“Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”
John the Baptist was imprisoned by Herod and it was from there that he sent his disciples with this question to Jesus. John already knew and proclaimed that Jesus was "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (see John 1:29). Did he begin to have second thoughts while in prison? We don't see any evidence that John changed his position on the lawfulness of Herod's marriage so that he could curry favor and possibly be released. We get the sense that it was exactly this sort of constancy and commitment that Herod couldn't overlook, and which caused him to hear John "gladly" (see Mark 6:20).
Though it is not likely that John was weakening in his convictions it is entirely possible that he really did not know the specifics of the way the life of the Messiah would play out. He may have been like much of the rest of Israel who expected something that looked a lot more like worldly victory against earthly enemies. Even after the resurrection the disciples still had this expectation.
So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" (see Acts 1:6).
Being imprisoned and not understanding how it fit into God's will may well have been difficult even for the greatest one to be born of women (see Matthew 11:11). But rather than giving in to doubt or despair he opened himself to the word of the one whom he knew was the lamb of God, the one on whom he himself saw the Holy Spirit descend. He did this not out of fear or doubt, but rather because he knew it would strengthen his faith, and not only his faith, but that of his disciples who asked the question as well.
Go and tell John what you have seen and heard:
the blind regain their sight,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
Jesus helped John and his disciples to recalibrate their expectations. The restoration that God was working through the Messiah was at a deeper level than the political. The Messianic path was not the obvious way of conquest and domination. The cross would conceal him from the wise and the learned of the world. The identity of the Messiah would be a challenge before it would be evident or obvious.
And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.
Jesus said, in effect, that while you may not see the victory you expect now, you see the signs of a restoration that can be explained only by the Messiah, healing power being unleashed that could only come from the Son of God. Like those in his own time, we too see the power of Jesus at work in the world to heal and restore and yet we also see that prison and the cross are still ever present realities. We are asked, like John and his disciples, to realize that this is the shape that the fulfillment of the Messianic promises was meant to take. It was not to be a military victory, but an offering of love. But it is a love so evident that it can overcome our doubts just as it did for John and his disciples. It can inspire our own fidelity even unto death, just as it no doubt did for John.
It was because Jesus did not deem equality with God something to be grasped that the exultation and reality of his own glory and divinity would be revealed. Justice descended, not as a storm, but as "gentle rain" and as "dew". Jesus, did not grasp glory like a storm, but instead emptied himself, taking the form of a slave being found in the likeness of men. How, then could the glory of God be made manifest through him? How could such a life bring about the Kingdom of God in the sense we read of in Isaiah?
To me every knee shall bend;
by me every tongue shall swear,
Saying, “Only in the LORD
are just deeds and power.
Jesus chose the humble path, the path of love, a gentle way that the Messiah was always meant to take. Precisely because he did, not in spite of it, his name was revealed to be that of the same LORD spoken of by Isaiah.
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (see Philippians 2:10).
It's probable that we ourselves have some expectations of the Messiah that need to be recalibrated. We may have been tempted to despair. If so he wants to reveal himself by showing us the power of his healing love at work in and around us. We may have been tempted to prefer a different path to the path of the cross. But he shows us the the cross is not merely a distraction or a difficulty along the way. It is itself the path of love, the path of living our lives as offerings, freely given for our friends.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
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