Matthew 11:1-6 - Homiletics

The message of John.

I. His QUESTION .

1 . Its cause. He had heard the works of Christ. He was in prison, in the gloomy fortress of Machaerus. He had been there six months at least, perhaps much longer. But he was not kept wholly without knowledge of the outer world; his disciples were allowed access to him; they related to him the mighty works of the great Prophet of Galilee. Nothing could interest John more deeply. The works were the works of the Christ, the Messiah; such as were attributed to him by the prophets, They would naturally fill the thoughts of the Baptist, and form the great subject of conversation between him and his disciples.

2 . Its meaning. "Art thou he that should come, or are we to look for another?" What could the Baptist mean? He had witnessed the descent of the Holy Spirit upon our Lord; he had borne witness that he was the Son of God, the heavenly Bridegroom; he had pointed him out to his own disciples as the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world: how could he have any doubt about his Messiahship? Probably he was not the man he had been. The long imprisonment had told upon him. It must have been especially irksome to one who had been so long accustomed to the tree open life of the wilderness. Confinement, enforced inactivity, with no work, no employment for his ardent energies, tamed the spirit that had been so strong. Perhaps he sank at times into seasons of melancholy like Elijah his prototype. It may well have been so: he was a high saint of God, very bold and full of strength, but he was human; and human nature has, and must have, its inconsistencies and weaknesses. No man lives at all times up to his highest level; and it has been often noticed that God's saints fail sometimes in that very grace which is their most striking characteristic; Elijah, for instance, in courage, Moses in meekness, Peter in steadfastness. John had heard in the prison the works of Christ; but he had heard also from his disciples how he sat at meat with publicans and sinners; he had heard that his apostles had not adopted the ascetic life; he had heard that he had not publicly announced himself as the Messiah. It may be that he was somewhat; disappointed. He longed for something decisive; he longed, perhaps, to see the wrath of God manifested against the profligacy of Herod, against the hollow hypocrisy of the Pharisees. He wished, perhaps, to urge Jesus to declare himself openly, to use his Divine power to put down sin and to introduce the reign of righteousness; he wished to accelerate the march of the Divine purpose, tie had waited long; and now he had been a whole winter, perhaps more, cooped up in prison. It is no wonder if he became sometimes impatient; no wonder if the reports which he heard of the teaching and actions of Jesus, so holy, and yet in some respects so unlike his own, disappointed and perplexed him. He would have been more than human if, under such circumstances, his faith had never failed him. Holy Scripture presents to us men as they really were. It does not draw ideal pictures; it exhibits the imperfections as well as the graces of holy men. We should be very thankful for this. It is one of the secondary evidences of the simple truthfulness of God's Word, and it offers to us a more interesting study, a more encouraging lesson. An ideal character has far less human interest than the actual portrait of a real man; and the thought that the saints of the Bible, who conquered in the fight and won the crown of life, were partakers of our sins and weaknesses is full of encouragement and help to us. Doubtless the result of the message tended to strengthen the Faith of the messengers; but to suppose that this was the one object of the message seems to introduce an element of unreality into the Baptist's conduct. "Art thou he that should come?" There is a wavering sometimes, an agonizing doubt in the hearts of the best of God's servants. It comes from the temptations of the evil one; it arises sometimes, as perhaps in the case of the Baptist, partly from physical causes. The mortal body weigheth down the mind; it is to good men the most distressing of trials. The Baptist sent to the Lord in his difficulties; he put the question to him clearly and plainly. So we must come direct to Christ when we are troubled with the like perplexities. He will be gracious unto us, as he was to John, as he was to Thomas. He will give us peace in believing, helping us to persevere, like the Baptist, steadfast unto the end. " Are we to look for another?" No; there is none other Saviour, no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. We look only for him, for fuller manifestations of his grace; we look for his coming, when he shall make this body of our humiliation like unto the body of his glory.

II. THE LORD 'S ANSWER .

1 . He directs the messengers to his works. He does not affirm his Messiahship in words; he did so to the woman of Samaria; he did so to the man born blind; now he points to his works. The Lord adapts his teaching to the circumstances of each case, to the different characters, the varying spiritual needs of his disciples. Deeds are more convincing than words. If we would convince others of the deep reality of the experiences of personal religion, we must show its power in our lives. Words, glowing descriptions, will not convince; we must exhibit in the quiet, humble life of holiness the power of the Lord working in our hearts. The lives of God's saints are the best evidence to unbelievers of the strength of Christian motives, and of the reality of the promised help of the Holy Spirit; they are the facts which prove the presence and the energy of the great Cause.

2 . What those works were.

3 . The blessedness of simple faith. Some were offended. They found stumbling-blocks in our Lord's humility, in the lowliness of his earthly surroundings, in his tenderness to outcasts and sinners, in his long-suffering patience, in his delay to execute judgment. Perhaps John the Baptist himself found for a time a stumbling-block in some of these things. Blessed is he who is not offended in Christ; who recognizes Christ's spiritual greatness, Christ's infinite goodness, Christ's deep and holy love. Blessed is he who sees nothing in Christ to repel, but everything to attract and to convince. He is blessed, for he will find in Christ all that he needs—peace, comfort, hope, rest for his soul. Such blessedness, we may be sure, the holy Baptist found, even if he wavered for a moment through that human frailty which belonged even to his exalted character.

LESSONS .

1 . God's saints are not perfect; follow them, but as they followed Christ.

2 . Trials of faith will come; be steadfast, looking unto Jesus.

3 . Go straight to him in all your difficulties.

4 . Meditate much on his holy life; it is one of the greatest helps to faith.