Yes or No

Matthew 11:2-11

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

When my dad asked a “yes or no” question, there were only two acceptable answers.  You guessed it… “yes” or “no”.  “Did you leave the door open?” could NOT be answered with, “I had my hands full” or “I was just putting something out there for a second.”  “Yes” or “No”... that was it!  So even now whenever I hear a “yes or no” question NOT being answered with either a “yes” or a “no” I start to sweat!

John the Baptist asked Jesus a very clear “yes or no” question… “Are you the one we have been waiting for or are we supposed to keep on waiting” but Jesus did NOT give a “yes or no” answer.  Instead Jesus said, “Tell John that the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have good news brought to them.”  Frankly, Jesus would have been crucified MUCH earlier if he had tried that with my dad, but for whatever reason, Jesus’ strange and roundabout answer seemed to work for John.

My guess is that it worked for John, because Jesus answered, not with words but with his ACTIONS, and out in the desert, John had been calling people to do exactly THAT.  Not to simply answer John with their words but with ACTION.  The word “repent,” literally means to turn around and go another way.  For John, thoughts, ideas, and words were fine, but ACTION… THAT’S what he was really looking for.  So when Jesus responded to John’s question by telling him the ACTIONS he had been doing, that, I think spoke louder to John than any words ever could.

On top of that it was an impressive list!  People were given sight.  Not just eyeball sight, but healed of their inability to see God at work in their lives and in the world.  The lame walk.  Not just legs working again, but people healed of their fear of living in the world God’s Way.  Lepers were made clean.  Not just the skin condition healed, but anything that labeled a person as unclean, unfit, unwelcome, and unwanted for any reason; race, gender, nationality, ability, who they loved, how they saw themselves, their class.  ANYONE the world had made into an outcast, the forgotten, or the lost were now welcomed, included, valued, honored, and made to feel worthy.  The deaf hear.  Not just ears working again, but people able to finally hear and embody the truth that God was at work, that God loved all of creation, and that God was making sure that all of creation would be whole again.  The dead were raised.  Not just literally like the woman’s son or Lazarus would be.  But people who had been called garbage and treated as unworthy or undeserving of life were being lifted up, included, and given life in abundance… a life of meaning, purpose, dignity, respect and love that flowed freely from the Divine… a life meant to begin now and never, ever end!

THEN… at the end of this list (which, by the way, is where people in Jesus’ day put the most important item when they made lists) THE POOR HAVE GOOD NEWS BROUGHT TO THEM.  That Good News is God’s vision for how the world is supposed to work and God’s vision for the world is that it would be a place where those who struggle to feed their families, find a place to live, find belonging, and live unafraid will have all they need, not just to get by, but to thrive! 

The GOOD NEWS of this lesson is that the coming Messiah is a Messiah who brings God’s vision to life by bringing God’s love and compassion to the darkest parts of every human life and into every corner of creation.  As disciples of that Messiah, you and I are called to keep those same ACTIONS that Jesus brought to John, moving throughout the world through us.   

That may sound like an overwhelming ask, but we can do it because Jesus has first healed OUR blindness, and now we can SEE those who have been forgotten.  Jesus healed our lameness, now we can bring God’s love out into the world.  Jesus healed our separation, so now we can re-member the people we encounter and show them they too belong.  Jesus healed our deafness so that now we can hear the voices of those in crisis, do what we can to meet the needs of that particular crisis and then work to change the world so that people’s lives are no longer just one crisis after another. 

John the Baptist wasn’t really interested in the words people brought out to him in the wilderness.  John the Baptist was not impressed by those who just threw “thoughts and prayers” at the world’s injustices or in the direction of people in pain.  What John the Baptist was interested in were people turning away from their lifelong walk into selfishness, arrogance, self importance, cruelty, brutality, and a false sense of superiority and beginning to walk in a new direction.  A walk in the direction of compassion, kindness, self sacrifice, humility, healing, generosity, grace, and love for the other.  

The answer that Jesus gave to John was neither a “yes” nor a “no” but to John the answer Jesus gave him was crystal clear.  Jesus was indeed the Messiah because John could see that Jesus walked the Way the Messiah walked.  May we too, walk that Way… toward the Truth… and into a Life of abundance for all people.  Amen.