Go and tell John what you hear and see

Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities.

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’

- Matthew 11:1-6

Jesus has been instructing his disciples, the Twelve Apostles, about how they are to conduct themselves on their first mission (see the readings from Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday). After giving instructions, Jesus carries on preaching and teaching himself.

Here Matthew directly refers to Jesus as Christ ("anointed one," in the Greek) or Messiah in this text translation. John the Baptist has heard in prison of the work and ministry of Jesus, what has been done through him. We recall Jesus' baptism by John. John sends word to Jesus through his disciples, 'Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ Traditionally, this has been interpreted as a question concerning whether or not John should guide his disciples to Jesus. Some modern interpretations also suggest that John expected the Messiah as Judge, and is perhaps perplexed at Jesus' teaching of mercy.

Both interpretations are reasonable, and I think it's possible that John was doing both. This text, taken as a whole, suggests that John is inquiring as to whether or not Jesus is the expected one, the Messiah (as clearly stated by Matthew). This is because of Jesus' response: ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’ Jesus is quoting from Isaiah, who predicted that at the coming of "the anointed one" or the Messiah, the blind would see, the lame walk, lepers would be cleansed, and the deaf would hear. (See also Luke 7:22.) Jesus is indicating by his answer that he is fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah, producing the fruit that only the Messiah can produce.

I think it's important to consider in our own lives what these fruits of the "anointed one" may be. Are there ways in which we are regenerated, or need cleansing or healing? Have we had our eyes opened to things we otherwise were in ignorance about? Do we need our ears to be opened to something we need to hear? The purpose of this Christ, this anointed one, is to continue with our healing, with our concern and our search for whatever it means to have "life in abundance." We also recall, in Luke ch. 4, that Jesus has read from the scroll of Isaiah: ' The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.' We can consider, in all the ways these words can allude to healing, to setting free, to restoration in our own lives. Do we need to be liberated from something under which we suffer needlessly? How are the ways in which we who are poor can receive good news? These are the things we need to consider for our own lives when we read these words. They apply to each one of us on levels that go far more deeply into our psyches, into the fabric of our lives, than a mere recounting of historical events. For what do we pray in our lives? How do we need better sight and hearing? From what would we be cleansed? Which oppression weighs us down, from which we need to be set free?