in glory He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Matt 3:12), as John and the prophets preached. For now, though, He encourages John and leaves him with this word: “And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” “Do not stumble over the fact that at this time I come in mercy. This was foretold by the prophets. Do not be scandalized by the fact that the fiery judgment is not yet. It will come, but now I come in blessing to call sinners to repentance, so that all who believe will be spared from the wrath to come. Do not stumble because of what you see and hear in Me, but keep to the course, even to death.”
As John’s disciples leave to take Jesus’ word back John, Jesus turns to the multitude that was present and teaches them what He had just taught John’s disciples: that He is the Coming One, and they should check their expectations against Scripture as well. He asks them about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?” Of course not. John was not a reed shaken by the wind. He wasn’t a man who told people what they wanted to hear, blowing back and forth in his answer depending on who was asking. John was the opposite. He was unwavering and had the same message for everyone: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matt 3:2). Jesus continues, “But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.” John wasn’t dressed in royal style. He was clothed in camel’s hair, course clothing, with a leather belt around his waist, as the prophet Elijah had worn (Matt 3:4; 2 Kings 1:8). They did not go out to see someone who would speak softly and offer them luxurious living. They went out to see this course and severe preacher who preached a course and severe message of repent and bear the fruit of repentance in your lives.
Christ continues, “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’” John was indeed a prophet, but far greater than a prophet. All the prophets before God pointed to the future and said, “He is Coming!” John, however, stands on the banks of the Jordan and proclaims, “He is here!” even pointing at Jesus with his finger as He says, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). John is more than a prophet. He is whom the Lord promised to send to before the Lord and make people ready to receive Him. John comes as a preacher of repentance. He condemns everyone in their sins so that they recognize their spiritual poverty. This, then, is how John goes before the Lord to prepare His way. If Jesus is going to preach the gospel to the poor, the poor have to know that they’re poor. If they think they are spiritually wealthy they will be offended at Christ’s gospel. If they think they are righteous as they are, by themselves, they will stumble at the Christ who did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matt 9:13).
As it was then, so it is now, and shall be until Christ returns in glory. Many are offended because of Him. They have certain expectations of Him that, when they are unmet, they stumble and begin looking for another to come in His place. Some, recognizing that He is the Coming One, try to recast Him in their own image, in the image of their expectations. Jesus’ questions to the crowd about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?” show us the false expectations that many have of Christ. Many today expect Jesus to be a reed shaken by the wind. They want Him to be pliable and yielding so that nobody is being condemned for their choices. They want Jesus to be flexible about fornication, to ignore people’s idolatry, to wink at their worship of other gods, to divert His eyes from their drunkenness, and pass over their perversions. But their expectations are dashed against the rocks when Jesus’ begins His ministry with the same message John preached, “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). So, they stumble and either fall away, or must ignore Jesus’ words He preaches against sin to show people their true need for Him.
Others expect Him to be a man clothed in soft garments. They expect Jesus to offer believers a luxurious, soft life that is easy. They anticipate that Jesus will avert all affliction. They expect Him to engineer a hedge of protection around them that no evil can penetrate. They suppose that Jesus will shoo away all suffering of this life. But Jesus dashes this expectation to the ground when He calls the believer to deny himself daily and take up the cross of suffering in this life for the sake of the gospel and living a godly life. “For whoever desires to save his life—this earthly way of life—will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:24). Others expect Him to be a prophet and nothing more. If Jesus is just a prophet, a good teacher, then He is not the Coming One, and they can look for someone else who suits their tastes and preferences better.
But Jesus arrives on His own terms, and He must be accepted on these terms. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Him. For if we cannot accept Jesus as He is, we stumble from Him and He will not accept us. Jesus comes to preach good news to the poor. Admit your spiritual poverty—your sins, your sinful nature, and your great need—so that He may preach the good news to you. The good news is that He comes to earn perfect forgiveness for every sin, so that all who believe in Him have the forgiveness of sins and His perfect righteousness. The good news is that He gives the Holy Spirit to all who ask so that they may be up to the task of fighting their sinful nature in its lusts and temptations. The good news is that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich (2 Cor 8:9), not in the things of this life, but in heavenly treasures and eternal blessedness with the Triune God. Be on guard, lest you become offended at what you see and hear from Jesus. Watch, lest you stumble because you expect something different from Jesus than the kind of Jesus He is. And daily receive Him as the Coming One on His terms, confessing your sins, believing His good news, and receiving the Holy Spirit to live holy lives. Blessed is the one who is not offended because of Him, but hears the good news, believes it, and rejoices. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
