Thursday, December 9, 1999
Thursday, December 9, 1999
And he answered them, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind
receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the
poor have good news brought to them.
Jesus' reply is interesting, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive
sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the
good news is preached to the poor."
Notice he didn't say, "Go back and tell John, 5,000 people came to hear me preach the other
day--so many it was difficult to feed them all." He didn't say, "The word's spreading about my big
miracle crusades. I should really draw the crowds in Jerusalem." No, he says, "The blind receive
sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear . . . and the good news is
preached to the poor." Notice that each of these--the blind, lame, those with leprosy, the deaf, the
poor--are people facing challenges. These are people who have major obstacles to overcome.
These were people living, generally, on the charity of others. But these were the people for
whom Jesus came. Jesus came to bring hope to the hopeless.
(Luke 7:22
NRSV)
John the Baptist was in prison. As one writer has noted, John was a wilderness-wanderer, so
imprisonment must have been especially hard on him. When John heard in prison news of what
Christ was doing, John sent his followers to ask Christ, "Are you the one who was to come, or
should we expect someone else?"
Dear God, renew my hope and guide me as I share my hope to bring hope. Amen.
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