Crickets
This week's study is on Matthew 11:7-9:
These verses describe the time when John the Baptist began to have a bit of a faith crisis. Jesus answered his people, and then switched to talking about John himself. It would have been easy to badmouth John, but instead Jesus reinforces his role in God's plan. Once again, Jesus is acting in love, not in vengeance or political whitewashing. He goes on to tell his disciples something about John and something about them (and us.)
Imagine the response if you were running a ministry and someone influential began having public doubts about you. If you were the sort of "ministry" that needed a PR person you would probably roll into damage control mode. "Attack and shun the unbeliever!" John's credibility would have been called into question. Ties would have been cut between his people and yours. Press releases would be going out to Christian magazines and newsletters. Maybe you'd be lining your lawyers up for a battle.
Instead, Jesus reinforces the fact that John was used as part of God's plan and that he's a good guy. And as if to prove it, he asks people "Why did you go out into the middle of nowhere to see him? To see reeds swaying in the wind? To get stuff from rich people?" Instead of reeds, if it was in a non-desert, he might have said "Did you go out there to hear crickets and get bitten by mosquitoes?" And it's a good question.
Think about it. Why would you go out to the middle of nowhere for something like a Christian conference? Do you like burning gas? Do you expect someone there to be hiring, or to be giving out free money? No, it's a senseless decision from a financial perspective. Maybe you could argue it's entertaining, but you could find cheaper entertainment a lot closer to home. And that's sort of the point Jesus was making. Obviously people went out to see John, but what were they thinking? What drew them out?
Going out to the wilderness would have been an inconvenient thing for people to do. It was a tedious physical trip away from all of the stuff you needed. There was no GPS to take you there. If you were going to go out to the desert to hear John the Baptist and be baptised by him, you were expecting to find something you couldn't find elsewhere. Something valuable.
People were looking for a prophet. In other words, they expected God to speak to them and to their situation, if they went out to the desert. And they were right! John was a prophet, and not just any prophet but the one chosen to blaze the way for Jesus' ministry on earth. Far from being some spiritual weakling who, during the horrible phase at the end of his life, didn't measure up to the standards of a bunch of armchair believers, John was a critical piece of God's plan on earth. None of what was happening in any way subtracted from that.
People are quick to attack ministers who fall into heresy or sin, beyond just attacking the sin or heresy they are involved with. I wish I had a dollar for every Catholic priest or Televangelist joke I have heard over the years. But we have to ask ourselves why people went to those institutions, and whether anyone ended up in a closer relationship with God as a result. That doesn't excuse the sin, or put them on the same level with John the Baptist in some kind of ministry hall of fame, but it does raise the question of honor. It's a shame they made bad decisions, but if they were used as part of God's plan, good for them! And it glorifies God for loving them enough to let them play along despite how he knew they'd turn out to be.
We can also look at our own lives through the lens of these verses. When we went to church, or opened the hotel Bible, or left the Christian station on long enough to start listening, what were we thinking? What did we think we would find? Maybe now as mature Christians we think hotel Bibles, or street evangelism, or our first denomination are stupid, but how cool is it that God used those things to welcome you?
In your first days of becoming a Christian, were you just expecting to hear crickets and be entertained? Or did you know in your heart already that God was real and find that he used something within your reach to speak to you? Isn't God great, and isn't that thing or person blessed and lucky for that to have happened?
As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
These verses describe the time when John the Baptist began to have a bit of a faith crisis. Jesus answered his people, and then switched to talking about John himself. It would have been easy to badmouth John, but instead Jesus reinforces his role in God's plan. Once again, Jesus is acting in love, not in vengeance or political whitewashing. He goes on to tell his disciples something about John and something about them (and us.)
Imagine the response if you were running a ministry and someone influential began having public doubts about you. If you were the sort of "ministry" that needed a PR person you would probably roll into damage control mode. "Attack and shun the unbeliever!" John's credibility would have been called into question. Ties would have been cut between his people and yours. Press releases would be going out to Christian magazines and newsletters. Maybe you'd be lining your lawyers up for a battle.
Instead, Jesus reinforces the fact that John was used as part of God's plan and that he's a good guy. And as if to prove it, he asks people "Why did you go out into the middle of nowhere to see him? To see reeds swaying in the wind? To get stuff from rich people?" Instead of reeds, if it was in a non-desert, he might have said "Did you go out there to hear crickets and get bitten by mosquitoes?" And it's a good question.
Think about it. Why would you go out to the middle of nowhere for something like a Christian conference? Do you like burning gas? Do you expect someone there to be hiring, or to be giving out free money? No, it's a senseless decision from a financial perspective. Maybe you could argue it's entertaining, but you could find cheaper entertainment a lot closer to home. And that's sort of the point Jesus was making. Obviously people went out to see John, but what were they thinking? What drew them out?
Going out to the wilderness would have been an inconvenient thing for people to do. It was a tedious physical trip away from all of the stuff you needed. There was no GPS to take you there. If you were going to go out to the desert to hear John the Baptist and be baptised by him, you were expecting to find something you couldn't find elsewhere. Something valuable.
People were looking for a prophet. In other words, they expected God to speak to them and to their situation, if they went out to the desert. And they were right! John was a prophet, and not just any prophet but the one chosen to blaze the way for Jesus' ministry on earth. Far from being some spiritual weakling who, during the horrible phase at the end of his life, didn't measure up to the standards of a bunch of armchair believers, John was a critical piece of God's plan on earth. None of what was happening in any way subtracted from that.
People are quick to attack ministers who fall into heresy or sin, beyond just attacking the sin or heresy they are involved with. I wish I had a dollar for every Catholic priest or Televangelist joke I have heard over the years. But we have to ask ourselves why people went to those institutions, and whether anyone ended up in a closer relationship with God as a result. That doesn't excuse the sin, or put them on the same level with John the Baptist in some kind of ministry hall of fame, but it does raise the question of honor. It's a shame they made bad decisions, but if they were used as part of God's plan, good for them! And it glorifies God for loving them enough to let them play along despite how he knew they'd turn out to be.
We can also look at our own lives through the lens of these verses. When we went to church, or opened the hotel Bible, or left the Christian station on long enough to start listening, what were we thinking? What did we think we would find? Maybe now as mature Christians we think hotel Bibles, or street evangelism, or our first denomination are stupid, but how cool is it that God used those things to welcome you?
In your first days of becoming a Christian, were you just expecting to hear crickets and be entertained? Or did you know in your heart already that God was real and find that he used something within your reach to speak to you? Isn't God great, and isn't that thing or person blessed and lucky for that to have happened?
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