“Jesus Is The Real Deal”
St. Matthew 11:2-11
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
St. Matthew 11:2-5 2 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples 3 and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” 4 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… Have you ever wondered whether or not Jesus was the real deal? Have you ever been asked why you believe in Jesus? Have you ever been asked how you know Jesus is the real deal?
John the Baptizer, locked up in Herod’s dungeon, sends His disciples to ask Jesus, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” Could it be that John had some doubts? We can certainly understand if he did. He preached about the guy who was coming to cast the unrepentant into the fires of hell, and yet here he is, locked up by an evil king. So, is Jesus the real deal? What’s the answer?
The answer is, “What is He doing?” The sick are healed, the dead are raised, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them. Does that mean He’s the Christ? See how Jesus points John to His works which fulfill the Scriptures. In other words, the answer to John’s question is another question: What is Jesus doing? And is He doing the things the Bible says the Savior will be doing?
Jesus’ answer reminds John and us that His kingdom is not about the things we would make a kingdom out of. We would like power and glory and fame and money and everything else that goes with it. Jesus’ kingdom is about those who can’t help themselves. It’s about the lame, the blind, the deaf, the dead, and those who need forgiveness. That – the forgiveness of sins – is, above all else, what the Lord is bringing as the Savior. The Old Testament said He would do these things, and He does them; and so He is indeed the Christ, the Coming One. Be at peace, John; Jesus is indeed the One, as you faithfully preached.
Well, how about today? There are so many religions and faiths and philosophies vying for our attention. We are surrounded by a world that doesn’t know anything about Christ and doesn’t want to. We may well wonder as John did, “Is Jesus the One? Seriously? Where is He? What is He doing? What good has He done? How does He help me? CAN He help me?”
How do we answer that? We answer it with what we have seen and heard through the eyewitnesses of Jesus. He was born of the Virgin, baptized for sinners, and tempted in the wilderness. He walked on water and He preached that we should trust in Him alone. He was arrested, tried, beaten, and crucified. He died on the cross of Calvary. He rose from the dead the third day. It is all the things the Scriptures said would happen.
One of the most important ways we know that Jesus is the true Savior is that He fulfilled the prophecies made of him hundreds of years before. The world and its history are full of prophets and wise guys and all that. But only Jesus was killed in the most horrible way and yet became alive again three days later. How do we know Jesus is the One among all those religions? Because He was dead and is alive, just as the Scriptures taught beforehand and just as the Scriptures give witness. And by dying and rising He has done what no other prophet has done or ever will do.
What about today, in His church? When we struggle to pay our bills and wonder why we don’t have more people here, we may wonder: “What is Jesus doing? Is this really the right church and confession of the faith? Is this even the right Jesus? Well, what do you see and hear? You see and hear sinners baptized and absolved. You hear Christ crucified being preached. You see and hear that those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness have the Body and Blood of Christ given to them.
Depending on the circumstances, he may up your dosage to twenty milligrams or lower it to five milligrams depending on how well best prices on cialis you’re doing with the basic ten milligram pill. Nevertheless, sexual activity is also expected to be advantageous in terms of having the symptoms of pre menstrual syndrome, i.e. cialis 5 mg my link One should take medicines before 30 – 45 minutes of consumption. canadian pharmacy sildenafil These jellies can be purchased in any required flavour in order order cialis online to regain the lost sexual power. For the answer to John’s question, Jesus points him to the Scriptures. For the answer to our questions, it is exactly the same: we go to the Scriptures. What does Gods Word say? “Therefore go and make disciples, baptizing and teaching.” (Mt 28:19) “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mk 16:16) “Go and preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins in my name.” “Whosoever’s sins you forgive, they are forgiven.” (Jn 20:23)
Is that what this church is about? Is that what’s going on here? Look around and listen. Everything in this church is about Christ crucified and risen and forgiving our sins by His Word and Sacraments. That’s Christ at work doing what He says He would be doing. If those are the things Christ said are His works in His church and those are the things going on, then never worry that Christ is here among us doing what He promised to do.
So, what about you? When someone asks whether you are a Christian, or when the opportunity to give witness to your faith comes up, who and what do you talk about? Give them the answer that John was given: tell those people what has Jesus done and what He is doing for you. Tell them, “I am baptized. My pastor forgives my sins in the stead and by the command of Christ. I hear Christ crucified preached every time I’m in church. Christ feeds me with His Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Altar. I engage in a liturgy that delivers Christ to me in all the ways He wants me to have Him.” Those are the gifts which make and keep you a Christian, a Child of God.
When it comes to your religion, don’t talk about you. Christ didn’t promote Himself, but rather pointed to the Word and His fulfillment of it. Of course, it’s not that He didn’t know Who He was, but He wants all things done by and according to His Word.
And it is the same for us. We don’t rely on the testimony of ourselves; we rely on the Word of God and what Christ says and gives in His Word. And because of that, we’re on solid ground, as was John, for He had the Word of God to give His answer and proof.
But that answer to all of these questions is not one that will satisfy most people. To point to the Word of God and see Jesus as the One who fulfills it is not what people want to hear. “Blessed is he who is not offended by Me,” says Jesus. There were many in Jesus’ day who denied the Word and refused to acknowledge that Jesus was the Messiah. There are many today who have one religion or another, but deny the true God and instead seek other gods and philosophies that are all about them. There are many in the church who measure things by the works of men rather than by what Christ is doing in His Word. There are many who profess to be Christians who base their claim upon something they’ve done: how good they are, or that they made a decision for Christ, or how faithful they try to be. And none of us are immune to the doubts that wonder whether Jesus is the real deal.
Repent, brothers and sisters, and look again at how Jesus fulfills the Scriptures. Look at how He directs us to the Word for the answer. Look how the Word points to Him and what He has done for us by His cross and empty tomb. Look how the Word directs us to what He still does for us by water, Word, Body, and Blood.
There are many who are offended by Jesus because He isn’t the god they want. But He is the only true God there is, and He is certainly the only God who saves. He is the only God who became man and died and rose for sinners. He is the only God who preserves His holy church even in this evil world until He comes again. All that Christ does for us the Word teaches, and it is our comfort amidst all trouble.
When Jesus first appeared at the Jordan River, it was John the Baptizer who pointed Him out saying, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (Jn 1:29) That’s why Jesus came – to take away the world’s sin – and that’s exactly what Jesus did. That forgiveness is what He delivers to us now in the preached Gospel and in the sacraments of Holy Absolution, Holy Baptism, and Holy Communion.
So, whenever you doubt, whenever you wonder, don’t ask, “What would Jesus do?”, but look to what Christ has done and still does. It is His works, according to God’s Word, that declare Him to be the True Messiah, the Savior, the Son of God who saves sinners. It is He who has brought us into His kingdom by grace.
John the Baptizer died before he could see the fulfillment of his preaching of Jesus’ death and resurrection. But you have had that death and resurrection preached to you from the Word of the eyewitnesses. And we, like John, are saved the same way: by the works of the One who was to come, who came, and who will come again, even Jesus Christ our Lord.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
