Thorburn-Sutherland's River Pastoral Charge

God of justice and joy, we turn to your Word to hear your will and your wisdom for our times.  Open our hearts and minds by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit so that we might hear what you are saying to the church through Christ, our Friend and Saviour. Amen

While our focus on this Advent Sunday of Joy lies in the joy we have that one day we will see the return of Jesus to establish his earthly kingdom, our readings this morning seem to be more centred on feelings of doubt. This is not what you’d expect in this season of joyful anticipation for the coming of the day when we’ll celebrate the anniversary of the day when Jesus came to earth the first time, but doubt is always in the background of our day-to-day lives. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing or what we’re expecting, doubt always has a tendency to creep in. Something simple as doubting the forecast for a sunny day tomorrow, or something more serious, as doubting someone’s good intentions, in doesn’t matter, feelings of doubt always seem to be there.

With that being said, let’s have a look at this morning’s Gospel reading and see how feelings of doubt crept into the faith of man whom God chose to be the herald to announce the coming of his Son, and our Saviour, Jesus, that being John the Baptist.

It began with these words, “Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” What had taken place was that John was locked up in jail, having been put there by Herod Antipas, who was the ruler of Judea. John had criticized him for wooing his brother’s wife from him and marrying her. In order to silence John, Herod had him thrown into prison.

And while he was there, John had a lot of time on his hands, time to think and time to let doubt creep in. By the will of God, John had met Jesus. We read of this meeting in the Gospel of Matthew. What had taken place was that Jesus came to John, who was not only telling people that the Messiah for Israel had arrived but was baptising them in preparation of his arrival, so they could repent for their sins. Here’s what John was saying to them, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11)

Then Jesus arrives to also be baptised. This is what happened, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’” (Matthew 3:13-17)

So, it would appear that John the Baptist’s job is done. The Messiah he predicted has come to him, he has baptised him, and the voice of God himself has confirmed that Jesus is divine. As John himself said, “‘…I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is now complete.  He must increase, but I must decrease.’” (John 3:28-30) The events that accompanied the baptism of Jesus settled it for John; Jesus was the Messiah, no doubt about it.

But that confidence wasn’t going to last. Locked in that prison close to the Dead Sea a change came over John, he had time to think and worry. For eighteen months John had been in the limelight, a free spirit in the wilderness, preaching, teaching, and proclaiming. And the whole country was coming to him, and he was in the middle of the action, and the crowds were there, and the excitement was there. But now, for over a year, he’s been in the blackness of a stifling pit without any fresh air. And now, John began to have doubts.

Because of these doubts here’s what he did, “When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?””. Sounds surprising, doesn’t it? Here’s a man who not only met Jesus face to face, but also saw the Holy Spirit descend on him in the shape of a dove and then heard the voice of God confirm that he is truly the Messiah for Israel. Yet John is now wracked with doubt.

But if you think about it, we shouldn’t be the least surprised. John the Baptist wasn’t superhuman, he wasn’t perfect. He was just another regular person like all of us. Sure, we’ve made him a saint and through time have come to put him up on a pedestal, yet in reality he was no different than the rest of us. He had all the same emotions that we have, and one of these was doubt. But despite the fact that he was a regular person God chose him to be the messenger who would herald the arrival of his Son to the world.

So, in his doubt, John sent a messenger to Jesus asking him if he had been wrong in declaring that he was the Messiah of Israel. The prophets of the OT had been predicting a Messiah who would arrive raining down fire from heaven, destroying all those who did not believe in the one true God and at the same time returning Israel to its former glory as the leader of the world. This was the Messiah that John was expecting and he had confirmed that in his own words when he said this about Jesus, “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:12)

But Jesus had arrived with a message of peace and love, telling the crowds which followed him that the second greatest commandment is, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:39) Not exactly what John was expecting from the supposed saviour to the Jewish nation! So, from these words of our reading this morning, “When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing,”, we come to understand that the message of love that Jesus was proclaiming was not at all what John had expected, so he had doubts.

But the reply of Jesus to John certainly would have turned John’s doubt into joy. This is what Jesus said, ““Go and 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, and the poor have good news brought to them.””. This is a quote from the Book of Isaiah, which we heard in our Old Testament reading, in which he predicted the coming of a Messiah for Israel, Isaiah said, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.”

And John’s joy would only have increased when he heard from his disciples how Jesus described him to the crowds who were with him that day. This is what Jesus said, “Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces.  What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.’” These words would have confirmed to John that he was right all along, Jesus was indeed the predicted Messiah of the Old Testament.

And this joy of John’s is represented in the Candle of Joy which we lit this morning. And it should be the joy we have, not just in this season of Advent but throughout the year. Joy such as is expressed in these words from this morning’s Old Testament lesson, “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” And our joy should be that much greater than this for we have the words of Jesus from the New Testament which promise us, as his followers, eternal life in his presence. With this knowledge our joy should be complete! Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.

Let us Pray:

Heavenly Father, as we look upon the light that shines from this Candle of Joy, let us remember that the good news of Jesus’ birth has the power to bring us great joy this Christmas season. Help us to act as lights of your saving grace that shine into a world of so much darkness. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen