Sermon from 17th June 2007
Today one of our Lay Readers, Trevor Tayleur, delivers a sermon based on the reading from Luke 7:18-34
Is Jesus the One?
Forthright, blunt-peaking, fearless. Whatever you made of his message, he definitely broke the mould, and his style was certainly abrasive. His ability to command an audience was never in doubt, either. He had won the admiration and the support of many. Now, unfortunately, he was in prison. But he hadn’t been forgotten.
Who was this person? John the Baptist. His plain speaking had been too much for King Herod. John was no respecter of persons, and not even the King had escaped from censure. But the King had refused to hear the message, and had thrown John into prison. But John wasn’t going to allow being in prison to side-track him from his mission, because when he heard about what Jesus had been doing, he had sent messengers to Jesus asking him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
In previous sermon series we’ve looked at how the people of Israel had for centuries been waiting for the Messiah, the one who was to free them from oppression. So John was now asking Jesus, “Are you the long-awaited promised Messiah, or are we going to have to look a bit further afield?”
Jesus’ reply would have left John in no doubt, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, 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." Yes, Jesus was the One. Perhaps not in the way people were expecting, but he was definitely the One. So where did that leave John the Baptist? Languishing in prison, out of sight and out of mind? Well, no. Jesus was very keen to establish John’s credentials. John was going to be executed in the not too distant future, but Jesus wasn’t going to let the memory of him die. Jesus spent some time setting the record straight, because John was so crucial to people’s understanding of God’s purpose. So let’s have a look at what Jesus said about John.
Jesus turned to the crowd and asked some questions. The first was, “What did you go out into the desert to see?” John didn’t preach in a smart auditorium in the middle of the capital city; no, he was stuck out in the middle of nowhere in very inhospitable surroundings. Yet we’re told that all of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas flocked out to see him. Why? What was it that made people go that far to see a preacher? “A reed swayed by the wind?” asked Jesus. No. John the Baptist could hardly be called a consensus politician. He didn’t bend his message to suit his hearers; he didn’t adapt his message to what focus groups might have told him. John was no reed, easily swayed. He didn’t pull any punches; he was a straight talker who feared no one.
“If not (a reed swayed by the wind),” Jesus continued, “What did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes?” Did they expect to see a smart dresser? No, of course not. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and ate wild locusts and honey. “No,” said Jesus, “those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces.”
Jesus asked a final question, “But what did you go out to see?” The answer: “A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.” This time the answer was right. Yes, people flocked out all that distance to hear a prophet proclaim God’s word. There hadn’t been a prophet in Israel for 400 years and that’s a long time to be off the air. And John, for all his blunt speaking, had struck a chord in many hearts. He had spoken of another world drawing near. He had declared that God was about to visit his people; he had spoken about how the end of the age was upon them. And you can see how his whole approach fitted his message. If that was his message, it was no good allowing the norms of the society of the day and the opinions of others to mould it. That’s not how a prophetic message comes. John the Baptist practised what he preached; his lifestyle backed up his message.
And is that true of us? Someone once asked, “If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” If we’re indistinguishable from the world around us, we can’t expect people to believe a message of another world and the end of an age. If we’re totally bound up in this world’s standards, patterns, ambitions and lifestyles, no one will believe us. No, John was different. He was a prophet; he lived like a prophet, and he spoke like a prophet. We claim to be followers of Jesus; do we live like followers of Jesus and do we speak like followers of Jesus?
The people had flocked out to see a prophet; indeed, as Jesus said, he was more than a prophet. The prophets had always pointed ahead, in good times and bad. They spoke of the news of a great day when God’s Messiah would come. And John stood in that tradition, but he had a very special role as well. In verse 27 Jesus quoted from Malachi, the last of the OT prophets; “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.” There was going to be a messenger who would role out the red carpet ahead of God’s king, the Messiah. “And John is that person”, said Jesus. John was given the honour of being the forerunner of the Messiah. Predicted, as well as predicting. And Jesus didn’t stop there in his praise of John; he continued, “I tell you among those born of women, there is no-one greater than John.” John is the greatest.
What did Jesus mean here? I don’t believe that Jesus was saying that John was more powerful than anyone else. There are no miracles attributed to him, but there are plenty to the likes of Elijah, Elisha and Moses. I don’t think that Jesus was saying that John was any holier than all the other great figures of the OT. The Bible doesn’t speak in that way. Rather I think it’s all to do with his place in history – that he’s the end of the line. He’s the greatest in terms of his place in God’s purpose. All the prophets had pointing fingers, fingers that pointed towards the future. “There is one who is coming” was their message. And at the end of each finger you found another prophet, pointing you on. And then you found Malachi, and he had a very long finger, one that stretched out 400 years to John the Baptist. And if you follow John’s finger, you go slap bang into the Messiah himself. That was his position: that was his astonishing privilege, that he was the prophet who pointed you right up to the Messiah. And that is why he was the greatest, because he pointed directly to the One himself.
And then Jesus spoke of a paradox. “There is no-one greater than John,” he said in verse 28, but continued, “yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” It’s rather baffling to hear that there is one who is greater than the greatest. How did this come about?
If we neglect the OT, it may appear as if Jesus appeared out of the blue. But it wasn’t like that. The Messiah and his Kingdom had been promised for centuries; it had been God’s plan right from the beginning. At times the people despaired, but the prophets kept on pointing ahead; “The Messiah will come.” And John was the only prophet who was able to look at Jesus himself and say, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) That’s his place in history; the prophet who was able to point directly at the One. But Jesus still said that the person who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than John. Why?
It’s all to do with our relative places in God’s plan. John marked the end of an age and the start of new one, the end of an age of transition and the start of a new one of fulfilment. John could take us right up to the threshold of the Cross and the Resurrection and Ascension. But before Jesus died on the Cross, John had been brutally beheaded. John could point to the Kingdom of God, but those who come after him are in it. John could herald the Messiah, but those who come after him can know the Messiah personally. John was the greatest; he was the direct forerunner to the Messiah. But those who have become part of God’s Kingdom through their faith in Jesus are greater than him. Those who are in the Kingdom can point even more clearly and certainly to the King. We have the benefit of being able to look back.
John had to ask, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” We don’t need to ask that question. We know that Jesus is the One. It’s an astonishing reminder of the immense privilege we have as Christians. For John in Bible terms belongs to the OT; we have the privilege of being in the New.
John was the greatest of all the prophets. He pointed directly to Jesus, the long-expected Messiah. It was not only his words that pointed to Jesus; his lifestyle backed up his message. And yet, because he lived before Jesus’ death and resurrection, even the humblest member of the new movement that Jesus set up is greater than him. And for us as Christians that is a huge privilege. Are we worthy of it and the challenges it brings?
So, what sort of response did Jesus get? Well, there were two very different responses which we can see in verses 29 and 30. In verse 29 we read, “All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptised by John.” All the people here probably means all the ordinary people, because we see in the next verse that “the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptised by John”. Amongst the ordinary people Luke singled out the tax collectors; they were the outcasts of society, hated and ostracised because they exploited the people on behalf of their Roman masters. Yet even they had been baptised by John. This showed that they had been willing to repent, to turn away from their wrong-doing and to commit themselves to God’s purposes.
In contrast to the penitent ordinary people, Jesus set the Pharisees and experts in the law. These were men who thought they knew the law of God very well. They were very good at reading the small print without ever coming to grips with the essential message. So they rejected the purpose of God for themselves. In their complacency and smug self-satisfaction they found nothing to repent of. They rejected God’s way; they refused John’s baptism and so would find themselves outside God’s kingdom.
Where do we stand? With the ordinary people and the outcasts who repented, or with the Pharisees and the experts in the law who closed their minds to Jesus because they thought they were good enough already.
If we were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict us?
Let’s pray: Thank you for the tremendous privilege that you have given us, that we can know for sure that you are the One God sent to the rescue the world. May we be worthy of that privilege. Help us to back up our words with actions, that our lives will match our beliefs so that in God’s strength we can bring Jesus to the heart of our community.
Is Jesus the One?
Forthright, blunt-peaking, fearless. Whatever you made of his message, he definitely broke the mould, and his style was certainly abrasive. His ability to command an audience was never in doubt, either. He had won the admiration and the support of many. Now, unfortunately, he was in prison. But he hadn’t been forgotten.
Who was this person? John the Baptist. His plain speaking had been too much for King Herod. John was no respecter of persons, and not even the King had escaped from censure. But the King had refused to hear the message, and had thrown John into prison. But John wasn’t going to allow being in prison to side-track him from his mission, because when he heard about what Jesus had been doing, he had sent messengers to Jesus asking him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
In previous sermon series we’ve looked at how the people of Israel had for centuries been waiting for the Messiah, the one who was to free them from oppression. So John was now asking Jesus, “Are you the long-awaited promised Messiah, or are we going to have to look a bit further afield?”
Jesus’ reply would have left John in no doubt, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, 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." Yes, Jesus was the One. Perhaps not in the way people were expecting, but he was definitely the One. So where did that leave John the Baptist? Languishing in prison, out of sight and out of mind? Well, no. Jesus was very keen to establish John’s credentials. John was going to be executed in the not too distant future, but Jesus wasn’t going to let the memory of him die. Jesus spent some time setting the record straight, because John was so crucial to people’s understanding of God’s purpose. So let’s have a look at what Jesus said about John.
Jesus turned to the crowd and asked some questions. The first was, “What did you go out into the desert to see?” John didn’t preach in a smart auditorium in the middle of the capital city; no, he was stuck out in the middle of nowhere in very inhospitable surroundings. Yet we’re told that all of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas flocked out to see him. Why? What was it that made people go that far to see a preacher? “A reed swayed by the wind?” asked Jesus. No. John the Baptist could hardly be called a consensus politician. He didn’t bend his message to suit his hearers; he didn’t adapt his message to what focus groups might have told him. John was no reed, easily swayed. He didn’t pull any punches; he was a straight talker who feared no one.
“If not (a reed swayed by the wind),” Jesus continued, “What did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes?” Did they expect to see a smart dresser? No, of course not. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and ate wild locusts and honey. “No,” said Jesus, “those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces.”
Jesus asked a final question, “But what did you go out to see?” The answer: “A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.” This time the answer was right. Yes, people flocked out all that distance to hear a prophet proclaim God’s word. There hadn’t been a prophet in Israel for 400 years and that’s a long time to be off the air. And John, for all his blunt speaking, had struck a chord in many hearts. He had spoken of another world drawing near. He had declared that God was about to visit his people; he had spoken about how the end of the age was upon them. And you can see how his whole approach fitted his message. If that was his message, it was no good allowing the norms of the society of the day and the opinions of others to mould it. That’s not how a prophetic message comes. John the Baptist practised what he preached; his lifestyle backed up his message.
And is that true of us? Someone once asked, “If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” If we’re indistinguishable from the world around us, we can’t expect people to believe a message of another world and the end of an age. If we’re totally bound up in this world’s standards, patterns, ambitions and lifestyles, no one will believe us. No, John was different. He was a prophet; he lived like a prophet, and he spoke like a prophet. We claim to be followers of Jesus; do we live like followers of Jesus and do we speak like followers of Jesus?
The people had flocked out to see a prophet; indeed, as Jesus said, he was more than a prophet. The prophets had always pointed ahead, in good times and bad. They spoke of the news of a great day when God’s Messiah would come. And John stood in that tradition, but he had a very special role as well. In verse 27 Jesus quoted from Malachi, the last of the OT prophets; “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.” There was going to be a messenger who would role out the red carpet ahead of God’s king, the Messiah. “And John is that person”, said Jesus. John was given the honour of being the forerunner of the Messiah. Predicted, as well as predicting. And Jesus didn’t stop there in his praise of John; he continued, “I tell you among those born of women, there is no-one greater than John.” John is the greatest.
What did Jesus mean here? I don’t believe that Jesus was saying that John was more powerful than anyone else. There are no miracles attributed to him, but there are plenty to the likes of Elijah, Elisha and Moses. I don’t think that Jesus was saying that John was any holier than all the other great figures of the OT. The Bible doesn’t speak in that way. Rather I think it’s all to do with his place in history – that he’s the end of the line. He’s the greatest in terms of his place in God’s purpose. All the prophets had pointing fingers, fingers that pointed towards the future. “There is one who is coming” was their message. And at the end of each finger you found another prophet, pointing you on. And then you found Malachi, and he had a very long finger, one that stretched out 400 years to John the Baptist. And if you follow John’s finger, you go slap bang into the Messiah himself. That was his position: that was his astonishing privilege, that he was the prophet who pointed you right up to the Messiah. And that is why he was the greatest, because he pointed directly to the One himself.
And then Jesus spoke of a paradox. “There is no-one greater than John,” he said in verse 28, but continued, “yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” It’s rather baffling to hear that there is one who is greater than the greatest. How did this come about?
If we neglect the OT, it may appear as if Jesus appeared out of the blue. But it wasn’t like that. The Messiah and his Kingdom had been promised for centuries; it had been God’s plan right from the beginning. At times the people despaired, but the prophets kept on pointing ahead; “The Messiah will come.” And John was the only prophet who was able to look at Jesus himself and say, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) That’s his place in history; the prophet who was able to point directly at the One. But Jesus still said that the person who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than John. Why?
It’s all to do with our relative places in God’s plan. John marked the end of an age and the start of new one, the end of an age of transition and the start of a new one of fulfilment. John could take us right up to the threshold of the Cross and the Resurrection and Ascension. But before Jesus died on the Cross, John had been brutally beheaded. John could point to the Kingdom of God, but those who come after him are in it. John could herald the Messiah, but those who come after him can know the Messiah personally. John was the greatest; he was the direct forerunner to the Messiah. But those who have become part of God’s Kingdom through their faith in Jesus are greater than him. Those who are in the Kingdom can point even more clearly and certainly to the King. We have the benefit of being able to look back.
John had to ask, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” We don’t need to ask that question. We know that Jesus is the One. It’s an astonishing reminder of the immense privilege we have as Christians. For John in Bible terms belongs to the OT; we have the privilege of being in the New.
John was the greatest of all the prophets. He pointed directly to Jesus, the long-expected Messiah. It was not only his words that pointed to Jesus; his lifestyle backed up his message. And yet, because he lived before Jesus’ death and resurrection, even the humblest member of the new movement that Jesus set up is greater than him. And for us as Christians that is a huge privilege. Are we worthy of it and the challenges it brings?
So, what sort of response did Jesus get? Well, there were two very different responses which we can see in verses 29 and 30. In verse 29 we read, “All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptised by John.” All the people here probably means all the ordinary people, because we see in the next verse that “the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptised by John”. Amongst the ordinary people Luke singled out the tax collectors; they were the outcasts of society, hated and ostracised because they exploited the people on behalf of their Roman masters. Yet even they had been baptised by John. This showed that they had been willing to repent, to turn away from their wrong-doing and to commit themselves to God’s purposes.
In contrast to the penitent ordinary people, Jesus set the Pharisees and experts in the law. These were men who thought they knew the law of God very well. They were very good at reading the small print without ever coming to grips with the essential message. So they rejected the purpose of God for themselves. In their complacency and smug self-satisfaction they found nothing to repent of. They rejected God’s way; they refused John’s baptism and so would find themselves outside God’s kingdom.
Where do we stand? With the ordinary people and the outcasts who repented, or with the Pharisees and the experts in the law who closed their minds to Jesus because they thought they were good enough already.
If we were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict us?
Let’s pray: Thank you for the tremendous privilege that you have given us, that we can know for sure that you are the One God sent to the rescue the world. May we be worthy of that privilege. Help us to back up our words with actions, that our lives will match our beliefs so that in God’s strength we can bring Jesus to the heart of our community.
posted by Parish Administrator at 12:42 pm
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