The Voice of Suffering

Matthew 11:2-11

Third Sunday in Advent  -  11 December 2016

Rev. John Derme

Are you excited about celebrating Christmas? Many people love this time of year. Do you? There probably are things about this time of year that make you happy. But sometimes, in spite of it all, people are not happy. At this time of year, there is often too much to do, but not enough time to get it all done. There is also not enough sleep in your life. And there is not enough money to pay for everything you want to do. Often, during the weeks before Christmas, people are sad.

And those are just the normal things. What if you are going through serious suffering at this time? For some of us, it's not just that we're short on money, it's that we're in poverty. For some of us, it's not just that we don't have enough time to get everything done, it's that there's a disability or disease that means we can't enjoy the things that other people like to do. Some of us are separated by death or tragedy from the people with whom we'd like to enjoy Christmas.

Last week we met John the Baptist in the desert. We observed that, like a broadcaster tells us about a sports game, John is the voice of Advent. He tells us what this season is all about. Today we meet John again at a later time. This time he's in prison. This time he tells us what suffering is all about. And through his experience, we learn how Jesus has helped us and how he will help us when we suffer while we're waiting for him. Today John the Baptist is the voice of suffering.

The last time we heard from John, in Matthew chapter 3, he was preaching before Jesus' public ministry even began. This week, in Matthew chapter 11, Jesus' ministry is well underway. John is now in prison, but he is still pointing people to Jesus.

John was in prison, because of something that happened between him and King Herod. Herod was in an adulterous relationship with his brother's wife. Everybody knew about this scandal, so John the Baptist had to condemn these actions. He testified to everybody who knew about it that what Herod was doing was wrong. And he called Herod to repent of his sins. Herod did not repent. Rather, he threw John into prison.

Whereas John had once proclaimed that Jesus was the promised Messiah, it appeared that now John was doubting whether that was true. We may feel like John should have known better than to doubt, but he didn't understand how Jesus' life and ministry would play out like we do. Other Old Testament prophets had gone through similar doubts. Just think about his situation: He had preached that the Messiah would judge his enemies in power, but now John's enemies were persecuting him. In the midst of his doubts, John turned to the right person. He sent his disciples to ask Jesus, "Are you the one, or is another one coming?"

Jesus spoke the encouragement that John needed to hear. He sent the disciples back to John with this message: "The blind see, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor." At first it sounds to us like Jesus is saying, "Look at all the miracles I have done. Of course I'm the Messiah!" But that's not exactly his point. His words were actually quotations from the Prophet Isaiah. We heard some of those words in our First Lesson from Isaiah 35. It is true that a few Old Testament prophets did a few miracles like these, by God's power and purpose. But no prophet did them all. Jesus is the only person who ever fulfilled all of these requirements to be the Messiah. Jesus was showing John the Baptist God's Word and how he had fulfilled it. This was the proof that he must be the Messiah.

Did you notice the last and most important item on the list? The good news is preached to the poor. This one doesn't seem like such an impressive miracle. But it is the most important of them all. Jesus didn't actually come the first time to save people from their physical ailments or poverty. Far more important is the spiritual ailment from which all people suffer. That is sin. People who are healed of physical ailments will still eventually die. But the healing that comes from the good news is eternal. Jesus came to save us from our biggest problem and give us eternal salvation.

Unfortunately, that was part of John's problem. He was suffering in a physical way. His physical suffering made it hard for him to appreciate what Jesus was doing for him. He wanted to be saved from his earthly enemies, and he expected Jesus to do that. But Jesus wasn't doing it. Jesus hadn't come to overthrow evil people just yet. His first priority was and is to save people from their sins.

It can be hard for people to wait patiently for Jesus to save us in the way that we want to be saved. That is why Jesus says, "Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of me." It would be easy for us to lose hope. Jesus isn't exactly walking around healing our blindness, deafness, disease, disability, and death. We'd like him to keep us from suffering persecution, too. Some Christian churches teach that if we're really following Jesus, then life should be easy. All Christians sometimes think that if Jesus is really the Savior, then we shouldn't have any problems. We understand suffering to mean that either we are or Jesus is doing something wrong. We think that we should have our lives together. We think that everything should be just right.

But the fact is that the Christian life on earth is not as glorious as we'd like it to be. The majority of Christians I know have lots of issues. Most are not wealthy. Far more are poor. Most are not perfectly healthy. Far more get sickness and disease and have disabilities. The one area where Christians I know seem to get off easy is persecution. I don't personally know any Christians who are in jail for their faith. Yet the vast majority of Christians in the world do suffer serious persecution. And even though you may not have been thrown into jail for being a Christian, you have been persecuted in other ways.

How do you feel about suffering? Right now it is easy enough for us to say that it won't cause us to fall away from the faith. But what would you think if you were sitting in prison, or going blind, or losing everything that you own? When you ask God why he isn't stopping these problems and they keep on getting worse, will you fall away? Will you lose hope?

Jesus promises you that he is your Savior, and it is true no matter what outward appearances seem to tell you. He helped people who suffered during his ministry and he helps you today. He hasn't taken away all of your troubles yet. But he has come and taken away your worst troubles – your sins. He lived in your place, never once giving up hope, even though he suffered unjustly, more than we could ever suffer. He died to pay for our sins of losing hope. He is your Savior.

Jesus sent that message of hope to John the Baptist. Then he went on to talk to the crowd about the significance of John. Three times he asked them rhetorically, "What did you go out to the desert to see?" They didn't go out to see a reed swayed by the wind, someone who tells his audience what they want to hear. Last week we heard the strong words that he spoke to the Pharisees and Sadducees. And this week we see that he was in prison because he spoke honestly to Herod. They also didn't go out to see a man in comfortable clothes. Last week we saw that he wore camel's hair. Jesus says that those who wear soft clothes are in king's houses, but John was in a king's prison.

John was dressed like a prophet. That's what they went out to the desert not only to see, but more importantly to hear. And John was more than a prophet. He was the greatest prophet of all time. Jesus quoted the Old Testament prophet Malachi to show that John the Baptist was the one prophet who went directly before the Lord himself. He is the one who announced to the world that God had come and was carrying out his plan of salvation. He was a messenger, a voice who spoke for God.

In Jesus' estimation, John was the greatest human being who ever lived. That is pretty high praise. Yet he also said there is someone even greater: the lowest person in the kingdom of God. It may be hard for us to understand how the lowest person can be greater than the greatest person. But that is how the kingdom of God works. You don't have to be a great prophet of God to be great in God's eyes. The Christian who suffers through life is great in his eyes. The Christian who doesn't understand why things are going wrong is great in his eyes.

Do you struggle with problems? Do you struggle to find solutions? Do you wonder whether your suffering means Jesus has forgotten you or doesn't have the power to help you? If so, Jesus sees you as great! You who are weak in faith, you are great! You who are new in faith, you are great!

If you are ever wondering whether you really are great, just remember that Jesus gave up his greatness in heaven to become lowly on earth for you. Remember that Jesus took the lowest place, suffered, and died for you. And when you feel like you have so many or such terrible problems, remember that Jesus will come again to take them all away from you.

This is why we always look forward to celebrating Christmas, no matter what we're suffering. We know that Jesus is our Savior who took our eternal suffering away. At the same time, we look forward to his coming again, because he will save us from suffering of any kind for all time.

John the Baptist is the voice of suffering, who puts into words what we experience when we are suffering. But just as Jesus encouraged him, Jesus encourages you with promises of his salvation. Just as he has saved you, so he will save you eternally. You are great in his kingdom now. You will be great in his kingdom forever.