Repentance - MATTHEW 11: 2-11

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.” As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’

Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 

Commentary

When I hear today's gospel read, I can not but think that Jesus is a little bit pissed.

“Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Talk about being damned by faint praise! So what is Jesus worked up about? Granted, the opening question is a bit of an insult. “So are you the Messiah or not?” You can hear Jesus' frustration in the answer. “ the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.” He doesn't say it, but I can hear the “so what else do you want” just hanging there. That itself would be a good question for us to contemplate this afternoon. “So what else do we want?” Save that for latter this week when you have a moment. That is not where I am going to go with this.

Instead, I am going to concentrate on the question, “What then did you go out to see?” And I think the damnation is not in the interrogative What, but rather in the verb See.

John the Baptist is at the Jordan River calling us to repentance. If he is listening to himself, he is calling himself to repentance as well. And the response is, we go out to see. And poor Jesus is sitting there pulling his hair out and saying neither calling nor seeing is going to get you one step closer to the kingdom.

Listen to yourself. The operative verb is REPENT. I heard an interesting sermon last night in which the pastor stated, “If you can't imagine a better life, you haven't repented”. That pulled me up short. I am having something of a grumpy old man syndrome lately. I get a kick out of John the Baptist in his anti-establishment dress and his “Brood of Vipers” vituperation. That sums up my feelings exactly. Jesus says, get over it.

Repentance means we CHANGE OURSELVES. Not somebody else, not the society we live in, not our surroundings. Repentance means we CHANGE OURSELVES.

Jesus says, Don't go out to see John at the Jordan, or me on the cross. Your job is not to be content with seeing anything. Your job is to change. The kingdom of God is already inside of you. It is in your heart, in your imagination, in your love and in your awe. It is your job to imagine yourself acting out all of that kingdom. First imagine it, then do it. Don't get tripped up with SEEING John. You have to pay attention to changing yourself.

Amen