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. 

 

 

I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat

 

 Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there.  Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.  So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."  Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?"  Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.  Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.  And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.

 

- Matthew 15:29-39 

 

Yesterday we read that, after a confrontation with the scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem, Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is severely demon-possessed."  But He answered her not a word.  And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."  But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"  But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table."  Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be to you as you desire."  And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

 

  Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there.  Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.  So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.  My study Bible comments that Christ's healing of the multitudes here shows that these Jews actually had less faith than the Canaanite woman in yesterday's reading (see above).  To quote St. John Chrysostom, Christ healed the woman's daughter "with much delay, but these immediately, because she is more faithful than they.  He delays with her to reveal her perseverance, while here He bestows the gift immediately to stop the mouths of the unbelieving Jews."  To behold the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, the blind seeing are all prophesied signs of the Messiah (see Isaiah 35:5-8).

Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."  Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?"  Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.  Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.  And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.  My study Bible tells us that this second feeding of a multitude should not be confused with the first (see this reading from Friday last week).  They are two distinct miracles (see Matthew 16:8-10, in which Jesus refers to each one).  There is traditional significance ascribed in the variance in the number of loaves.  In the first feeding in the wilderness, there were five loaves, which symbolized the Law.  Here there are seven.  Seven is a symbol of completeness, and here it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, in the first instance, Christ is revealing Himself as fulfilling the Law.  But here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.   Also, my study Bible remarks, these crowds had been with Christ for three days, which is the number of days that He would rest in the tomb.  To participate in His perfection can only come through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5). 

Why do we suppose that Jesus does two separate feedings in the wilderness?  Certainly we can understand that the circumstance arose more than once, and also that there must be a special significance to each, as this is the way that His ministry evolved, and these are the events the Evangelists have recorded as part of what the Church commemorates and honors.  These specific events are given to us for a purpose, by God and by the Church in the recording of the Gospels.  But one thing we can learn from these different miraculous feedings is that we are to take note of Christ's ministry and its characteristic of evolving through time.  It does not simply stay the same or repeat itself in the sense of never changing.  If Christ was to go first to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel," as He said to the woman of Canaan in yesterday's reading (see above), then we can understand the evolution of ministry as Gentiles also begin to be included as examples of faith as in occasions for miraculous works by Christ.  Every part of this ministry is important, necessary, and significant.  Just as the feeding of the five thousand with five loaves is understood as fulfilling the Law (the first five books of the Bible, also called Penteteuch or Talmud), so Christ also comes to fulfill spiritual perfection , especially through His Passion, which is understood in the various symbols of today's reading, such as the three days and the seven loaves.  As Christ's own ministry and mission evolves through the Gospels, so we should also come to understand our own spiritual journeys and faith, because God's love is always active and working in this mission that takes place within us and in our lives.  We remarked earlier on the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Messiah that we read in the first few verses of today's reading.  Isaiah writes, after he prophecies that at the time of the Messiah "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing . . .."  But the prophecy continues:  "And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein" (see Isaiah 35:5-8).   Christ's ministry expresses for us "The way of holiness," the "highway" He also refers to when He speaks of Himself as "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).  That "way" in Greek literally means "road," and it delineates the path that Christ gives us, the journey of faith such as we read about as His ministry evolves, and also as our own faith journey evolves through new challenges and new lessons in discipleship.  It is an important concept to understand, for if even Christ's understanding and ministry evolves for Himself, how much more, then, as His disciples shall we expect this for ourselves?  The spiritual life is not simply a stagnant repetition of the "same old thing," but a constant evolution of new understandings, new discipline, new teachings to learn.  Just like caring for a home, a garden, an agricultural enterpriese or business, things are constantly in flux:  there will be new things to cast out, new things to take on and learn, new practices we must start, and old things we will learn to discard.  This is the spiritual life, for in Christ we have an eternal life, and one that never stops growing in its dynamic engagement with our life.  Let us keep in mind the journey, and be ever alert to where He asks us to go and offers His counsel and teachings for each new step.  The multitude continues with Jesus for three days; we continue with Him for our lives, even unto eternal life.

 

 

So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel

Healing the Multitudes.  Fresco, late 20th century.  St. John the Baptist Monastery, Makrinos, Greece

 Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there.  Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.  So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."  Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?"  Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.  Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.  And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.

- Matthew 15:29-39

Yesterday we read that, after the criticism of the Pharisees from Jerusalem, Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is severely demon-possessed."  But He answered her not a word.  And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."  But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"  But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."  Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be to you as you desire."  And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there.  Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.  So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.  My study bible comments that Christ's healing of the multitudes in this passage shows that these Jews had actually less faith than the Canaanite woman in yesterday's reading (above).   St. John Chrysostom, it notes, writes that Christ offered the Canaanite woman the healing she wanted for her daughter "with much delay, but these immediately, because she is more faithful than they.  He delays with her to reveal her perseverance, while here He bestows the gift immediately to stop the mouths of the unbelieving Jews."  The mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing are all prophesied signs of the coming of the Messiah.

Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."  Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?"  Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.  Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.  And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.  This is a second feeding of a multitude, separate and distinct from the first (see this reading).  In the next chapter, Christ will explicitly refer back to both (see 16:8-10).  There are details that distinguish each.   My study bible comments that the variance in the number of loaves is significant.  In the first instance (in the reading from Friday last week), there were five loaves, which symbolized the Law.  Here in today's reading there are seven loaves.   Seven is a number which symbolizes completeness; here it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, in the first feeding miracle, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the law, while here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  Also, these crowds in today's read had been with Christ for three days.  This is the number of days He will rest in the tomb.  My study bible comments that this symbolic detail reveals that perfection can only come through being united to Christ's death (see Romans 6:3-5). 

The two distinct feeding miracles seem to indicate an evolution in Christ's ministry; that is, a movement from one thing and toward another.  In the earlier feeding, the people found themselves stranded in the "middle of nowhere" so to speak, because they had followed Christ, so desperate were they for His healings.  In today's reading, the signs revealed through Christ's healing of the multitudes are specifically those that distinguish the coming of the Messiah in prophecy.  They are abundant and explicit, clear signs of the ministry of Christ and its significance for Israel.  It's significant that this takes place after Christ's encounter with the Canaanite woman and the great display of her tenacious faith.  With these multitudes, the God of Israel is glorified, even after the criticism of His disciples by the Pharisees from Jerusalem.  But the detail in the number of loaves is significant, as it indicates the future of Christ's ministry, and its going out into all the world, both Jew and Gentile.  The seven large baskets of leftover fragments point not only to the fullness or completeness of ministry, but also of time and the age, an initiation into an apocalyptic meaning, and toward judgment.  This number seven is indicative of the "end point" toward which this ministry is going, and its fullness culminating in the end of the age, and the "end times" which are initiated through Christ's Passion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension.  It is in this sense of "fullness" that this feeding miracle appears with its symbols at this stage of Christ's ministry, accompanied by the signs of the Messiah and the God of Israel.  In this second feeding miracle are the signs of the Christ in whose "name Gentiles will trust" (12:21, quoting from Isaiah 42).   That is, the God of Israel who will go to the fullness of the earth and the fullness of time.  Even the number 4,000 is symbolic, as it indicates the four sides of the Cross, and the four directions of the entire world.  As the Pharisees from Jerusalem have already begun their attacks upon Jesus and His ministry, we observe that things are ready to evolve and move into the next certain phase, and toward the Cross.  The glorification of the God of Israel by the multitudes will turn toward something quite different, with new meanings and new indications that go beyond the expectations of these crowds.  The Cross itself will become a sign of rebirth, a victory of overcoming the world, and a way of life that means both sacrifice and transcendence.  We should not mistake the fullness of this time in its limited sense for the faith which we as Christ's followers inherit.  It is important to understand that He is heading toward the Cross, and as St. Paul writes in Romans 6:3-5 (cited by my study bible, as noted above), we are meant to participate with Him in that Cross, and our baptism is indicative of the same.  This is a turning point toward something unexpected, which His disciples in no way can imagine at this time.  So should it be in our own lives, when we experience an ending of one thing and a turning toward another.  The Cross, as does our baptism, will always indicate a rebirth, a transcendence, as well as ending and sacrifice.  Let us not be dismayed when our own lives, in faith, take a new turn, and point toward the need for a new birth, and leaving something else behind.  Even in our moments of greatest joy and fulfillment, the Cross remains, as does our promise of baptism, always pointing toward the fullness of our faith, and of time.

Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?

John the Baptist, "Behold the Lamb of God," by Olga Dytyniak

 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

In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus has been giving instructions to the Twelve whom He is about to send out on their first apostolic mission.  Yesterday we read that He taught:  "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.  And he who dos 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, 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 notes that according to Church Fathers, John the Baptist asks this question so that he may guide his own disciples to Christ.  It adds that John's own faith was undoubtedly strengthened as well because of Jesus' response.  Notice the "symmetry"   John is in prison, and Christ has just sent the disciples on their first apostolic mission.

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."   Jesus directs John's disciples to the things which are occurring in His ministry, the signs predicted by Isaiah as those which would accompany the coming of the Messiah (Isaiah 61:1).   My study bible comments that Jesus performed these miracles in the presence of John's disciples (Luke 7:20-21) so that they can see with their own eyes the works that only the Messiah could do.

There is a kind of "hand off" in today's reading.  John the Baptist is in prison (where he will be beheaded by Herod Antipas), and he has sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He is the Coming One, the Messiah.  In the presence of John's disciples, Jesus performs those wondered prophesied as accompanying the coming of the Messiah.  This happens just as Jesus is sending out the Twelve on their first apostolic mission to preach and to heal.  John the Baptist is considered to be the last in the line of Old Testament style prophets, so in today's reading we are seeing the gospel, a new covenant, branching out and expanding, as the old is ending.  Those who follow John have a place to go, Christ to look to for their direction and their future.  There is no one left out of this spreading of grace at work in the world; the transition of the old to the new does not exclude anyone.  Even as Jesus has said He has not come to destroy, but to fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17), so the disciples of John -- via John's question to Jesus -- now are guided to Christ.  In fact, the Gospels tell us that several of Christ's earliest disciples were first followers of John the Baptist (see John 1:35-42).  What this tells us is of the spreading work of the gospel, the kingdom of heaven at work in the world.  It doesn't eliminate the good of the past (in any tradition), but rather unfolds and expands the spiritual truth "kept secret from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 13:35; Psalm 78:2).  Christ, the One who is both human and divine, the One who will ascend even with human nature glorified, will expand our spiritual understanding of God who is love and at the same time our own understanding of the spiritual capacities of human beings for communion and participation in God's grace.  He will live His life so that we may participate in that "life in abundance" that He will offer (John 10:10).  He has characterized His ministry as that of wineskins that must be new to expand with new wine (see this reading).  Today we read about that expansion, even as He is sending out the disciples to spread His ministry via the power of grace which He has shared and distributes through them.

Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?

 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 is 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

Throughout chapter 10 of Matthew's gospel, Jesus has chosen the twelve and is preparing them for their first mission.  In yesterday's reading, He told 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 is disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"  According to the Church Fathers, John the Baptist asks this question in order to guide his own disciples to Jesus.  My study bible says that undoubtedly, John's own faith was strengthened through the response given by Jesus (in the verses that follow).

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."  Jesus names the signs predicted by Isaiah which would accompany the coming of the Messiah (Isaiah 35:5-6, 61:1).   Jesus performed these miracles in the presence of John's disciples (Luke 7:20-21), my study bible says, so that they could see with their own eyes works that only the Messiah could do.

John the Baptist's self-stated mission has been to prepare Israel for the coming of the Lord.  He is the one who first made the statement, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" (see this reading).   Jesus has repeated it in His ministry (4:12) and also given instruction to the twelve to proclaim it as they go on to their first mission (10:7).  In this sense, we get a clear image of the importance of John the Baptist to this story.  His words echo through Jesus' ministry as they are also part of the work of God in the world, the Holy Spirit working through each mission.  This unfolding also gives us an image that applies to the whole of Scripture, including the Old Testament, as all bears witness to the common work of God in the world, and human beings as laborers in this harvest, as Jesus told His disciples just before He chose the twelve (see this reading).  John is understood by tradition to be the last and the greatest of the Old Testament-type prophets, and so he gives us an idea of continuity, of what it is to 'enter into others' labor' (John 4:38).  He gives us a picture of the communion that goes through all things and people, knows no time limit, and is neither barred by spatial limitations.  The one thing required is human beings whose hearts are open to the mission in their own time and place, and to the grace that is at work through us.  Jesus has given us the prayer called The Lord's Prayer or the Our Father, in which our first petition is "Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  And here is the mission.  This is the truth of John's mission and of Jesus' mission, and it will be the truth of the mission of the apostles upon which they've just been sent out.  We get an idea of our own lives and our place in this cosmic system of salvation when we understand the role that each person plays in the story of the Gospels and throughout the Old Testament.  Each may enter into this mission.  Each may play a role in spreading the message, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."  It is here and now, present with us.  We simply must "turn around" (repent) to see it, to realize it, to have its reality more deeply planted in us and to carry that Kingdom with us in the world.  This is how we receive it and pay it forward.  John is in prison at the time of the events we read about in today's Gospel passage.  He is shut up in Galilee in the palace of Herod Antipas, and perhaps is prepared to understand that this is where he will die.  He approaches the end of mission, and the one thing necessary is that he direct his disciples to the place they need to be, to the Coming One.  This is the mission for us as well, for Christ is still the Coming One, "The One who is and who was and who is to come" (Revelation 11:17, 16:5).  In the infinitely creative work of the Spirit, we each may play a role in that mission and participate in the life Christ offers, the life of the kingdom of heaven, and bringing it into the world.  This is the here and now, the always-present, the mission into which we, too, may enter into others' labor.  How do you play your role?  Remember that even those who offer a cup of water in the name of a disciple will have their reward (see yesterday's reading, above).  Our mission need not be grand or great by worldly standards nor met with great fanfare; this is a question of how we live our lives and whose judgment we meet within ourselves at all times.    "And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."