Go and Tell John! (Text Only)

We began Matthew in December 2019. By design, the journey is slow. It's slow because we take substantial detours to emphasize the important seasons in the Christian year and important emphases within the life of our congregation. Our journey is slow because we take the time to go deep. For example, we spent a sermon on each of the beatitudes and on each phrase of the Lord's prayer.

One can conceive of the Gospel of Matthew as organized around 5 major discourses by Jesus. Matthew takes the first four chapters of His gospel to lay the biblical, historical, and theological foundation for accepting Jesus as Israel's expected Messiah. Chapters 5 - 7 are Jesus' first discourse, the Sermon on the Mount. In chapters 8 and 9, Jesus shows his authoritative power as the Messiah. Matthew devotes chapter 10 to Jesus' second major discourse, the Mission Mandate. At the conclusion of the mandate, the disciples go on mission to Israel and Jesus strikes out on a solo mission to Galilee – a place of ethnic diversity including Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles. We will spend the next seven weeks in chapters 11 and 12. Here we find opposition to Jesus on the rise. In this series, we want to learn from Jesus how to face opposition like Jesus.

In the story this morning, John the Baptist is in prison. He sends his disciples to Jesus with a question. Jesus tells John's disciples to go report what they have seen and heard. He ends his instruction with this blessing and warning, "Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me."

How to avoid stumbling on account of Jesus

The important lesson I think Matthew wants us to learn from watching and listening to Jesus in this passage is how to avoid stumbling on account of Jesus. Our passage reveals to us ways that we can avoid stumbling. Let's dive in to see what they are.

First, if we do not want to stumble on account of Jesus, we must . . .

Understand what it means to stumble

The Greek word translated "to stumble" is "skandalizo". Other senses of the word include to be offended or to fall away. According to the Lexham Theological Wordbook, "skandalizo" refers to the experience of being offended or tripped up that could cause a falling away from the right path.

When "skandalizo" occurs in relationship to those who follow Jesus, it most often means to fall away from following Jesus. [1]

You have probably deduced that our English word "scandal" has its roots in "skandalizo". When I think of a scandal, I think of an action by a person or group that is a violation of something considered as a moral or ethical line that is not to be crossed. For example, our society still considers sex between an adult and a minor to be a scandal. It surprised me to learn general moral or ethical transgression is the secondary meaning of scandal. The primary definition of "scandal" according to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary is a discredit brought upon religion by unseemly conduct in a religious person or conduct that causes or encourages a lapse of faith or of religious obedience in another.[2]

Therefore, we can think of stumbling on account of Jesus to mean to become so offended by Jesus in what he teaches (counter-cultural) and what He does (senseless to the contemporary mind), that one ceases to follow Jesus. This happens to individuals and to churches.

To stumble on account of Jesus or to cause another person to stumble in their faith is a scandal.

Jesus says in the last days,

Matthew 24:9–13 (NIV)

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

When the cost becomes heavy . . . and eventually it will, will we be faithful to the end? Because only in the end will Jesus make things right. Therefore, the foundational step in not stumbling in our faith is to . . .

Settle in our heart, mind, soul, and body that Jesus is the Messiah

Matthew records that "when John heard about the deeds of the Messiah" he sent his disciples to Jesus. As mentioned earlier, Matthew took great pains in the first four chapters of His Gospel to introduce Jesus as God's Messiah, the promised one who will save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:24). The rest of Matthew's Gospel shows us that Jesus is the Messiah and explains to us how to follow Jesus.

Matthew and all the apostles and all true Christians have believed that Jesus is the one and only Son of God who can and will put all things right. This goes to the heart of John's question, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?" We must be able to answer in the affirmative that Jesus is the Messiah for Israel, for all who believe in him and for each of us individually.

If we cannot make this confession, then we have already stumbled on account of Jesus. This is our foundation. Jesus Messiah, Son of God, is the Solid Rock upon which we stand. We often sing, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. When all around my soul gives way, Jesus then is my hope and stay. On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand." When we stand upon Jesus, the Solid Rock, we cannot stumble on account of Him.

We can avoid stumbling in our faith on account of Jesus if we. . .

Hear and see the activity of Jesus in us and around us

John the Baptist was in prison because he dared to speak truth to power. Herodias, the wife of King Herod Antipas' brother Phillip, deserted Phillip to marry Antipas. Luke briefly tells the story like this,

Luke 3:19–20 NIV

But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.

One only really speaks truth to power when that power can and most likely will retaliate. Herodias would not forgive and forget John's boldness. She contrived a means to behead John.

Herod opposed John's truth speaking. Matthew tells us that Herod wanted to kill John from the beginning, but he did not do so because he was afraid of the people, because they consider John a prophet (Matthew 14:5). John the Baptist sits in prison.

John the Baptist: the herald of the Messiah.

John the Baptist, of whom the angel said,

"He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (Luke 1:16–17, NIV)

John the Baptist, who boldly declared of Jesus,

"Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29, NIV)

John the Baptist, of whom Jesus said,

"Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist. (Matthew 11:11, NIV)

This John the Baptist sits in prison because of the King's opposition to truth. John probably expected Jesus to restore immediately the Kingdom of Israel. But this did not happen. In fact, John is hearing things that might be disturbing. Jesus appears to have delegated the mission to Israel to his apprentices. Jesus, himself, appears intend on enlarging his mission beyond Israel. Has the Messiah lost his focus? Maybe Jesus is not the Messiah at all. The supposed messianic herald sitting in prison has plenty of time to contemplate, plenty of time to allow doubts to arise concerning Jesus and the nature of his own mission. Did he get it wrong?

If opposition can cause John the Baptist to doubt God and to doubt himself, opposition can do the same in our lives.

Opposition introduces spiritual danger into our lives because we could stumble in our faith.

Seeking some assurance that his work and suffering are not meaningless, John sends his disciples to Jesus with this question, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?"

John is asking, "Are you who I have believed and proclaimed you to be?" If we are honest, we know that this is not an unthinkable question. Who among us in our spiritual struggles have not asked of God, "are you who I have believed and proclaimed you to be?" If we will allow ourselves, John's question can help us be honest in the presence of Jesus who with grace receives our doubts and questions.

Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see.”

We don't know how long the disciples of John were with Jesus. They were obviously with Jesus long enough to hear and see some things for themselves. Jesus told them to go back and tell John, "What you hear and see." Then Jesus tells us what they had heard and seen in his presence.

The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.

Each of these actions fulfill how the prophet Isaiah foretold the ministry of Israel’s messiah. Jesus tells John's disciples to go back and tell John that they had heard and seen that the messianic age was here in Jesus (Wilkins p. 413).

What have you heard and seen in the presence of Jesus?

We sing, "I once was blind, but now I see." Do you see the truth of Jesus? Do you remember when and how your blind eyes saw Jesus?

We sing, "O master, let me walk with thee." Do you walk with the Lord? Do you remember when and how your sin-lame legs gained strength to walk in obedience to Jesus?

We sing, "Have you come to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?" Well, are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Do you remember when and how you knew the cleansing blood of Jesus washed the leprosy of sin from your life?

We sing, "He walks with me and talks with me, and he tells me I am his own." Do you remember how your sin-deaf ears were opened to hear and follow the voice of Jesus?

We sing, "I will sing of my Redeemer, and his heavn'ly love for me; He from death to life hath brought me, Son of God with him to be." Do you remember when and how Jesus raised you from the sure death of judgment for your sins? Do you remember how Jesus brought you from death to life?

We sing, "We have heard the joyful sound Jesus saves! Jesus saves!" Do you remember when and how that joyful sound came to your poor heart, which was robbed of everything truly good in this life and the next by the bondage of sin? You heard the good news of the Kingdom proclaimed and you believed.

Do you remember you were once blind, but now you see; you once were lame, but now you walk, you were sin-sick but the cleansing power of Jesus' blood healed you, you were as good as dead, but Jesus brought you back to life, you were didn't know how bad you were, you didn't know life could be any other way, but then you heard the good news of the Kingdom and you believed.

When we hear and see the activity of Jesus in us, through us, and going on all around us, we will not stumble on account of Him.

Tell what we have heard and seen to unbelieving and doubting persons

As Jesus commanded John's disciples, so he commands our church and each of us to go tell John what we have heard and seen in his presence. Go to John as a personal ambassador of Jesus the Messiah.

Who is this John to whom we are to bear witness? Our John is anyone who has not heard or who doubts that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the good promises of God for the restoration of all things. We bear witness to this because we deeply believe and know that their lives literally depend on their relationship with Jesus.

When we as a church and as individuals bear witness to Jesus grounded in the truth of the Bible and our genuine personal experience of His life in us, we cannot stumble in our faith on account of Jesus.

Finally, in order not to stumble on account of Jesus, we must . . .

Align our expectations with reality

Jesus points out that the Kingdom of God was subjected to violence by violent people until his present day. That violence continues to our day. In our lifetime, the church in our nation has not suffered widespread violence. This is not the case around the world. As our national culture takes a less and less favorable stance toward Christianity, it is likely we will pay a steeper price "not to stumble on account of Jesus." Jesus said his generation was fickle. They were like children who when playing with others, demand their own way and get cross when other children will not abide by their rules. This is the meaning of "we played the pipe for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, and you did not mourn." Our culture is fickle too. What it considers right and wrong and its demands on everyone for total allegiance to the shifting rules, change at a rate never experienced in human history.

John the Baptist refused to play the cultural games in relation to sin and kingship - and they cut off his head.

Jesus never intended to fulfill the mistaken cultural game of Jewish messianic expectations - and they crucified him.

Are we prepared to pay the price, when culture sets rules for the game, we cannot accept and be faithful to Jesus?

When we align our expectations to the reality of our fickle and sinful culture, we prepare ourselves not to stumble in our faith on account of Jesus.

How to avoid stumbling on account of Jesus

Jesus said, "Wisdom is proved right by her deeds."

Wisdom is the application of knowledge to life in such a way that a person's activities are a concrete example of a life lived well in God's presence.[3]

Wisdom will prove itself right in our lives and before our culture when we . . .

· Understand what it means to stumble.

· Settle in our heart, mind, soul and body that Jesus is the Messiah.

· Hear and see the activity of Jesus in us and around us.

· Tell what we have heard and seen to unbelieving and doubting persons.

· Align our expectations with reality.

Then we will know the blessing of not stumbling in our faith.

[1] Michael R. Jones, “Apostasy,” in Lexham Theological Wordbook, ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

[2] Merriam-Webster, Inc. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003.

[3] Wilkins, Michael J. Matthew. The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2004.