+ 3rd Sunday in Advent – December 14th, 2025 +
Series A: Isaiah 35:1-10; James 5:7-11; Matthew 11:2-15
Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
John the Baptist has been faithful since before he was born. John leapt in his mother Elizabeth’s womb in greeting when Jesus visited inside Mary before He was born. He proclaimed a baptism of repentance while dressed in camel’s hair and eating locusts. He stood against Herod marrying his brother’s wife. And here he sits in prison.
Such faithfulness. And yet things haven’t worked out the way John imagined they would. John wonders. Asks a question in the dark and doubts and despair.
“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
John’s question is a familiar one to us. How long, O Lord? Why? How could this have happened? We have confessed your name, O Lord. We have spoken your word of Gospel to those we love. We have called upon you, O Lord, in time of our need. In our darkness. Despair. Doubts. And yet nothing turns out the way we planned.
“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
What happens when things don’t go the way we want? When that prayer didn’t receive the answer we wanted? When that friend betrayed us? When our loved one dies? In those moments, in our own prisons of despair and doubt and death. We ask the question John asked in his prison.
“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3)
And there in the dark in the dungeon. Jesus answers John. And in doing so, answers us as well. Jesus answers John by doing exactly what He promised. Every promise finds its yes in Jesus’ death and resurrection. For John and for you.
And because Jesus died and rose for you, all those questions and concerns, all our griefs and sorrows, all our darkness, despair, and even death itself find their end at the cross.
Those things that didn’t go according to our plan? Remember that God’s plan was the cross Christ died on for you. Prayers that didn’t get the answer we wanted? Jesus prayed for the cup to pass from Him, nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. And it was Father’s will was for us to save us from sin in Jesus. That friend who betrayed us? By Jesus’ betrayal, the price for sin was paid forever on our behalf. Our loved ones who have died? Jesus’ death has destroyed death for you.
As dark as John’s time in prison was, Good Friday was even darker. Deeper. And as Easter morning dawned, sin is forgiven, paid in blood. Death is conquered. Jesus rose as the firstborn from the dead for John and for you.
So when those moments of doubt come, and they do for us all. Look not to yourself, but to where John, even in the dark of prison points you. To Jesus. To God’s promises answered with a resounding “yes” at His cross. Whenever doubt or despair God’s love for you, look no further than his manger and cross for you.
“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3)
Our Lord Jesus says to you, Yes. I AM. Today. Tomorrow. Always. Forevermore.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment