Sunday, December 11, 2022 —
Advent means “coming.” Jesus came into our world at the very first Christmas. Jesus comes into our hearts through the Word and Sacraments. And Jesus will visibly come back to the world as Judge of all. But as St. John says in the Christmas Day Gospel, “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not recognize him” (John 1:10). People had mistaken ideas about just who the Messiah would be and what He would do. That happened because the teachers of Israel didn’t know Scripture well enough. Jesus came as exactly the Messiah who was foretold.
In our Gospel Lesson John the Baptist, sitting in prison because King Herod didn’t like him telling the truth, wants some reassurance that Jesus is fulfilling the Messianic prophecies. So he sent some of his disciples to Jesus to ask Him. He wanted to hear it in clear words from the Messiah himself. Jesus sent them back with instructions to tell John about the prophecies being fulfilled by Him. “Go, report to John what you hear and see: “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the gospel is preached to the poor.”
Isaiah foretold just such things in our Old Testament Lesson: “Tell those who have a fearful heart: Be strong. Do not be afraid. Look! Your God will come with vengeance. With God’s own retribution, he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unplugged. The crippled will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy.” Here Isaiah not only predicts the miracles done by Messiah but also makes it clear that the Messiah is God Himself.
Our Epistle Lesson reminds us that we should be patient waiting for Jesus the way John the Baptist was while waiting in prison. In fact, so many of God’s prophets were treated poorly, yet they patiently awaited the coming Messiah, even though they didn’t see it in their own lifetime. In the same way, we should patiently await Messiah’s Second Coming.
In our Gospel John got a clear definition of who Messiah is, and Jesus gave a clear explanation of just who John the Baptist was. Our sermon will focus on those definitions: “An Advent ‘Who’s Who’”
This Week’s Lessons:
Isaiah 35
James 5:7–11
Matthew 11:2–11 (sermon text)Psalm 146