Are you really the one?

We held a ‘Blue Christmas’ service at our church on Thursday night in partnership with our two local Anglican and two local Uniting churches. We name it Blue Christmas for those for whom Christmas will not be so great this year. Maybe there is an empty chair at the table for Christmas lunch that would normally have seated a loved one you have shared many Christmas’ with. Maybe there is no tree or presents this Christmas because mum & or dad suddenly find themselves unemployed. Our service was held with these people in mind.
It’s times like this that bring memories of expectations you once had flooding back, and the questions you long to be answered begin building up. Expectations like, ‘I thought it would always be this way’, ‘we still planned to do so much together’.’ They are shattered by the unexpected and sometimes the misunderstood assumptions of what seems to be according to the realities of the world we understand and know.
In Matthew 11:2-11 John asks the question of Jesus on all our lips, ‘Are you really the one, or should I expect someone else?’ The question comes as a deep personal question of doubt under circumstances where life has taken a turn for the ‘not so great’. While many commentator believe John’s question is for the benefit of his disciples learning and choose to leave John as the all knowing prophet, I disagree and here’s why.
Jesus’ response to John’s disciples is: ‘Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.’ (Matt 11:4-5 NIV) So I guess that settles it, it’s all good news and Jesus is the guy we’ve been waiting for. Or is it really as simple as that for everyone? John’s changed circumstance is that he is in prison which is why he sent his disciples to ask the question of Jesus. Jesus’ response lacks one critical thing that John is waiting to hear. What I discovered (with the help of a colleague) is much of Jesus’ response comes direct from the book of Isaiah, the prophet who speaks the promises all of Israel are waiting for. You’ll see Isaiah 61:1-2 quoted nearly word for word in Luke 4:18-19, but what’s missing in Jesus’ response in Matthew is the line, ‘proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners’.
John is still captive and will continue to be held captive. ‘Is this the guy Isaiah was talking about, or should we expect someone else?’ Often tragedy strikes us when it’s actually supposed to be a joyful time and we are stuck with a hit in the guts and a crisis of faith. So what do we do with that, when we know the good news is come yet we are still held captive? The only hope we have is that we awake to a new day with a new reality in which the one who bears good news has come and we long even more to share and experience it with one another.

Shalom
Mark Riessen