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᛭ INI ᛭

(5. Oops!: Does John speak from doubt or faith?)

From prison John speaks. “Are you the Coming One, or should we look for someone else?” Not a very bold proclamation, is it? It’s a bit unsettling, wouldn’t you say, that John’s got a tone about him that’s not all that certain. He had boldly proclaimed Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He had boldly called the religious leaders “children of Satan.” He’d boldly called Herod to repentance when he married his sister-in-law! Reduced to Prison, he cries out, ““Are you the Coming One, or should we look for someone else?”

But maybe it’s faith: “You are the Coming One, right? Should we look for someone else?” Faith in the midst of fiery trial. In the furnace of his prison cell, John’s faith burns strong. He sends his disciples away, in order to fulfill his own words about Christ: “He (Christ) must increase, and I decrease.”

So which is? Is John an example of faith to emulate? Is he a sad case of preacher burnout? Is a like a blazing fire of faith, a strong cedar of Lebanon (a Red Oak from California, to use a North American equivalent)? Or is he now, by virtue of his imprisonment, reduced to being a “bruised reed” or a “smoldering candle wick?” John isn’t IHS, so doubt’s definitely in the cards. So which is it?

(4. Ugh!: Why do you do what you do?)

Well, the reality is, John’s a lot like us, or maybe you’re a lot like him. After all, like I just said, he’s not IHS. So, John’s definitely a mixed bag, right? I mean: why do you do what you do?

Do you do what you do because you want to? Do you serve your neighbor in your vocation because you always enjoy it? Do you do joyfully because they need you to and the Lord put you there to do it? Do you resist sin and pursue righteousness because it’s God pleasing? Or because you’re afraid of hell? Are you loving your neighbor because it’s the right thing to do? What about even that co-worker? Are you loving your neighbor, following the rules because you don’t want to get caught?

Why are you even sorry for your sins? Is it because you really love God, or because you’re afraid of the punishment? Why do you keep doing them? Why do you stop? (You should stop.) John’s wilderness preaching is 100% right: “Repent and produce fruits worthy of repentance.” (Lk 3)

What’s the motivation? Christ cares about that. “They honor me with their lips, but their hears are far from me, declares the LORD.” (Is 29) You’ve heard it was said, ‘You shall not murder,’ but I say to you whoever is angry with His brother…” (Mt 5) It’s not just words but actions, too. “Beloved, let us love one another not in words but in deeds and in truth.” (1 Jn) Do you confess your sins because you got caught, because you’re avoiding punishment, or because you believe the forgiveness of sins?

(3. Aha!: Either way he pointed to Christ!)

Oof. Now, here’s the thing. Stop playing that game. It’s not that right motivation doesn’t matter. It’s not that a good outward work justifies a bad motivation. It’s that that very game itself is a prison cell that no one can get out of. It’ll lock you up more firmly than even John was imprisoned.

“When will a terrified conscience be able to decide whether it fears God for His own sake or is fleeing from eternal punishments?” (AP-XIIa § 9) Whether it was doubt or whether it was faith, John fulfilled his office: He pointed to Christ! It is Christ who matters, not John. It is Christ who is “the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.” It is Christ, to use Christ’s own Word, who “preaches the Gospel to the poor,” that is, “the poor in spirit.” (Mt 5)

(2. Whee!: CHRIST PREACHES THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR IN SPIRIT.)

CHRIST PREACHES THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR IN SPIRIT. That’s the people He came for! The spiritually poor. He was sent for the comfort and peace of those kinds people—you!. He came not for the spiritually strong and morally mighty. He came for the spiritually destitute—you. There’s no reason to cover your sins from Him. He already knows.

He came to preach liberty to the captives, a liberty purchased by His own suffering, which included being arrested, and His bloody death. “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” As Isaiah also prophesied: “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” (Is 61) He preaches forgiveness for sinners, righteousness for the unrighteous, resurrection to the sick, eternal peace to the dying. “Because I live, you shall live also.” (Jn 14)

He also preached this to John. “Go and tell John what you hear and see.” “Preach the Word!” (1-Tim) Christ commands them, so that John will hear. John had been a “Minister of Christ and Steward of the Mysteries of God” by preaching Christ and sending his disciples to ask Christ. (Faith or doubt on his part is besides the point…) Christ claimed them to be further ministers, to return a preaching of Christ back into John’s ears and heart. So, it is still. Ministers go forth…

If you have sins, Christ has died for them. He calls you to repentance, to put away your sins, to have them forgiven by Him. That you would believe His Word of forgiveness, He gives out as much as He thought was good for you. He washes you clean in Baptism. He writes down 66 books outlining His grace, mercy, and salvation for you. He gives out Communion—His body and blood. There is also the Absolution—even private Absolution, the Catechism calls it Confession. Why do you do what you do? What other sins do you have? Not my place! “Ministers in the Church have the command to forgive sin. They do not have the command to investigate secret sins. Indeed, they absolve us from those sins that we do not remember. For that reason absolution, which is the voice of the Gospel forgiving sins and comforting consciences, does not require legal examination.” (AP-XIIb 7–8)

See how much, hear how much CHRIST PREACHES THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR IN SPIRIT!

(1. Yeah!: Only Christ’s Gospel can make us bold in faith.)

And the CHRIST PREACHES THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR IN SPIRIT is because only the Gospel can make us bold in faith and drive away doubt. Your faith doesn’t make your doubt go away. Your good works don’t make your sins go away either. No. It is the Gospel of Christ that strengthens faith, destroys doubt, forgives sin, and enlivens you unto holy living.

CHRIST PREACHES THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR IN SPIRIT, for, again, He is “superabundantly generous in His grace.” He “does not give us counsel and aid against sin in only one way.” (SA III IV) He sent John two witnesses to strengthen John’s faith in the midst of his fiery trial. (“For from the testimony of two or three witnesses a case shall be decided.”) CHRIST PREACHES THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR IN SPIRIT, and to you He gives many more witnesses than John! Baptism, Absolution, Bible, Sermon, His body and His blood for you! By the Gospel delivered, preached to you, you, yes, even you, least you may be, “in the Kingdom of heaven are now greater than [even John].”

᛭ INI ᛭