{"id":2816,"date":"2013-12-15T22:01:33","date_gmt":"2013-12-16T05:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/?p=2816"},"modified":"2013-12-15T22:01:33","modified_gmt":"2013-12-16T05:01:33","slug":"advent-3-are-you-the-one-matthew-112-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/?p=2816","title":{"rendered":"Advent 3 – “Are you the one?” (Matthew 11:2-15)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A-6<\/a>Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.<\/p>\n

Last Sunday, we heard of the last of the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist, and the message that He proclaimed: \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand\u2026. I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.\u201d<\/i><\/span> Everything was pointing to Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah of old. Today, we find John the Baptist again; not preaching and baptizing, but in prison.<\/p>\n

While in prison, John heard about Jesus\u2019 activities and he was somewhat puzzled or confused. He sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus, \u201cAre you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?\u201d<\/i><\/span> Was it possible that John really was unsure about Jesus at this time? If not, why would he send two of his disciples to ask Jesus this question? There are two possibilities. The first: it was possible that John\u2019s disciples were discouraged at the fact that Jesus had done nothing to get John out of prison. They might have wondered whether John really was God\u2019s special messenger. If they had doubts about John, they would have doubts about Jesus, whom John had pointed to as the promised Messiah. It is possible that John wanted his disciples to go to Jesus for reassurance, even though John himself had no doubts about Jesus.<\/p>\n

The second possibility was that John himself was troubled and unsure of whom Jesus was. It was, after all, John who was asking the question, albeit indirectly through his disciples. Doubt could have plagued John following our account last week. John gives a rather vivid account of the work of the coming Messiah, that is, gathering the wheat and burning the chaff. In other words, separating believer from unbeliever. However, that has not happened yet and could make John wonder whether or not he had the Messiah right.<\/p>\n

In either case, can you really blame John or his disciples? John had done what he was supposed to do.\u00a0He was already a prophet in his mother\u2019s womb as he leapt for joy when Mary approached bearing Jesus in her womb.\u00a0He had baptized thousands for repentance in anticipation of the coming Messiah.\u00a0He had done everything he was supposed to do and yet, he ended up in jail.\u00a0You can\u2019t blame him for looking back over his ministry and wondering if it was all worth it. The disciples of John followed his teaching but when their leader ended up in prison with the Messiah doing nothing, it would be easy to doubt.<\/p>\n

The question that was asked of Jesus so long ago is still asked today. \u201cAre you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?\u201d<\/i><\/span> Well, it\u2019s not really asked so much as an answer is given to Jesus: \u201cWe\u2019ll look for another.\u201d We can thank the world for that answer. The world has perfected that answer to the point that Jesus need not even be considered for salvation. The world won\u2019t go so far as to say Jesus is the Messiah because that would assert that there is a single means of salvation and the world doesn\u2019t want that to happen, lest we offend someone.<\/p>\n

For as much as the world puts forth that salvation can be found in anyone or anything other than Jesus, the Church should be the one place where you should be able to find the right answer to John\u2019s question, but unfortunately, even that is not always the case. You will get the prosperity preaching that says believe hard enough, have enough faith and God will bless you. But notice who the subject is: it\u2019s not Jesus but it\u2019s you. You are the one doing the work. But as soon as you are the one doing the work, then you have a problem. It has to be, it must be<\/span> Jesus who does the work and not us.<\/p>\n

When John\u2019s disciples came to Jesus, He answered them, \u201cGo and tell John what you hear and see.\u201d<\/i><\/span> Jesus understood John\u2019s doubts.\u00a0He understood the doubts of John\u2019s disciples. He understands the doubts that we have. He understood that John needed assurance.\u00a0He understood that John\u2019s disciples needed assurance. He understands that we need assurance. Dear saints of God, that assurance is coming for you. The promise that God made so long ago is to be fulfilled in the birth of His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

For all those times when God\u2019s people wonder whether or not God will keep His Word regarding the Messiah, the time is soon to be fulfilled. When we have our doubts, we return to Jesus\u2019 Word. We return to Jesus\u2019 life. From birth to death, there was a singular mission that He was focused on: the redemption of God\u2019s creation. Everything that was done was done with you in mind. He sends people to proclaim the wonders He has done so that we can hear about them.\u00a0By this proclamation of His deeds, He sends the Holy Spirit to bear us up and strengthen us as we travel through this sinful world, especially as we travel through those darker times of doubt.<\/p>\n

Here is the true antidote for doubt: the proclamation that Jesus forgives sins.\u00a0We may think that we can take comfort and certainty in the many supernatural attributes of God; His power, His knowledge, His wisdom, His holiness, and so forth, but that is not the case.\u00a0Without forgiveness, those other attributes only serve to terrify us.\u00a0If there is no forgiveness, then God\u2019s holiness only sets Him apart from sinful people like us.\u00a0If there is no forgiveness, then God\u2019s total knowledge reveals our every sin.\u00a0If there is no forgiveness, then God\u2019s power is there to punish our sin.\u00a0Without forgiveness, God is simply the ultimate terror.<\/p>\n

When there is forgiveness, then God is comfort and assurance.\u00a0When there is forgiveness, God\u2019s holiness is for us. When there is forgiveness, God\u2019s power protects us.\u00a0With forgiveness, God is the ultimate comfort.\u00a0He is the ultimate re-assurance.<\/p>\n

One thing that we must remember is that forgiveness does not come cheap.\u00a0The one who earns forgiveness must satisfy God\u2019s justice and God\u2019s justice requires the punishment of sin.\u00a0That is exactly what Jesus did.\u00a0Jesus took your sin into Himself.\u00a0Then, when God punished your sin, the punishment fell on Jesus and not on you.\u00a0When Jesus hung on the cross, He took your place as the target of God\u2019s just punishment of sin.\u00a0This is nothing other than God\u2019s perfect love enduring God\u2019s perfect justice for you.\u00a0This is Jesus earning forgiveness for you.<\/p>\n

We celebrate the coming of our Savior in the manger at Bethlehem because it is through Him that our sins are forgiven and the gates of heaven are opened. Through His atoning death He conquered your death, and raises you to a new life. By faith granted through the Holy Spirit, we now have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He came to His people, He now comes to you, who are His people by faith, and He will come again, that you would need and expect no other. In the name of Jesus, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier. Last Sunday, we heard of the last of the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist, and the message that He proclaimed: \u201cRepent, for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17942,9016],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advent","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2816"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2818,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2816\/revisions\/2818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}