Morning Devotion for the Season of Lent
April 15, 2022
Good Friday
Invitatory
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
The Lord is full of compassion and mercy: Come let us adore him.
Reading: Matthew 11:1-6
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 offense at me.”
Meditation – Peter Vanderveen
There’s something missing in Jesus’ response to John’s question. What’s missing is the only thing that John really wanted to hear - which Jesus left unspoken. And it’s hard to imagine that this was a mistake.
John was wasting away, imprisoned because of Herod’s paranoia and political whims. One might rightfully think that it wasn’t supposed to be this way. John himself may have thought this. After all, he was publicly declared to be the “greatest of all the prophets:” one who would not be surpassed. He had identified Jesus. He had been the catalyst to Jesus’ own ministry. And Jesus, in turn, was attracting great crowds; and the crowds were reporting amazing things. In short, and in rather delirious tones, Jesus was trending. And in light of this, one can’t blame John for asking, “What about me?” And why shouldn’t he have expected the Messiah to bring good news for him no less than for any others? So he had his disciples ask on his behalf.
Jesus’ reply was a simple reiteration of pronouncements made by the prophet Isaiah. It’s a familiar recitation – except that Jesus left out one essential element: Isaiah had included the promise of the Messiah’s delivering “liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” This omission couldn’t have been by accident. One must assume that Jesus knew that he had refused to give John the one hope that he most needed to hear. Jesus could just as well have said that whatever good was happening, it would have no bearing on John. Jesus wasn’t coming to rescue him. And thus, in this case, could any reply have been more offensive? Jesus simply ignored John’s plight – with the emphasis that he was already busy doing so much elsewhere. And John… he was summarily executed a short time later.
It’s a bruising exchange; one that we, too, would not be inclined to expect. For so often we imagine that the Gospel functions as a kind of lovely veneer that, in its own miraculously comprehensive way, softens and disposes of the evils of the world. After all, the church welcomes everyone. God loves everybody. All are forgiven. So how could anyone take offense? We have a perfect set of rose colored glasses.
Except for the fact that saying these things doesn’t make them so. The world remains the world, and it can be surprising in its sudden eruptions of brutality. And love doesn’t create a utopia. As Paul noted, sometimes the best that love can do now is believe, bear, hope, and endure. For in precisely this way it shows itself to be love, even as evil presses on.
And this is what this day acknowledges. This is what stops us and our lofty, loose dreams: Jesus himself would fare no better than John. And in that awful moment, he took no offense either.
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
