Sermon on Matthew 11:2-15
Pastor Jennifer Garcia
Who is this Jesus guy, anyway?
Is this the Messiah or should they wait for someone else?
How can they tell?
John the Baptist sends one of his followers to find out. John can’t go himself, because he’s been imprisoned. A lot has happened since last week’s reading where John was baptizing people in the wilderness and declaring that the Reign of God had come near.
Now, he’s not sure if it’s Jesus he was waiting for and preaching about or someone else. So, he sends someone to ask for him.
When John’s disciple finds him, Jesus doesn’t come out and say, “Yes, I’m the Messiah” or show him his heavenly ID card. Instead, he lets his actions speak for themselves—he sends back an account of what’s happening around him:
“the blind receive their sight,
the lame walk,
those with a skin disease are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the poor have good news brought to them.”
It’s like Jesus is saying, “You want to know if I’m the one you’ve been waiting for? Look around—is this what the Reign of God will look like? If you’re looking for hope, peace, joy, and love, then yes, this is what you’ve been waiting for.”
Then, Jesus turns to the crowd who is listening to all of this, and he starts talking about John the Baptist.
He asks the crowd why they used to go see John to be baptized.
The Christian understanding of baptism is different from what people went to John for. Jesus’ audience understood baptism as a cleansing, something that could be done periodically for one’s spiritual wellness. It wasn’t something that happened once for all time the way we understand it.
So, Jesus asks them why they came. Was it to see “a reed shaken by the wind” or “someone dressed in soft robes”?
If Jesus were talking to us today, he might have said something like:
“Did you come to see some popular guru who talks of peace and love but is swayed by every passing fad?
Or did you come to see a celebrity influencer in all their Gucci glory but who’s actually just a disciple of wealth and status?
Or a politician who’s busy smiling for the camera and telling people what they want to hear without any intention of following through?
No, you came to see a prophet—someone who speaks hard truths and sees the world for what it really is.”
Jesus is reminding them that they came to see John because they wanted someone not to make them feel better about themselves. And they didn’t want a ruler who would dictate their lives.
They wanted to be cleansed and to hear truth.
Just like John the Baptist and his disciple, Jesus’ audience isn’t really sure how Jesus fits into all of this.
Jesus uses their hopes for John to illustrate that John was not the ending point in their search. John was pointing to Jesus the whole time. He is the Elijah figure, the (more than) prophet who points to how God is working in the world. And at that very moment, God was working in Jesus to bring healing and hope to the most vulnerable.
How could they tell? The same way Jesus tells John’s disciple:
“Go and tell John what you hear and see:
the blind receive their sight,
the lame walk,
those with a skin disease are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the poor have good news brought to them.”
Now, these signs are complicated. There are plenty of people with disabilities who would say that they don’t need “healing”—and indeed, if this is you, you are whole and good just as you are. Perhaps “good news” would be that the world becomes accessible, inclusive, and equitable in a way the world isn’t right now.
One way or another, Jesus is pointing to the way the world is being transformed around him. He’s pointing to the fruits of the Reign of God. Jesus’ tangible signs are a far more powerful witness than empty words. Jesus is adjusting their expectations of what to expect in the upside-down Reign of God. Yes, John was pointing to Jesus, but Jesus is pointing to the Reign of God.
The crowds weren’t going to the wilderness to see John the Baptist because they were hoping for someone with power and prestige, so why would they expect those things from the Messiah?
They weren’t going to John the Baptist for easy answers, so why were they expecting them from Jesus?
They didn’t really understand the nature of the Reign of God, so Jesus was trying to show them what it was like.
It’s hard to grasp what the Reign of God will look like. That’s one of the many reasons why we need Jesus—to show us, just as he pointed to what was going on around him to show John’s follower, that Jesus is, indeed, who we’re waiting for.
One of the ways we see what the Reign of God is like is through baptism.
Baptism is one of our sacraments—a way we see God’s work in the world through tangible things—in this case, water.
God knows we’re physical creatures who need physical signs of what’s going on spiritually. The coolness of water, the feel of its light wetness, the sound of droplets—all of this helps us feel God working in our lives.
Baptism is a glimpse into the Reign of God. In baptism all are equal and precious. There is no hierarchy, no merit or accomplishment that makes one worthy of baptism. It is a gift from God.
God freely bestows it on us, because God loves us. God makes us part of God’s family, knits us together with all of our siblings and ancestors in faith.
Being part of the Reign of God means being connected to others, being part of something bigger than oneself, and living in a way that treasures every person as the glorious image of God they are.
Baptism is a way we can see that happening.
When someone is baptized, like little Zoe was at The Table a few weeks ago, they are wrapped in community like a blanket. They are clothed in the vision of the upside-down Reign of God. They are simultaneously held in God’s love and sent out in hope to spread that love wherever they go.
Baptism is a gift, a promise, and a fulfillment. It is God’s gift to us, it is a promise that the Reign of God will be complete one day, and it is a glimpse into the fulfillment of that promise everyday.
So, next time you shower or wash your hands, remember that you belong to the Reign of God—it is God’s gift to you. And take a moment to think about how God is working in the world around you. What good news are you seeing and participating in? What is the Reign of God that you’re waiting for like? How do you see glimpses of it today?
I invite you to make the sign of the cross on your forehead and say to yourself, “God’s gifts are all around me.”
Hold onto that gift, that promise, today and every day.