"Are You the Coming One?"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Are you the coming one, or shall we look for another?” This was the question which John the Baptist, languishing in Herod's prison, asked Jesus. Was Jesus the one foretold in sacred Scripture, or was John mistaken? Would Jesus free the people from their oppression? Would the reign of God commence forthright?

One can only imagine John in that dungeon, wondering if the man he thought was the Messiah would rescue him, and the rest of the people, from the hands of their enemies. After all, there was no great upheaval in Judah. The Romans were still in power. Herod still afflicted the land from his paternal throne. The prophet unlike any other was in prison. The people were still poor and needy and suffering.

It is easy to suffer doubt to enter one's mind when the world does not seem as it ought to be under the righteous hand of God. Death is always at hand, lurking in the shadows, stalking its next victim. The spirits of war and strife stir up the hearts of men to take the lives of the innocent. Doubt frightens the mind and heart of the faithful as they see their loved ones, friends, and countrymen shipped off to distant lands in service of the name of freedom. The sick get sicker, the blind sit in darkness, the deaf remain silent, and the poor get poorer at the hands of the rich. Even the most rigid and upright reed becomes shaken in the wind.

Doubt can be a deadly force in the unsure mind. Doubt can cause an otherwise upright and robust reed to shake and bend in the winds of trial and tribulation. Doubt can cloud the sight of the eye of faith. Doubt can obscure the kingdom of God that is at hand right in front of us. After all, how could God allow the death of the innocent? How could God allow the teenager to die in a car crash? How could God allow the young mother to die of cancer? How could God allow the grandmother to suffer the loss of her faculties? How could God allow the terrorists to kill so many people in the name of “god”? How could God allow the preachers of His Gospel to be imprisoned and killed for the truth? These questions, and all such like them, stir up doubt within us. And so, John's question to Jesus is: “Are you the coming one, or shall we look for another?”

And what does Jesus say? “Jesus answered them, 'Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.'”

Things are as Isaiah foretold. The Messiah comes with healing for the nations. As the Gospel goes forth, the world changes. Signs and wonders are done amongst the people. The fallen creation is raised up out of its downcast state. Those in need are satisfied. But how does this happen?

Restoration comes about because the Kingdom of God suffers violence at the hands of the enemies of the King. The King of Glory, enthroned in heaven, becomes the Lamb of God, offered up for the sins of the world. The Coming One becomes the one led to slaughter. The Messiah becomes the scapegoat for the sins of the people. The innocent dies at the hands of the guilty. The poor in spirit is killed by those in soft clothing and fine houses. The rigid reed in the wind may not break, but the bruised reed will be cut down. For Jesus Christ, the very Lamb of God, came into this world to bear our sins and be our Savior. Jesus Christ, the Coming One, came to the cross to suffer the loss of all, even His life, to gain for us everything, even life in heaven.

In His death, our Lord has conquered death. In His rising to new life, He has secured for us life everlasting. In His ascension to the throne of heaven, He has opened for us the way to heaven. And so that bruised reed, cut down and snuffed out, has regrown, strong and full and glorious. And He shines for all as the Light of the World, the light which darkness cannot overcome, because He has overcome the darkness.

Our doubts remain doubts. There is no escaping them. While we are yet upon this earth, the old Adam in each of us will whisper into our hearts, questioning the will and Word of God. We may shake in the wind. It may seem as though we will be broken or blown away. But do not despair. You have been given faith, grounded on a firm foundation. Your faith is rooted in and founded upon the chief cornerstone. Though things appear awry, though doubts assail, the answer has been given. Your life is already secure in Him who is your light and life and salvation. For the Gospel has gone out, and where the Word of God is, there He is with His life and blessings. The sick are healed, the dead are raised, the poor are satisfied, the suffering are comforted, and the fearful and doubting are strengthened and given peace. And blessed is the one who is not scandalized by the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

See, the Lamb, so long-expected,

Comes with pardon down from heav'n.

Let us haste, with tears of sorrow,

One and all to be forgiv'n;

Honor, glory, might, dominion

To the Father and the Son

With the ever-living Spirit

While eternal ages run!

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.