Christ Lutheran Church
Cleveland, Ohio
December 14, 2025
by: Rev. Dean Kavouras
Advent 3A
Courageous Faith
Now when John heard from prison the deeds of the Christ he sent word through his disciples and said to him, “Are you the Coming One or should we expect another?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Go! Report to John the things you hear and see. The blind receive their sight and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are resurrected, the poor have the gospel preached to them; and supremely happy is the one who is not repelled by me.”
Now as they were going away Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John.
“What did you go out into the wilderness to behold?
A reed shaken by the wind?
What then did you go out to see?
A man dressed in elegant clothing? Behold! Those who dress in bespoke finery are found in kings’ palaces.
What then did you go out to see?
A prophet? Yes! I say to you and more than a prophet!
This is the one of whom it is written:
‘Behold! I am sending my messenger
to precede you who will prepare the way before you.’
Truly! I say to you: Of those born of women there is none greater than John the Baptizer! Yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.” (Matthew 11:2-11)
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Since the beginning of the 20th century, inspired by Sigmund Freud the father of psychoanalysis, intellectuals delighted in applying psychoanalytic theory to major biblical figures; and one of the most targeted of all is John the Baptizer.
Many clerics followed in their train. They love to use today’s gospel to expose what they consider a chink in John’s armor. Some do it with bad intent, but many do it to highlight John’s humanity – thinking his alleged lapse in faith at this time would make him appear more human; and that would comfort others who are weak in faith.
But here are the facts.
John was personally sent by God to prepare the world for the Lord’s coming. John’s birth was prophesied by Isaiah seven and a half centuries before the fact. The incidents surrounding his birth were miraculous. He was born by promise to a skeptical Zechariah and to a mother who was widely known as “the Barren One.”
Moreover he lived the ascetic life, in the wilderness which was hostile to human existence. He dressed in camel skin and a leather belt around his waist; and existed on a diet of locusts and wild honey;
John fearlessly preached a message of stark repentance and took no prisoners. He took his ax to the most religious people of the land. He told them and their parents were poisonous vipers, and they no better. He took on the Roman occupational troops, tax collectors who ran something like who ran something like a protection racket, and anyone else who came his way. He was indeed so bold that he took on King Herod himself. He sharply rebuked him for marrying his brother Philipp’s wife – all of which landed him in the prison where we find him in today’s gospel, and soon to be executed!
Adding to his illustrious life John stood in the counsel of the
“Immortal Invisible Only Wise God.” He baptized the Son of God in the presence of the Father and the Holy Spirit. And he was the first to declare to the world that Jesus is “The Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” (Jn. 1:29). Churches the world over will once again sing his immortal words today.
As if this were not enough to show a man of exemplary faith we have the Lord’s crowing benediction of John,
“Among those born or women
there is none greater than John.”
But even in the face of this evidence there are many who still want to say that John in his waning hours, faltered and needed re-assurance.
As said above there are many who take this tack with malicious intent in order to trash the heroes of our faith. And others with well-meaning intent make the same point in order to offer a strange kind of comfort to Christ’s holy people when we are at our wits’ end. They say that if the GREAT JOHN the BAPTIZER can hesitate when under siege it is okay that we do the same.
Their intentions may be good, but Isaiah says this, “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.’” (Is. 35)
To properly understand today’s gospel we must realize that this is what John was doing, not for himself, but for his disciples by sending them directly to Jesus. And further that we are doing the very same in today’s Divine Service.
The fact that they were still disciples of John, and not of Jesus! says that they still needed convincing. And so John the ever the blessed prophet, hearing what the Lord was doing – probably not far from the prison which held him – sends them to the Font Of Every Blessing. And upon hearing Jesus and seeing with their own eyes they return to John rightly confessing Jesus as the Christ, and not John.
But before we leave the Baptizer today there is one more grand encouragement to be had, namely this, that Jesus knew that John was in prison. He knew that John would soon be martyred for his faith. Jesus was likely in the vicinity of the prison, but he did not lift a finger to stop what had been set in motion.
Did the Lord not care?
God forbid!
For as James reminds us in today’s epistle our God is filled with compassion for us (Jas. 5:11) as we undergo tribulation of every sort: barrage after barrage of temptations to sin, illnesses, suffering, pain, loss, injustice and man’s staggering! cruelty to man.
No. Jesus did not deliver John from that situation! Because, you see, it was part of God’s plan not only that John should live for Jesus, but that he should suffer and die for Jesus as well. (Phil. 1:29) And so must we all.
Scripture exhorts us, “Humble yourselves, therefore, beneath the mighty hand of God, and he will exalt you in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6) And while such humility takes on many forms, the ultimate humiliation is when we relinquish our lives with the Lord’s dying words on our dying lips, “Father! Into your hands I commit my spirit.”
O come let us adore him! Amen