… 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.
Matthew 11:2-5
John the Baptist was in prison and was soon to be executed. Maybe he had a sense that his time was drawing near so he wanted to make sure that he had been correct in encouraging his followers to listen to his cousin, Jesus. He sent messengers to ask the question.
Jesus could have easily simply answered with a convincing, “Yes.” John had seen the dove and the voice at Jesus’ baptism. But Jesus also knows something I think we too often forget. Talk is cheap. Jesus described his messiahship with actions. Quick pop quiz.
What do the blind do when they come in contact with the messiah? They see. Ok that one was pretty easy. Consider that is part of the role of the modern church. We need to invite the blind to see, that would be the literally blind as well as the more common spiritually blind.
What do the lame get to do when they come in contact with the messiah? Answer, they walk. That one too is fairly easy. Hopefully you are doing well on this little quiz so far. When the lame walk they can be restored to productivity and purpose in society. The church can help restore people in this way.
Next question. What do the lepers get when the messiah steps into their life? They get cleansed. Now this is much more than simply a healing. This is a restoration of the outcast to society. Those in poverty are often treated as outcasts to be dismissed or in the worst case exploited. This cleansing brings them into the mainstream of society.
Ok let’s keep this quiz going. What do the deaf receive? Of course they get to hear. Hearing is such a blessing that can enhance relationships and even keep us alive in dangerous situations.
Last question. Be careful because this is trick question. What do the poor receive when they come in contact with Jesus? They get the Gospel. The good news is preached to them. Yet the church too often gives them stuff as the solution. Listen my friends, stuff is never the solution. It too often becomes a burden that the poor and homeless must carry and move in their instable lives. Many times we are feeding the hoarding, unhealthy masses. What they need is the truth and compassion of the Gospel.
We are the church. We have the message of hope and salvation. We must not simply give stuff.
