Are you the one we are to expect, or should we wait for another?”
At that time, Jesus healed many people of their sicknesses and diseases;
he freed them from evil spirits and he gave sight to the blind.
Then he answered the messengers, “Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard:
the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are made clean, the deaf hear,
the dead are raised to life, and the poor are given good news.
Now, listen: Fortunate are those who meet me, and are not offended by me.”
REFLECTION:
John the Baptist was a bit confused when from his prison he heard of what Jesus was
doing–associating with sinners! A disturbing doubt gnawed at his soul.
He had to know if he had not erred in announcing the Messiah as the one who would punish the unrepentant!
Jesus, thus sends the emissaries of John with the Good News:
the good news is proclaimed to the poor and the sick are healed,
the blind and the lame are made well, and the dead are raised to life.!
These are the acts associated with the Jubilee, the time of grace,
the time of the Messiah as prophesied by Isaiah (see Isaiah 61).
The Messiah, yes, would condemn sin; but he would come to call sinners to repentance,
not as a law enforcer but as a healer, a restorer to wholeness.
John had to understand that the Messiah would be counted amongst sinners so that
he would save sinners by identifying with sinners and making atonement for sinners.
The Messiah came not to judge but to save. (See John 3:16)
© Copyright Bible Diary 2020