And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me

 

 Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.  And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:  The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me." 

 

- Matthew 11:1–6 

 

Starting with Monday's reading, we have been given Christ's address to the Twelve as He sent them out on their first apostolic reading.  Yesterday we read that Jesus said to them, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth.  I did not come to bring peace but a sword.  For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.'  He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.  He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward.  And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.  And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward." 

 Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.  And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"  My study Bible comments here that, according to the Church Fathers, John the Baptist asks this question in order to guide his own disciples to Jesus.  Moreover, it notes, John's own faith was undoubtedly also strengthened through Christ's response that follows.  

Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:  The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."   My study Bible affirms Isaiah's prediction that these signs would accompany the coming of the Messiah (Isaiah 35:5, 61:1).  Jesus' reference to these signs prophesied by Isaiah is fully meaningful to John the Baptist.  My study Bible adds that Jesus performed these miracles in the presence of John's disciples (Luke 7:21) so they could see with their own eyes works that only the Messiah could do.

 

Jesus tells the disciples of John, "And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."  We have to ask ourselves why people would be offended at Christ.  There is first of all the notion that people did not want to accept what kind of Messiah He was.  He was not coming in the likeness of a great king like King David, to restore the fortunes of Israel.  He did not have an army, and was not prepared to overthrow the Romans in a political battle.  He would not give "proofs" on demand of His identity, nor produce miracles simply to please people or their expectations.  Rather, He came in the likeness of an ordinary Man, one without great wealth or position, and one without conventional authority.  All of these various aspects of Christ's identity were in some way offensive to various groups of people, and particularly to the religious leadership, who continually questioned His authority and where it came from.  Perhaps the greatest reason for offense was precisely this question of authority, and simply because Christ's authority came from God, and not from worldly sources, like a high position in the temple, or a lineage that Christ would claim for Himself openly.  Instead, Christ's authority was recognized only by faith, by something that responded to God within the hearts of those who would receive Him.  He came in humility, and yet led an astonishing life of ministry.  But still, it takes faith to receive and recognize Him, it takes a true love of God in the heart to receive, a heart open to the spirit of God.  That mysterious question of faith will come up continually, again and again.  Who are the ones not offended because of Him?  This remains a question even for today. 

 

 

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick

 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

- Matthew 9:9-17

Yesterday, we read that after Jesus' encounter with the demoniacs in the country of the Gergesenes across the Sea of Galilee from Capernaum, He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.  Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  This man is the author of the Gospel we're reading.  Matthew is also named Levi (Mark 2:14).  At this time, Roman overlords assigned Jewish tax collectors to specific areas.  They were free to collect extra revenue for their own profit, making them particularly despised among their fellow Jews.  Not only were they collaborators with Roman occupiers, they also routinely practiced fraud and corruption, so they were considered to be unclean (11:19).  Here, Jesus is actively calling Matthew to discipleship: "Follow Me."  It's not a question, but a command.  And Matthew responds.

Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."   Jesus dining with tax collectors and other sinners, and also accepting a tax collector as a disciple, offends the Pharisees.  But Jesus' answer makes perfect sense, and also places His ministry into a category that characterizes everything He does, so that we understand Him more deeply.  He goes where the need of the physician is the greatest; He is ultimately the supreme Healer.  "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" is a quotation from Hosea 6:6, but its expression is found elsewhere in the Old Testament as well.  My study bible says that it's not a rejection of sacrifice per se (Jesus Himself will make His own great sacrifice), but shows that mercy is a higher priority (see Psalm 51, the great psalm of repentance).

Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garent; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."  My study bible says that the Jews typically fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  There were also public fasts that were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed (see for example Esther 4:16, Joel 2:15).   Fasts were important particularly on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19).   But the day of the Messiah isn't a time for fasting; on the contrary, it was seen as a wedding feast.  That is, a time of joy and gladness, great blessings and thankfulness.  Jesus declares He is Messiah by calling Himself the bridegroom.  Fasting, in Christian tradition, is a way of preparation for the wedding feast of the Bridegroom's return, meant to help us to understand the practice of self-mastery, abstention from sin.  My study bible says that the old garment and old wineskins stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, viewed as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  It says, "The new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law."

Jesus' ministry seems to be qualified and characterized overall by healing.  He is the Physician for all ailments, whether they be physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, philosophical.  He works to heal on a personal and a community level.  As such, He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, as He has said.  Just as the Law and the Prophets worked to establish a people to God, to draw a people back to relationship with God, Christ fulfills this mission and thereby is of Himself primarily a healing influence.  What was lost through sin is found again, regained through Christ.  The Law worked to create a conscious awareness of loyalty to God, an understanding of sin.  Christ fulfills the aim and goal of the Law through healing and restoration.  We often fail to see correction as healing.  Many people regard "law" as something that is essentially oppressive or restrictive.  But we have to understand its aim and its goal; the aim is restoration of people to God, in covenant.  And that is where the notion of healing as the ultimate aim and goal comes in.  To be restored to God is to be healed.  John 3:16, so often quoted, tells us that Christ, the Son, has come in human form "for God so loved the world."  And we really have to understand that this healing power is for the whole world.  It's not about some people, nor even only people.  It's for the whole creation, as Jesus' command to the disciples in His last appearance tells us, from the Gospel of Mark, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."  It's restoration of right-relatedness in all ways.  Healing becomes the centerpiece of the expression of God's love.   You really couldn't get a more despised person than Matthew sitting in the tax office.  He's a collaborator, taking money from his own people (backed by Roman force) for their enemies and extra for his personal profit.   But Jesus gives the command, "Follow Me."  Nobody and nothing is left out of this healing ministry.  Discipleship means just that, we "follow Him."  Healing means correction and change.     Can we understand that even a rebuke from Christ is an act of love and mercy?  This is the new wineskin, for new wine.   God's love is active, at work in us.   This gospel is for the love of the world and everything in it, for all the creation.