Sermon Tone Analysis

We’re Owned Nothing!

Take it

prayer

: 2-11

This text begins with John the Baptist, sometimes called “John the Baptizer” questioning Jesus about His Christ-hood.

Some theologians used to claim that John wasn’t asking for himself, but rather for his disciples.

I subscribe to the other school of though:

John was suffering from a crisis in faith.

How could John be suffering from wavering faith in Jesus?

When many though John was the Messiah, he quickly and vehemently decried that there was One to come (Jesus) whose status would make John pale in comparison.

Further, John - the older cousin of Jesus - was God’s messenger to proclaim Jesus’s arrival.

So how is it now that he’s asking Jesus if He is in fact the Messiah?

John had a sense of entitlement

I mean, he’s the cousin of Jesus (1st cousin at that), he’s the one God sent to be the messenger, the one that an angel said “would minister in teh spirit of Elijah, serving as a prophet and a preacher, and preparing the people for God’s intervention in history.”

Malachi

All of this, and he still finds himself in prison about to be executed for doing the right thing, all while Jesus, the Messiah, is out performing all these miracles.

John probably felt like he DESERVED to be rescued!

Matthew 14:1-10

John misunderstood Jesus’s real purpose as the Messiah

In the first century, many Jews “eagerly looked for the coming of the Messiah, a deliverer who would defeat Israel’s enemies and usher in an era of peace and prosperity for God’s people.

It’s the though of Jesus being the Messiah that likely emboldened John to speak up against Herod.

He probably thought, “even if they throw me in jail, Jesus will take care of it.”

So after thinking all this, I’m sure Jesus’s response had to irk him:

Basically, Jesus was eluding to the fact that He was indeed the fulfillment of all the OT prophecies - saying do the math yourself.

Jesus even goes on to compliment John to others:

Matthew 11:

Here’s the thing, that’s not really the question John was asking.

He really wanted to know, sense Jesus is the Savior, the Messiah, and John has been a faithful servant, is He gonna get John out of prison - out of this death sentence?

Doesn’t Jesus owe it to him to rescue him?

The answer for John and every single one of us is this:

Luke 17:

GOD OWES US NOTHING!!!

Soren Kierkegaard the Danish theologian tells a story about a certain kingdom with a handsome prince.

Now the prince was searching for a woman worthy enough to become his wife and to rule the land with him.

But no one in the royal court could be found to please him.

One day as he was running an errand for his father he glanced out the window of his golden-carriage and he happened to see a beautifully stunning maiden working in the fields.

He was instantly struck.

And so he decided to pursue her.

He had a choice: he could show up at her village with his splendid uniform and six-horse carriage, and his entourage of attendants.

But then how would he know if she truly loved him?

She could just agree because she was overwhelmed by his power, of out of fear of punishment, or even out of greed.

And so he chose an alternate plan: he endeavored to remove his royal garments (no more crown, nor scepter, nor purple robes) and don the ragged clothing of a peasant—tattered pants, worn shoes.

Next he moved into the village and took a job as a common laborer.

He worked his way into her life, placing himself in her path.

And his wooing worked.

The fairy tale ends as all fairy tales do.

It’s the kind of story Disney would make a movie out of, or fathers would tell their daughters.

As a parable, it has its flaws.

Yet Kierkegaard saw a much deeper reality than a children’s story—the truth of the incarnation of Christ.

Jesus gave up EVERYTHING for us all.

He’ll never owe us.

We’re expected to go out and live this life of faith, because since we can’t repay Him, we should at least do what it takes to please Him.