Advent 3 2019

Matthew 11:2-11

December 15, 2019

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

What did you expect during Christmas this year?  I would guess that most of you have some pretty defined expectations. We love our traditions, well made plans, or maybe even winging it a little bit. 

Today on the 3rd Sunday of Advent, we hear of John the Baptist. John had some expectations as well.  Apparently, they weren’t being met all that well.  He sends His disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the One to come, or shall we look for another?” This seems like a strange question. This is John who leaped in his mother’s womb as the first person to recognize Jesus, when He was still in Mary’s womb. This is John who called out at Jesus’ baptism, “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” And now there he was wasting away in a jail cell. 

Jesus’ answer is pretty straight forward. He may not have exactly been the Messiah that John expected, but He was the One who had promised. Jesus answers is a fulfillment of Isaiah 35, promises concerning the Messiah and what His reign would look like; healing eyes and legs, skin and ears, death itself. The Good News, the Gospel, being preached. 

Now, things get flipped around. Jesus speaks of John. And Jesus basically tells the crowds the same thing. What did you expect from John? He too was promised from long ago. In Isaiah 40, John is “the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God.’” And the voice said, "Cry out!" And he said, "What shall I cry?" "All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever."

John isn’t what was expected. He came to prepare the way for the Lord, and prepare he did. He came pointing fingers. He pointed fingers at the Pharisees, calling them a brood of vipers. Basically, he was telling them they were offspring of Satan, the old crafty serpent.  He’s not out to get the entire world to like him. He’s not worried about his popularity. He says this to warn people and to point to something greater. For John it isn’t about himself. 

He’s about your salvation in Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God. In western art, John often is pointing. We see this in our bulletin cover this morning from a famous painting by Matthias Grünewald. He is pointing to Jesus. That’s his job, his purpose. To point you to Jesus.  And so John is bold—perhaps a little too bold for our whinny times. Can you imagine John facing the dying sinners of our day? “I’m offended. Don’t you dare say Merry Christmas to me!” John would never speak politically correct, “Seasons greetings.” John is a prophet of the Lord. He proclaims what God says. And he lives like a prophet. He snacks on locusts and wild honey, dresses like the prophet Elijah, camel hair and a leather belt, and lives in the wilderness by the Jordan River. All because he focuses on one thing: being the Voice of God crying out in the wilderness, being the faithful and clear voice for God’s message to sinners.

What do you expect from John and from Jesus this Advent and Christmas season? You hope that God will act in a certain way and then wonder why He doesn’t meet your expectations.  God does not answer to you.  He hears your prayers and your pleas, sure. But He doesn’t accommodate Himself to your whims.  He points the accusing finger of the Law right at you, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” And even greater, He points you to Christ Himself. This is how we get ready for Christmas. 

This you can expect during Advent, at Christmas, any time. For the very finger of God which curled in agony as the nailed ripped through His hands and feet, suffered under God’s judgement on the cross and then rose again so that repentant sinners might have forgiveness. This certainly isn’t the Christmas preparation that the world expects. But it is what you need, and what the world needs. 

And now, like John, that’s also part of your purpose: to point others to Jesus. Through the way you live your life, not conforming to the world, but to the cross.  Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news. Say to the cities, to your families, to the world, that the Lord GOD comes with might, and His arms rules for Him.  Blessed is he who is not offended by Christ.