The answers that Jesus
gave to John’s messengers sounded like a cryptic message. But we know He was
talking about His reign. He controls the spirit realm, though unseen, yet the
impact can be felt in the physical realm. So He told John’s messengers to go back
and tell John that “The blind received sight, the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed and the deaf speak, the dead are raised and the poor have the Gospel
preached to them.” He knew John would understand. And when the messengers left,
Jesus began to validate the ministry of John by
asking a series of questions with inferences concerning him. “What did you go out into the
wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did
you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who are splendidly
clothed and live in luxury are found in
royal palaces! But
what did you go out to see? A prophet?”
What Jesus was saying is: firstly
that John was not like a reed shaken by the wind. In His estimate, he was a
person of substance and not easily swayed by the fads of society. Unlike the
reed that bends with the wind, John was not. He dared to confront the status
quo of his day. Secondly, he was not one like a well-dressed and pampered by
luxury sort of a person. People with such a lifestyle could only be found in
royal palaces. John was not one who was seduced by a soft culture. Thirdly,
John was a prophet, one who was sent from God to herald the Kingdom. But
he was more than just a proclaimer, he was a fulfilment of the Word. He did not
just preach the Word, he lived the Word. He came to fulfil Isaiah’s prophecy.
He was the messenger sent to prepare the way of the Messiah. Here’s a lesson.
God still needs people with John-like character, people of substance. People
who are not easily influenced by our indulgent society. People who dare to
proclaim the Gospel. And people who would practice the Word. Let us be such
people!
The tricky
part of this passage is found in verse 28. Jesus said that “…among those born of women there
is no one greater than John and yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God
is greater than he.” What was Jesus saying? Jesus was
talking about the prophets of two dispensations – the old and the new. Every
prophet from Moses onwards up till John, were prophets of the Old dispensation.
John the Baptist was the last who came to proclaim the Kingdom of the Messiah.
Of all those prophets, John was regarded as the greatest because he came to
prepare the path for the Savior. Jesus’ purpose was not to highlight John’s
prominence but to show that people of the new dispensation are more privileged,
because they live in the moment of fulfilment.
When Jesus
said that, the
common people, especially the outcasts, agreed with Jesus’ evaluation of John’s
ministries. They were the people who were impacted by his ministry. So they
acknowledged that God is just. But there were those leaders and Pharisees, who
purported to know the Law, rejected Jesus’ evaluation. They were those who were
not baptized by John. There were many reasons why they would not agree. Let’s
list some of them: self-righteousness, familiarity, shallowness, and even the
grip of sin in one’s life. Repentance was the crux of John’s message. Those
religious leaders and Pharisees felt that they were the custodians of the law,
and hence were exempted from the Baptism of John. Let us not have such a perception.
In verses 31-35, Jesus
then went on to talk about the spiritual problem of the scribes and Pharisees.
They complained that John did not dance, when the flute was played. Then they
complained that Jesus did not cry when the dirge was sang. The problem was that
they could not accept the ministry of either, so they came up with these
excuses. They demonized John because he did not come eating bread or drinking
wine. They insisted that he was deranged, to live an ascetic lifestyle and
insisted on repentance as evidence of change in one’s life. Then they
scandalized Jesus when He came eating and drinking. They called Him a glutton
and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. They were mocking Jesus,
all because they couldn’t accept His ministry. They were calling Jesus a sinner
and an apostate. They would find fault, all because they wouldn’t honestly
evaluate their own life. They would only see fault no matter what. There are
people like that today too. Some sermons are too unbiblical, others are poor
exegesis. Some are too doctrinal and others too deep and technical. Nothing
will please the heart that can feel no sin. Such people only want preachers to
dance to their tune.
For us who are willing to
flow with God, we will realize that practicing what He says always bring us
nearer and closer to Him. When we accept, practice and obey the instruction of
God, our positive experience and behavior will always affirm the wisdom of
God.
No comments:
Post a Comment