Advent Doubt
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Matthew 11:1-12
1 After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.
2 When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written:
“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’
11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it.
Shusaku Endo - …twenty years have passed since the persecution broke out; the black soil of Japan has been filled with the lament of so many Christians; the red blood of priests has flowed profusely…and in the face of this terrible and merciless sacrifice offered up to Him, God has remained silent. - Father Sebastian Rodrigues
Jamie K.A. Smith - “...faith to be cut down to the size of (our) doubt, to conform to (our) suspicions.”
Frederick Buechner - Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don't have any doubts, you are either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.
Advent Doubt
Advent Doubt - with Jesus
Matthew 11:2-3 - 2 When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
“Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
To whom does John bring his doubt?
Matthew 11:4-5 - 4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.”
Tom Wright - Just as wicked people don’t like the message of judgment, because they think (rightly) that it’s aimed at them, so sometimes good people don’t like the message of mercy, because they think (wrongly) that people are going to get away with wickedness.
Eugene Peterson - "The reason many of us do not ardently believe in the gospel (of Jesus) is that we have never given it a rigorous testing, thrown our hard questions at it, faced it with our most prickly doubts.”
Matthew 11:6 - Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
Mattjew 11:13-15 - 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15 Whoever has ears, let them hear.
Tom Wright - The point of all this is that Jesus is offering a new way of understanding God’s timetable. In a few simple words, he is telling his hearers that Israel’s long history, from Abraham and Moses through the prophets to the present moment, was one long preparation, one long getting-ready time. Now the preparation was over, and the reality had dawned. John was indeed the greatest among the preparers, but even the most insignificant person who was accepting God’s kingdom and living by it—in other words, who was hearing Jesus and following him—was ‘greater’, simply because they were living in the time of fulfillment.
Progression:
John heard the news about Jesus.
Jesus instructs the disciples to go and report what they hear and see.
Jesus asks what the crowds went out to see with John (something lavish and luxurious?).
No, they saw the one who Malachai predicted,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.” (NRSV)
Then it all comes together in verse 15,
15 Whoever has ears, let them hear.
Frederick Beuchner - Faith is a way of waiting—never quite knowing, never quite hearing or seeing, because in the darkness we are all but a little lost. There is doubt hard on the heels of every belief, fear hard on the heels of every hope, and many holy things lie in ruins because the world has ruined them and we have ruined them. But faith waits even so, delivered at least from that final despair which gives up waiting altogether because it sees nothing left worth waiting for. Faith waits—for the opening of a door, the sound of footsteps in the hall, that beloved voice delayed, delayed so long that there are times when you all but give up hope of ever hearing it. And when at moments you think you do hear it (if only faintly, from far away) the question is: Can it possibly be, impossibly be, that one voice of all voices?
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Each Sunday we come together we offer an open invitation into the way of Jesus. An invitation to enter into sacred rhythms - to draw near to God through singing, giving, learning, and praying.
As a community that desires renewal in Des Moines as it is in Heaven, we recognize that we cannot offer what we ourselves do not have. We cannot lead where we ourselves have not been led; in turn, these questions aim at reflection. Reflecting on God’s word and making space for his leadership.
After watching or listening consider the following discussion questions as a large group or in groups of three to four:
What stood out from the teaching?
When are you drawn to doubt? And how does God meet you in your doubt?
How do Jesus’ words to John confront and comfort us in our moment?
What is the difference between doubt and skepticism?