we used to wait for it...

now we're screaming, sing the chorus again...

Matthew 11:2-11:


I will be preaching on this on Sunday December 12.

This story is so interesting. You know, John who Luke says leaped in his mother's womb when he was near Jesus in the womb is questioning if Jesus is the one.
It is kind of scandalous, we're so used to religious certainty, but here we are confronted with the human capacity to doubt. Its a great story.

What is greater still is Jesus' answer: "Go & tell John what you hear and see; the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, & the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."

What is so great about Jesus' answer is that just as John preaches past himself, so does Jesus!
In other words, Jesus does not answer by saying, "Yes, I am the one." Instead, Jesus answers by preaching about the dominion of God. Jesus' answer isn't confessional dogmas about his nature.
Jesus' answer is about God's dominion; blind receive sight, lame walk, lepers are cleansed, deaf hear, dead are raised, poor have good news brought to them. Jesus is telling John that dominion of God isn't a personality cult of Jesus, the dominion of God is justice. Jesus, John, you and I, we all serve that dominion.

This story seems to suggest that the trajectory of worshiping Jesus is not toward establishing more churches, dogmas, cults, etc. Instead the trajectory of worshiping Jesus is finding God's altar in the world and delivering the good news (as well as having the good news delivered to us).

Note: Jesus' description of the good news can be a little troubling. It does lend itself to ableism. We should be careful not to use this saying as a prescription as what living into the dominion may mean for someone living with disabilities.

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