The right expectations for Christ’s advent

Sermon for Advent 3 – Gaudete

1 Corinthians 4:1-5  +  Matthew 11:2-10

Advent is a season that reminds us to wait eagerly for the coming of Christ, to expect His coming at any time. But it’s important to have the right expectations, so that we’re waiting for the right things, so that we know what to expect from Jesus and from the Christian life of following Jesus—and what not to expect. To have the right expectations for Christ’s advent.

It seems that John the Baptist wasn’t sure as he sat in prison, wasn’t sure anymore what to expect from Jesus, because Jesus wasn’t doing the things John expected. And because of that, he began to wonder if Jesus really was the One who fit the Old Testament prophecies—and his own prophecies! —about the coming Christ. So John did the right thing. He sent his disciples to ask Jesus the question. And the answer he received served not only him, but us, too, so that we aren’t deceived, so that we have the right expectations for Christ’s advent, and for what this time of waiting holds for us who are waiting.

John was in King Herod’s prison. For what? For doing what God sent him to do: to show the people of Israel the sins for which they needed to repent so that they were ready for the Christ to come. In the course of showing King Herod his sin—the sin of adultery, in taking his brother’s wife to be his own wife while his brother still lived—John was branded a threat to society and was thrown in prison, where he would eventually be put to death. Meanwhile, Herod still lives in adultery. The Romans still rule over and oppress the Jewish people. Sickness remains. Poverty remains. Wickedness remains. Death remains. And it’s looking more and more like Jesus isn’t going to do anything about it.

Remember what John preached about Jesus, what he expected Him to do: He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Where was the baptizing with fire? Where was the winnowing fan? Where was the gathering of wheat—the rescuing of believers? Where was the burning up of the chaff—the destruction of the wicked?

Maybe you’ve wondered the same thing? Where is the justice that the Christ was supposed to bring? Where is the peace on earth that the angels proclaimed? Why is there so much injustice? Why are the wicked and the false teachers allowed to prosper? Why is the true Church allowed to suffer? Those are not bad questions, especially in light of the Old Testament, which told of a Christ whose advent would make everything right.

So what’s the answer to all those questions, and to the most poignant question of all, the one John put to Jesus: Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect another?

You’ve asked the question. Now, listen to the answer! Go and tell John what you hear and see. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who does not stumble over me.

Yes, the Old Testament spoke of a Messiah who would rule and reign, who would come in glory and might to judge the earth, to bring peace to His people and destruction to His enemies. But it also spoke of a Messiah who would come in meekness and humility, who would come with healing, who would come preaching good news to the poor, the good news of the forgiveness of sins—things that John’s disciples could see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears in the words and works of Jesus. And the Old Testament also spoke of a Messiah who would allow Himself to be rejected by His enemies, who would suffer and die for the sins of His people. And the Old Testament also spoke of a time of gathering—gathering both Jews and Gentiles into the kingdom of the Messiah. All this was what the Jews were to be expecting from the promised Christ.

The only questions is, when would all these things happen and in what order? Well, we have the benefit of hindsight, don’t we? A benefit John the Baptist didn’t have. Or anyone in the world, really, until after Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection took place. Then they could understand a little better, and, almost two thousand years later, we can understand better still.

The Messiah would come twice: once in humility, to preach and teach, to suffer and die; then the Messiah would come back to life, send out preachers of His good news, and ascend into heaven, where He would sit down at the Father’s right hand and rule as King in an unseen way; during that time, which we call the New Testament period, there would be a gathering, a gathering of Jews and Gentiles into the Messiah’s unseen kingdom.

It was okay for John not to understand all that ahead of time. What was required of him was not perfect understanding of God’s plan. What was required of him was simply faith that Jesus was the promised Christ, as his words and works clearly testified, and faith that, as the Christ, Jesus knew what He was doing.

Blessed is he who does not stumble over me. Those were Jesus’ last words that He instructed John’s disciples to take back to him in prison. In other words, everything you preached about Me was right and true. I am the promised Messiah. You’ve been trusting in Me so far. You’ve almost reached the finish line, John. Don’t trip over the things you can’t understand about how I’m carrying out My ministry. Just trust Me, and you will be counted among the blessed.

At that point, Jesus sent John’s disciples away, back to John. But to the crowds who were there, who heard this exchange, He had more to say. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? No, what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft clothing? See, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. No, what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ What were the people’s expectations for John? Did they think that, because he ended up in prison, he was rejected by God? That, because things were turning out badly for him, he must not be a true prophet? They probably did think that, although the examples of the Old Testament prophets should have taught them the opposite. But people do that all the time. Things go badly. Christians suffer. And they conclude that God must have abandoned them.

Not so, Jesus says. Remember, you went out into the wilderness to hear John preach. You saw how he dressed, in camel skin clothing, with long hair that had never been cut. You didn’t go out to hear a fancy speaker, or a successfully businessman. You went out to hear him, because you acknowledged that he was prophet sent from God, and that’s exactly what he was. Now remember how the prophets have always been treated, how they have always lived, how they have always preached. John’s suffering and hardships should not be a sign to you that he is rejected by God. It should help to confirm that he is truly is a prophet sent by God, because this is how the prophets have usually been treated.

But, Jesus says, John is even more than “a” prophet. He is “the” prophet whose coming was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah, who had the most special task ever given to any prophet: to prepare the people for the imminent arrival—the imminent advent—of the Christ! In other words, John had completed his mission. And now the people were to focus all their attention on the One to whom John had pointed them: to Jesus, the Christ who had finally come, who would do all the things that were prophesied about Him in the Old Testament, which included suffering and dying for the sins of mankind, to make things right between sinners and God, and then rising again, sending out preachers of the Gospel, gathering His Church from among the nations, and then coming again in glory to make all things right, with condemnation for the impenitent, and with perfect salvation for those who believed in His name.

So what should our expectations be for Christ’s advent? We should expect the same things. Not the suffering and dying, but the sending, and the gathering, and then, finally, the coming again in glory. And, yes, while we wait for that coming again, the Church will suffer many things, Christians will endure many hardships, and preachers will be mistreated and rejected by the world. But don’t stumble over those things. Don’t stumble over the wisdom of God or over His plan for you and for the world, even if you can’t understand it or see how it is all being carried out for your good. You’ve heard the words and works of Christ. You’ve seen His grace toward you, in having His Gospel preached to you and in seeing to it that you were carried to the waters of Holy Baptism. You’ve received, in His Sacrament, the very body and blood that were given and shed for the forgiveness of your sins. Now trust Him to work everything else out, too, in these last days before His second advent. And expect that, when He comes (and not before!), all things will be made right. Amen.