22 So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive 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. 23 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."
Our verses today are the response of Jesus to the question posed by John the Baptist – “Are you the One who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus responds to John’s disciples by giving them a brief synopsis of Isaiah 61:1-3:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion--to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV)
Jesus wanted to remind John from first hand testimony – eyes that had seen and ears that had heard – the miraculous events that had occurred from His hand. Jesus was performing messianic miracles - miraculous deeds confirming the fact that He indeed was the Messiah. Discouraged by his circumstances, one could hardly blame John for asking. In our human way of thinking, Jesus appeared to be anything BUT the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We are told in Scripture referring to Jesus: 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:2-5 (NIV)
The Matthew Henry Commentary states: “Christ’s education at Nazareth, His residence at Galilee, the humbleness of His family and relations, His poverty, and the disrepute of His followers – these and the like were stumbling blocks to many. He is blessed, for he is wise, humble, and well disposed, who is not overcome by these prejudices. It is a sign that God has blessed him, and he shall be blessed indeed, blessed in Christ.” Christ again tells us to examine His works in John: 36 "I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. John 5:36 (NIV)
We too can have preconceived prejudices about Christ. We have made up our minds what the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit should “look like” and “act like” and more often than not it could not be further from the truth. We have a tendency to lean on flawed human reason rather than on the inerrant Word of God for our source. Christ tells us: 39 You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life. John 5:39-40 (NIV) Christ came to fulfill all righteousness so that He could be the perfect sacrifice for our sins opening a way for us, through Him, to come to the Father. “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” – no longer poor in spirit or brokenhearted; no longer in bondage to sin or blind to truth; no longer mourning or despairing but filled with gladness and praise. Blessed are all who are reconciled to Him! All glory due His name!