Sermon Audio

There are two questions of interest in today’s Gospel. The first is the question John sends his disciples to ask Jesus: “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” The second is the question Jesus asks of the crowds around Him: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?” Both questions deal with perception and reality, desire and the truth, and set these in opposition to each other. And both can be asked today, as well.

“Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” It’s hard to tell if John was the man who was asking the question or if he sent this question with his disciples who were the ones who wondered. Jesus does at first tell John’s disciples to tell John what they see and hear. “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.” These are all the things that the prophets of the Old Testament said would accompany the presence of Messiah among the people. “Tell John,” Jesus says, “that in Me and through Me these things are happening—I AM, I am the One.”

But the fact that Jesus then turns to the crowds and asks them about John would indicate that John was not the one who doubted who Jesus was, but His disciples. “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” We’ll get to that point more in a little bit.

“Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” It’s a question with validity still today. I mean, the question is still asked, and has been throughout the ages, in one form or another.

• Who do you say Jesus is?
• Is Jesus God or simply a good man and great teacher?
• Is Jesus fully man?
• Is Jesus the Savior or is He a Judge? Is He both?
• Is Jesus the center of your life or some sort of decoration upon it?
• Do you believe in the Jesus of the Bible or have you formed Him into some more politically correct, socially just Jesus?

Essentially, is Jesus the One, or are you looking for someone else?

Now, I know you all can easily recite the correct answer to all of those questions. It speaks to your catechization that you can. But, these questions are still asked of you from time to time, and in some situations, it will be difficult for you to answer correctly. You see, the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh are always at work in you to get to you imagine a Jesus who is not the Christ, not Messiah, not the One who came, who died, who rose again, and who will come back to judge the quick and the dead. These questions, while seemingly silly and out of place, are always being flung at you. Just as in the days of Jesus and John, people today don’t want to believe that this lowly, humble man is God-in-the-flesh, that He is Messiah, the One. People still want and are looking for someone else.

Ever since Jesus was born, people have been looking and will continue to look for “Buddy Jesus”—the “Jesus” who takes everyone just they way they are, asks nothing of them, cares not for a real faith, expects no desire to change lives, ignores all sin and evil lusts, and has the answers for all of life’s problems. People have been looking and will continue to look for “Ecumenical Jesus”—the “Jesus” who only cares that you have some sort of acknowledgement for any deity, because all roads lead to God, and this “Jesus” confirms that. People have been looking and will continue to look for “Good-guy Jesus”—the “Jesus” who affirms every wind of doctrine that comes down the pipes, who at one moment will condemn what the people want to condemn, but will affirm it in the next when the people want to accept it, who changes as social norms change.

All of these “Jesuses” have one thing in common. He is different for every time and place. Whatever the people want and like and accept, their “Jesus” wants and likes and accepts. These “Jesuses” are nothing more than God made in their image. He is not the God of the Bible, the Jesus of the Scriptures who is the Word of God, in whose image we are made and made into. The Jesus of the Bible is offensive because He takes a stand on things, because He never wavers, because He gave His life as a ransom for many, shed His blood for the propitiation for the sins of the world.

“And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” Blessed is the man who believes in Jesus who is the Messiah who is actually come. Jesus tells John’s disciples the reality of the situation. He is the One, there is no other, and whoever believes in Him and receives Him is blessed. Otherwise, you don’t have Jesus; you cannot have another Jesus who feels good and affirms what you want to believe and do if what you want to believe or do (or what makes you feel good) is contrary to the doctrine of the Scriptures.

That’s why Jesus then asks the crowd, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?” In essence, Jesus is asking, “Did you go see John in order to have your ‘Jesus’ preached to you, as if your ‘Jesus’ is swayed by the wind or is all about comfort? No, you went to John because He was a prophet, and His job as prophet was to point to me.” So, when Jesus asked about John, He was really asking about Himself. John was the messenger sent before Jesus’ face to prepare His way. John was sent to proclaim the King of kings, the real Jesus. Or, to put it all another way, the perception that the people had about John would color their perception about Jesus.

Again, Jesus’ question is valid today, though the context is a little different. It all hinges around the word prophet. Simply put, a prophet is someone who speaks on behalf of another. We all know about the prophets of God, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Elijah, and Daniel; these all spoke the Word of God to the people, proclaiming to them the Law and mercy of God, and, each in their own way, by God’s inspiration, preparing the people for the coming of Messiah. Likewise, Aaron was Moses’ prophet, given to Moses when he complained that he was not eloquent but slow of speech and slow of tongue (cf. Exodus 4:10-16); so, Aaron was to speak to the Israelites on Moses’ behalf, on behalf of YHWH.

So, as John was sent to the people to proclaim Jesus to them, so every prophet (in the broad sense) since is sent to the people to proclaim Jesus to them. So, the question is asked of you, dear hearers, “What did you come here to see...to hear?” Are you here to receive Jesus and His mysteries, to hear of Jesus as He is, to hear the Law of God that kills you and the Gospel of God that brings you to newness of life, or are you here for something else, for some other purpose, with some other agenda? Are you here to receive the real Jesus or to have your “Jesus” pat you on the back?

If you are here for some social purpose, because you like the people and want to hang out with your friends for an hour or so this week, you are not here for Jesus. If you are here because you want to hear an uplifting message and feel good about yourself, you are not here for the truth. If you hear the prophet of God, in the broad sense, as only spouting off his opinion and reject him because of that (or, perish the thought, cling to him), without testing what is taught and proclaimed by way of the Word of God, you are not here to hear reality. If you are here to order a tailor-made God and Jesus as if from a menu—God à la carte—then you are not here to receive Jesus.

This is a place where Jesus—the Jesus of the Bible—tells you that He is come for you. Here, by His gracious invitation, He bids to you taste and see that the Lord is good. (cf. Psalm 34:8) He calls your sin a sin. He tells you that the sins to which you wish to cling kill you and would damn you to hell because it denies and rejects Him. He tells you that He has taken your sins from you and destroyed them in His death on the cross. He covers you with His blood for the forgiveness of your sins, life, and salvation. He brings you to the font to drown you, that you would die with Him on the cross, and bring you back from the flood to newness of life. He brings you to His table and gives you of His body to eat and blood to drink, and so nourishes you with Life and Light while you are in the midst of death and darkness and decay. And He has placed in your midst his prophet, his spokesman, his pastor, to give you Jesus, to proclaim to you in His stead and by His command the forgiveness of your sins.

This what He has promised to you: forgiveness, life, and salvation. “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16) He promised His coming in Word and Sacrament, and so He comes to you now in these Words and in the Sacraments. And all of this He promises for His own sake, based on His merits on your behalf.

What he doesn’t promise is comfort. He doesn’t promise that for the here and now you will feel good because of Him. He does not promise to satiate what ever perception or desire may be found deep down in what is your sinful flesh. In fact, He promises that at times the doctrines proclaimed here and drawn from His Word will be an affront to you—they will not be appealing—and will even be offensive. (cf. Romans 9:33, Galatians 5:11, 1 Peter 2:8) He promises pain and suffering: illness and disease are yours because you live in a sinful world, and hatred and persecution will follow you because you are in Christ. Jesus never promises that you will like it or that it will be fun or that it will feel good, but that through it—through His doctrine, through His life, death, and resurrection, and despite yourself—you are saved.

Furthermore, He doesn’t promise that you will understand it all here and now. God declares that for your sins you should die, but in your stead He sends His Son to die. He takes your place in death that you may take your place in life. Who can understand this? Who can comprehend a god who would send his own son to die for his creation? “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

So, dear hearers, what did you go out into the wilderness to see...why are you here? Is Jesus the One or are you seeking another? Deny the truth all you like, it doesn’t make it any less the truth. Joyfully, the truth is this: Jesus Christ is your Savior! By His grace, Jesus and Him crucified is proclaimed here! Jesus Christ is present for you in His Word and Sacraments right here and now. There is a God, there is only one, true faith, and God has provided for you and for all the one and only way to Him for eternity.

Therefore, you rejoice! To this you have been called. God, Jesus, His Word, the Sacraments, even the fellowship of all His saints are yours because you are His. You are died for. You have been given faith. You have been placed into the Body of Christ, that is the Church, with your fellow believers. It won’t always be pretty or enjoyable or understandable, though those things certainly will happen from time to time, for they are gifts of God for you. But through it all you have His sure and certain Word, His promise to take one day you from this vale of tears to be with Him in Paradise forever. In Him, despite this mortal coil, you rejoice!

Is Jesus the One? Yes, He is Messiah, your Redeemer and Savior. Why are you here? Because Jesus is here, and through His called servant and spokesman He declares to you that you are forgiven for all of your sins.