2007_09_02 Identification Please
Identification Please!
Pastor Larry Ruby
Hiland Presbyterian Church
September 2, 2007
“Are you the one or should we expect someone else?” What an interesting question, especially coming from John the Baptist. Of all the people, John the Baptist should have been the last one to have second thoughts about whether Jesus was the long awaited Messiah. What a history of instruction, what a history of experience, what a history of obedience to God’s call John the Baptist had displayed and yet he is asking a question of Jesus. “Are you the one or should we expect somebody else?” As we read in the Word of God, I am confident that Elizabeth, John’s mother, passed onto John the wonderful experiences she had when she was still carrying him in her womb and Mary came to her and announced that the Holy Spirit had come to her and shared that she would bear a child and call his name Jesus, the one who save His people, the coming Messiah. Even as she shared that news we are told that the Holy Spirit stirred John within Elizabeth’s womb.
We don’t have any evidence in Scripture that Jesus and John knew each other as children. We know that Jesus’ parents took Him at a very young age to raise Him in Egypt. When they returned to Israel they went to Nazareth in the region of Galilee, a pretty significant distance from Bethlehem. But somehow I am sure because of the conviction that Elizabeth and Zachariah shared at the birth and the promise their own son received that he would prepare the way for the one that was to come. I am sure that whether John recognized Jesus or not, he knew that He was coming. That is the message he shared. As he went forth he obeyed the Word of God. It said “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” He went out and preached the gospel of repentance; that people would repent of their sins so when the Messiah came they would be prepared. John knew Jesus was going to be great. He said, “I baptize you with water for repentance but one who comes after me w ill baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire, one who is greater than I so that I am not worthy to untie His sandals.” John knew Jesus was coming.
Then on that incredible day in the river Jordan, as Jesus approached him, whether it was through human recognition or divine revelation, he looked at Jesus and he was able to say, “Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of world.” He knew who Jesus was and when Jesus approached him he said, “Lord, You should baptize me not I baptize You.” And Jesus said, “Let all things be done as the Father would have it.” And Jesus submitted to him in baptism. As John lay Him back and immersed Him in the river Jordan and brought Him back up out of that water, he witnessed the Spirit of God descending on Jesus like a dove, and as if that were not enough confirmation, he heard the voice of God saying “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” John had heard; John had seen; John had the confirmation that Jesus was the one and yet he sent His disciples out to ask, “Are You the one or should we look for another?”
Why the doubt? Why the second thoughts? Why the uncertainty? That question has been one that has fascinated commentators for two thousand years. ‘Why, John?’ Perhaps we need to understand where John is asking this question from. The reason he sent his disciples wasn’t that he didn’t want to go and ask the question himself. The reason he sent his disciples was because he was in Herod’s prison awaiting what many knew was going to be a certain death, they just didn’t know how. And I am wondering if something happened to John that happens to us. When we find ourselves in trouble, when we find ourselves unable to control the circumstances around us, when we find we are not in control, we start to question and doubt. We start asking ourselves, “Jesus, are You sufficient for my need? Are You the one for me or do I need to look somewhere else for my help? Can You lift these burdens, can You heal this depression? Can You relieve the pressure I feel at my job? Can You heal the fear I have when my children are sick?” John was experiencing what happens to all of us when our world falls apart. He was asking if his Jesus is sufficient to meet his need. “Are You the one or should we look for another?” Maybe John was looking for a Jesus of justice who was going to come and complete his message of repentance and bring a cleansed Israel into a new day, throwing out the Roman oppressors, establishing a new kingdom. And what did he see? He saw Jesus going around preaching about love. To love God and to love your neighbor and to love your enemy — what kind of a message is that for a people oppressed by an occupying army? “Are you the one or should we look for another?” John saw a Jesus who reached out in compassion when He saw a need, whether that need was physical, emotional, or spiritual, He met that need. But He wasn’t what John was expecting. “Lord, are You the one or should we expect someone else?”
When Jesus heard that question He immediately had an amazing answer. He said, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard. The blind have received their sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” Jesus simply told them to go back and report what they were seeing and hearing.
But where did He come up with those criteria? Were these just the self evaluation criteria that Jesus wanted His ministry judged by? Or was that the criteria that God gave Him for His ministry?
Just a couple of chapters before this, Luke )4, we are told of that day in the synagogue in Nazareth when He took the scroll of Isaiah and opened it and read, “The Spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon Me because the Lord has j anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God.” The people who were there that day would know this passage well because they knew the Word of God. What he shared was directly from Isaiah 61, and everyone knew that these things would confirm the coming of the Messiah. The Lord Jesus said evaluate My ministry on this. “What do you see and what do you hear?” “The blind see, the lame walk, the leper is cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have the good news preached to them.” He shared those as the criteria of evaluation for His ministry because that is the ministry that the Spirit of God anointed Him for. That is the ministry He was called to do. That is the ministry He did and that is the ministry He trained, equipped, and sent His disciples to do.
In Matthew 9:35 we read about the ministry of Jesus. “Jesus went through all the towns and villages teaching in the synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. When He saw the crowds He had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.” When He saw the pain of His people He was moved with compassion. His heart went out to them. He knew there was a need and He knew that in the power of the Spirit of God He was called to meet those needs. The Word continues, “He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore to send workers into His harvest field.” And that is what Jesus did. Immediately following, in Matthew 10 He sent out His twelve with a commission, “Go and preach that the kingdom of God is at hand and heal the sick.” In Luke 10 He expanded that commission to the seventy two and He sent them out with that same commission, “Go and preach that the kingdom of God is at hand and heal the sick.” That was the ministry the Spirit of God anointed Jesus to do and that was the ministry He trained, equipped, and empowered His disciples to do. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, but before His ascension He told His disciples to wait for the promise of the Father. What is that promise of the Father? The Spirit of God, the same Spirit that anointed Jesus for that ministry of preaching, teaching, and healing, was the Spirit the disciples were to wait for. Then in Acts 1:8 He promised that “when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will receive the power to continue His ministry. “Are You the one, Lord, or should we look for another?”
When we look at the Lord Jesus this is what we see. We see a ministry committed to meeting the needs of people through the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, I hope you heard the last part of that statement because if you are hearing this message it is coming from a belief that the ministry of Jesus is the ministry of the body of Christ, and is the ministry of Jesus today. I can’t do that ministry. I’m not ashamed to say that because if Jesus couldn’t do the ministry without the power of the Spirit of God then I don’t expect to be able to do it either. It’s not up to me to heal. It’s not up to me to preach. It’s not up to me to teach, it’s up to the Spirit of God in us as His people to provide what’s needed. “Are You the one, Lord Jesus, or should we look f or another?”
If it had been today that John’s disciples came, I wonder how their question would be answered. “Is this the church or should I look for another one?” Well, what do you see and hear? You see fine buildings and well organized program. You see a debt that is being financed; you see a people that are committed to one another, as long as we don’t spend more than seventy five minutes a week. What do you see and what do you hear? Or what do you see today? Because God’s people are being touched and they’re being touched right here. But they are only being touched if it is Jesus that is touching them through His people. “Are You the one, Lord Jesus, or should we look for another?”
I remember an experience I had over 25 years ago in my first church in Mentor, Ohio. We were holding a special healing service in the church led by a Presbyterian woman named Delores Winder. She had been dramatically healed at a Kathryn Kuhlman service in Dallas, Texas. After that she felt called to the healing ministry, not on TV or in huge rallys, but in Presbyterian Churches. Her own church had been very helpful as she faced immenent death for nearly 17 years, but her church was unable to accept her healing because many of the people did not believe that God still moved in that way today.
After one of the services a couple from the church asked if Delores and I could come over to their house and pray for their son Michael. Michael was 5 and he was a handful. Today he would have been a prime candidate for ridilin! I knew him well because he often played with my own very active son Matthew. We accepted the invitation and when we got to the house, there was Michael bouncing all over the place. After some pleasantries Delores turned to me and said, Why don’t you pray for Michael? I was surprised. After all she was the one with the healing ministry, but I was the Pastor. How could I say no? I called to Michael and because he knew me well he came and sat on my lap. I remember closing my eyes and praying a very short and very 5 year old appropriate prayer. It couldn’t have taken more than 30 seconds. When I was done I opened my eyes and much to the surprise of all of us, Michael was asleep on my lap. I gently got up.; carried him to his bedroom and tucked him into his own bed.
When I returned, I remember looking at Delores and saying, “Doesn’t God know I’m not into this kind of thing?” She just smiled, handed me her Bible and asked me to read Luke 4:16-21.
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he said to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:16-21
When I was done she asked a simple question. “Whose ministry is He referring to?” I answered, “Jesus ministry, of course.” Then she asked another question. “What other ministry is there?” That experience, and those questions changed my life and my ministry. I hope it will change yours. What else is there that is more important than bringing good news to those who need it; freeing those who are in bondage in any of its many forms; opening the eyes of the blind, whether physically, emotionally or spiritually, and to proclaim that today is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! When Jesus, or Jesus’ people are present those are the kinds of things that happen, because those are the signs of God’s presence! Jesus only has one ministry and that ministry is now the ministry of His Body, the church!
Do you believe that Christ really did heal those who were ill in body, mind, and spirit? Do you believe Him when He says that when two or three are gathered in My name there am I in the midst of them? Do you believe that? Do you believe that Jesus hasn’t changed, that He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow? Well, if we believe that then we are people who are not looking for another Jesus. We are not looking for someone else beside the one that God sent. We are looking in the right place, for the right person, with the right power. And since He’s chosen us, we’re the right people for the job! If we believe that it follows that Jesus Christ in the midst of the body of Christ still desires to carry out the ministry of Christ, a ministry of caring, a ministry of praying, a ministry of healing, a ministry that will lead us in times of triumph and in times of trial.
When Jesus was asked “Are You the one or should we look for someone else?” He said, “Tell John what you see and what you hear. The blind see, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the good news of God is preached to the poor.” And blessed is the one who does not fall away because of me.