日期： 12/16/07

經文：《馬太福音》 11 ： 2-19

題目：你在等待誰？

主旨：我們必須讓神在 圣 經里的啟示來指引我們對基督的認識

引言：

你或許還記得，剛來到休斯頓的某個醫學研究中心開始工作時的那股興奮和憧憬。你期待著美好的生活，為自己能在世界最著名的研究中心工作感到驕傲和自豪。但是，不久以后，你就發現所有的幻想都成了泡影。你為自己被錯待感到沮喪和生氣。理想和現實之間有著天壤之別。（又或者，你聽說有一家餐館的食物不錯，期待著能親自去品嘗。但是，當你真正去了以后，卻感到失望和掃興。所謂乘興而去，敗興而歸。）

婚姻的初期總是充滿激動和希望，你期待著和你所愛的人白頭偕老，相伴一生。你們彼此深情款款地相視而笑，目光中充滿了對彼此的欣賞和贊美。你成了所有朋友羨慕的對象。然而幾年以后，你對婚姻完全喪失了信心，希望能擺脫牢籠重獲自由。理想和現實又一次背道而馳。

我們的生活中充滿著失望。同樣，我們的信仰旅程也是如此。經常有人對我說他們是如何地喜歡某個教會，那里是他們最美好的屬靈之家。但是，若干時間以后，他們開始抱怨起這個教會的缺點，好像凡事都看不順眼。許多人還記得剛信主時的喜樂，我們滿懷期待那改變生命的主從此要進入我們的里面。我們期待一個從未有過的美好生活。可是，事與愿違，我們感到上當和受騙，漸漸地就離開了神。

在將臨期的季節里，一個重要的主題是期待主耶穌的誕生。我們所期待的基督是什么樣子的呢？他是怎樣的人，會有怎樣的事工，又會跟我們建立怎樣的關系呢？你知道嗎，有時，基督也會令我們感到期望落空。

在今天的經文里，我們讀到施洗約翰對主耶穌的失望。讓我們來細看一下約翰的失望以及主耶穌對他的回應對于今天的我們有何意義。

I •  我們承認在屬靈的旅程裡有 “ 懷疑 ” 的存在。

《馬太福音》 11 ： 2-3“ 約翰在監裡聽見基督所作的事 、就打發兩個門徒去、問他說、那將要來的是你麼、還是我們等候別人呢。 ” 在當時，約翰因為指責希律王和他的兄弟之妻希羅底通奸而被下了監獄。明明是希律犯了奸淫的罪，可是王卻把約翰關進了位于約旦以東五英里的監獄里。

我們一定很驚訝，居然像約翰這樣的人都會問這種問題。他是那位宣告彌撒亞已經來臨的先知。隨著彌撒亞的到來，將伴有烈火和審判。約翰是那位認出耶穌就是彌撒亞的先知。當他被下了監獄以后，他的門徒一定向他匯報了一些有關耶穌的行為和事跡。 “ 約翰在監裡聽見基督所作的事 ……” 約翰發現有些不對勁。彌撒亞不是應該帶來審判嗎？凱撒依然倒行逆施，腐敗殘忍，宗教領袖依然腐朽墮落。他自己因為講真話而被投進了監獄，這個世界跟以前一樣敗壞，耶穌對此卻沒有采取任何行動。由此，他發出了這個問題： “ 那將要來的是你麼、還是我們等候別人呢。 ” 約翰腦中所想像的彌撒亞降臨時候的樣子，與耶穌在世上事奉時的方式截然不同。因此，他的心中產生了懷疑。理想和現實南轅北轍。

曾有一個基督徒向一個在紐約的猶太教教士做見證。他說彌賽亞已經來了，于是那位猶太教的教士走到窗口，對著眼前的紐約市，說道：這座城市依然是腐朽敗壞，彌撒亞還沒有到。

我們很可能同意施洗約翰和那位猶太教教士的想法。當我們初信主的時候，滿腦子想的就是基督會在一夜之間令我們脫胎換骨，完全消除我們的臭脾氣和壞習慣，或者他會改變我的配偶，令我們的婚姻生活獲得新生。我們期待信主以后的生活充滿喜樂和幸福。然后，事與愿違，現實再次背叛了理想。我們反而在家庭和工作中遇到更多的麻煩。我們發現基督徒之間充滿矛盾和沖突，基督徒之間的相處甚至不如同事之間和諧。還有我們個人的身體健康。為什么我在受洗之后還有這么多的身體疾病呢？我們不禁要問： “ 這真的就是基督徒的信心嗎？基督就是這樣對我們的嗎？為什么我的孩子會變成這樣？神的應許和能力在哪里？如果神真的在世上掌權，那么為什么我的世界里充滿了不公和矛盾？ ”

在座的人當中可能也有類似的感受。我們所向往的耶穌和他的作為跟現實恐怕相距甚遠。這不禁令人質疑：他真的是彌撒亞嗎，真的是救主和生命之主嗎？這個即將誕生的耶穌究竟是誰？現在，讓我們來看耶穌如何回應約翰的困惑。

II •  基督將我們的 “ 懷疑 ” 指向祂的話語 .

約翰的門徒問耶穌那將要來的究竟是不是他。《馬太福音》 11 ： 4-5“ 耶穌回答說 、你們去把所聽見所看見的事告訴約翰．就是瞎子看見 、瘸子行走 、長大痲瘋的潔淨、聾子聽見、死人復活、窮人有福音傳給他們。 ” 我們讀到這段的時候，明白那是對耶穌的事跡的描述。但是約翰是怎么理解的呢？他明白那是先知以賽亞的預言。耶穌引用了《以賽亞書》的經文來作答，只有關于審判的內容沒有被提及。這究竟是怎么回事呢？約翰聽說了耶穌的事跡，現在耶穌本人又告訴約翰以賽亞當初是如何預言彌撒亞的作為的。換而言之，以賽亞預言彌撒亞的作為和約翰從門徒以及耶穌那里所聽到的一切作為是一致的。

約翰在那座孤伶伶的監獄里待了一段時間，在肉體和心理上都已經筋疲力竭了。他對彌賽亞的認識已經模糊不清，也無法洞悉周遭的世界。所以，他發出了這樣的疑問，對耶穌的身份產生了懷疑。

約翰問道：你就是那將要來的嗎？耶穌并沒有生氣，而是把約翰帶進 圣 經里，將他指向神的話語。這對于我們有什么意義呢？

記得在上個星期一，我在電腦前工作了幾個小時以后，想站起來去尋找一樣東西。我突然發現視線變得模糊不清，看東西沒有以前那么清楚了。我想，這下壞了，一定是我的眼睛出了問題。隨后，滿腦子都浮現出一幅幅可怕的畫面：如果我看不清東西，還怎么講道呢？稍后，我才意識到原來是我戴著讀書用的眼睛。真是如釋重負啊！同樣地，如果我們信仰的視線變得模糊不清，那么就無法真正理解耶穌基督的真理。

會對基督產生懷疑是正常的。當我們對耶穌的個人期望和現實不符的時候，我們應該提出問題。但是要去哪里找答案呢？我們要像耶穌所做的那樣回到 圣 經里。我們需要根據 圣 經的教導調整自己的期望。當我們期待基督在一夜之間令我們脫胎換骨的時候，要問問自己： 圣 經有沒有這樣的教導？當我們期待在信仰的旅途中一帆風順百事順利的時候，要回到 圣 經里，聽聽主耶穌在《約翰福音》 16 ： 33 的教導 “ 我將這些事告訴你們、是要叫你們在我裡面有平安。在世上你們有苦難．但你們可以放心、我已經勝了世界 。 ”

當我們自己或者發現別人心存疑惑的時候，千萬不要產生自責或者指責他人。相反，應該耐心地把人指向神的話語。很多時候，在基督徒的圈子里，我們壓抑疑問和困惑。當有人對神的存在，良善和信實產生疑問的時候，我們通常會說你需要有信心，不要多問。甚至有時我們被告知人們所提的問題只是為了掩蓋他們道德敗壞的煙霧彈，因此我們根本不需要理會他們。感謝神，通過 Francis Schaeffer ，使我明白沒有任何一個問題是無關緊要的。我們要認真對待每一個問題。當信仰的視線模糊不清時，當事情變得捉摸不定時，我們要回到神的話語中，這樣才能重新擦亮雙眼。

III •  基督將我們的 “ 懷疑 ” 指向祂的真正身份．

約翰的門徒離開以后，耶穌轉向人群，跟他們談論起約翰。 7-9“ 他們走的時候、耶穌就對眾人講論約翰說、你們從前出到曠野、是要看甚麼呢、要看風吹動的蘆葦麼。你們出去、到底是要看甚麼、要看穿細軟衣服的人麼、那穿細軟衣服的人、是在王宮裡 。你們出去、究竟是為甚麼、是要看先知麼．我告訴你們、是的、他比先知大多了． ”

耶穌向人群發出反問：你們去曠野是要看風吹動的蘆葦嗎？這個問題令人聯想到搖擺不定的蘆葦。蘆葦是希律王的象征之一。諷刺的是蘆葦能任意地隨風搖擺，這里指的是希律王耳根軟，缺乏主見。雖然他厭惡約翰所說的話，但卻因為懼怕人民的力量而不敢殺死他。后來，是因為他兄弟的妻子希羅底的進言才使他下定決心處死約翰的。希律王就像一根隨風搖曳的蘆葦。

耶穌的第二個反問是：你們出去是要看穿細軟衣服的和住在王宮里的人麼？耶穌可能指的是住在王宮里的先知。在舊約時代，宮廷里常常養著一批先知們，他們善于阿諛奉承，專挑君王愛聽的話說。他們就像是受聘的職業先知，生活在舒適的環境里。這些問題的答案當然是 “ 不 ” 。約翰根本不是搖擺不定的蘆葦，他有著堅定的信念。約翰不是住在舒適的王宮里，而是住在曠野中，穿著駱駝毛制成的衣服。耶穌說這個約翰比先知大多了。為什么呢？因為他就是舊約中所預言的那位為彌撒亞的降臨預備道路的人。他是彌撒亞的先鋒。

約翰像其他舊約先知一樣，都宣告了彌撒亞即將降世。但是，他更進一步，認出耶穌就是彌撒亞。沒有其他任何的先知有這樣的特權。這也就是為什么耶穌說約翰比先知大多了，他是最偉大的先知的原因。

緊接著，耶穌又說了一句同樣令人震驚的話。 11“ 我實在告訴你們、凡婦人所生的、沒有一個興起來大過施洗約翰的．然而天國裡最小的、比他還大。 ” 是的，約翰在世上是最大的，但是在神的國度里，他比那最小的還要小。為什么呢？即使約翰預言了彌賽亞的降臨，即使他認出了耶穌就是彌賽亞，但是他對彌撒亞的了解依然有限。但是，天國的子民對彌撒亞有更完整的認識。在天國的人看見彌撒亞受苦，死在十字架上，然后復活，被接升天。我們知道他還會再來到我們中間。在那時，將發生舊約先知所預言的大審判。天國的子民將人們指向彌撒亞，救主和君王。

一個人之所以偉大是因為他看到和聽到了彌賽亞救贖的工作。我們的偉大不在于傳道有多么成功，不在于奉獻了多少金錢，也不在乎我們的智力，屬靈恩賜，講道的能力。真正的偉大在于認識彌賽亞，完全地臣服于他的律法之下，將他人指向神。真正的偉大在于能認識和傳講彌撒亞。

從約翰的疑問里，耶穌很有技巧地將我們帶到他的真實身份中。他就是彌賽亞，君王，掌管天地萬物。

12 節的經文不太好解釋 “ 12 從施洗的約翰的時候直到現在，天國不斷遭受猛烈的攻擊，強暴的人企圖把它奪去。 ” 意思可能是以前是用武力開拓天國的事業，天國也面對武力的抵抗和破壞。這句話的意思也可能是自古至今，天國一直面臨暴力抵抗。不管采用何種解釋，有一點是一致的：魔鬼正在竭盡所能地誘惑我們，令我們對耶穌的身份產生懷疑。 所以，沒有因為耶穌而跌倒的人有福了。

IV •  基督要我們以智慧來回應祂

是的，耶穌就是彌撒亞，那么人群的反應是怎么樣的呢？耶穌用一個比喻來說明， 16-19“ 我可用甚麼比這世代呢．好像孩童坐在街市上、招呼同伴、說、我們向你們吹笛、 你們不跳舞．我們向你們舉哀、你們不捶胸。約翰來了、也不喫、也不喝、人就說他是被鬼附著的。人子來了、也喫、也喝、人又說他是貪食好酒的人、是稅吏和罪人的朋友．但智慧之子、總以智慧為是。 ” 這個比喻有兩種不同的解釋。一種解釋是，施洗約翰是那舉哀的人，耶穌是歡快吹笛的人。另一種解釋是那些孩子都是耶穌的反對者，他們正在街上玩耍。一群人正吹奏著笛子，吸引路人一起跳舞和唱歌；而另一群人正在沉痛和悲哀中，召喚過往的行人一起舉哀和捶胸。施洗約翰拒絕加入歡快的人群，耶穌則拒絕加入悲痛的人群。耶穌的意思是，不論是約翰還是還是耶穌，人們都下定決心要拒絕他們。耶穌說，神差派了不同的使者，但是每一個都遭到人們的指責和拒絕。人們想要歡快和喜樂，可是約翰卻要禁食，并且傳講審判和悔改的信息。人們想要悲傷和哀痛，可是耶穌卻要和罪人一起吃喝。那些人想要達到的目的就是反對和拒絕天國。

今天的我們是否面臨同樣的問題？神差派了許多使者來到我們中間。有人充滿智慧，好像 CS Lewis, Schaeffer 和 Ravi Zechariahs 。 有人善于使用比喻和實踐，好像 Max Luccado 和 Swindoll 。還有人有解經的恩賜，比如 MacArthur 。不管是誰，人們都有各樣的理由來指責他們，比如太學究氣，故事味太重，感情沖動或者思想膚淺等等。不管怎樣，我們的頭腦里已經形成了固有的想法，那就是要拒絕傳遞信息的使者和信息的內容。最后一句 “ 但智慧之子、總以智慧為是。 ” 是整段故事的總結。你對神真理的反應能折射你的智慧。真正有智慧的人會接受傳信的使者以及信息的內容，而愚笨的人則是一味地抵抗和拒絕。

結論：

當我們在為耶穌基督一個星期以后的誕生做預備的時候，我們究竟在期待什么呢？是不是一位魔術師，彈指一揮間，就能除去我們生活中一切的煩惱和困難呢？我們是否在期待一個白依百順而又充滿能力的仆人，幫助我們獲得一切所需？還是我們在等待一個超人，能搭救我們脫離一切苦難？又或者是一個有大能力的人，幫助我們實現夢想？如果這就是我們所期待的耶穌，那么就會令我們感覺萬分的失望。

在這將臨期的季節，我們要牢記回到 圣 經，擦亮雙眼，調整期待，使我們心中所描繪的那位即將誕生的嬰孩和 圣 經里的描述一致。是的，他就是彌賽亞，萬王之王，萬主之主。如果他就是萬王之王和萬主之主，那么我們唯一的反應就只有是在生命里完完全全地順服他。如果他是我們的主，那么我們要追求他最看重的事：信心，希望，大愛， 圣 潔，憐憫和仁慈。如果他就是萬王之王，萬主之主，那么我們應該深信他洞悉一切。無論我們的遭遇如何，我都要完全地信靠他。我想用稍加修改后的 Ravi Zechariah 的博客上的一段話為今天的講道做結束：

“ 我對生命的了解太少，我的信心雙眼模糊不清，可是不要緊，因基督深知一切，並且祂必與我同在。 ”

Date:   12/16/07

Text:   Matthew 11:2-19

Title:   Whom Are You Expecting?

Theme: Our expectation of Christ must be directed by God's revelation in the Scriptures.

Introduction:   

  You remember the excitement when you found out you were coming to Houston and do research in one of the medical institutions. You thought of the great experience plus the prestige of working in one of the world's best research centers. However, soon after arrival, you become disillusioned. You are frustrated and angered by the way you are being treated. Your expectations and reality just don't match. (Or you heard great things about a certain restaurant and looking forward to go there. After you taste the food, you feel such a letdown. Expectation doesn't match the reality.

  Or there was the excitement of getting married, with great expectations of spending the rest of your life with someone you love. You look at each other with glittering eyes and great admiration. You are the subject of envy of your friends. Then several years later, you are so disappointed that you are looking for a way out. Your expectation and reality don't match.

  Our lives are full of unfulfilled expectations. The same can be said in our spiritual journey. People told me how much they like this and that church. It was the best thing that could happen to them on this side of heaven. Then several months or years later, the same people would complain of the problems we have here. Nothing we do is right. Many of us still remember the joy of coming to know Christ. At that moment we also thought of the changed Christ would bring into our lives. We envisioned a life that would be much smoother than what it had been. Yet, it didn't turn out that way. We feel being deceived, and slowly drifting away from Christ.

  During this Advent season, one major theme is the expectancy of the birth of Christ. What is the Christ that we expect? What kind of person, what kind of ministry, what kind of relation to us are we anticipating? You know, sometimes Christ can disappoint the expectation of some of us.

  The text before us today is about, of all the people, John the Baptist's disappointment with Christ. Let's take a look to see how his disappointment and Jesus' response to him mean to us.

I.   We acknowledge the presence of ‘Doubt' in our spiritual journey.

  Vs.2-3, “ 2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” at this time, John was in prison because he had denounced King Herod for taking the brother's wife, Heroias. It was an adulterous relationship. In return, Herod put him in the prison located 5 miles east of Jordan .

We must be surprised by how can someone like John asked such questions. He was the one who proclaimed the arrival of the Messiah. With the coming of Messiah, there would be fiery and severe judgment. He was the one, identifying Jesus as the Messiah. While in prison, John's disciples must have communicated some the things they saw about Jesus. They related to John about Jesus' deeds. “..heard in prison about the deeds of Christ.” John noticed something was missing. Where was the judgment that would come with the Messiah. There was still the cruelty and corruption of Caesar, the corruption of the religious leaders. He was being held in prison because he spoke what was right. The world was as wicked as before and yet Jesus did nothing about it. With this he asked the question: “Are you the one, the Messiah, or we are to look for another?” John's image of the coming Messiah and the nature and style of Jesus' ministry was so radically different, thus generating doubts in John's mind. Reality and Expectation don't match.

There was a story about a Christian witnessing to a Jewish rabbi in NY. The Christian said that the Messiah had come. Upon hearing that, the rabbi walked to his window and looked at NY city. Then he said, the city is as corrupt as before, the Messiah is not here yet.

I feel we can certainly identify with John the Baptist and the NY rabbi. When we first become Christians, we thought Christ will change us over night, fixing our bad tempers and habits. Or he would change our spouse, turning our marriage around. We thought we would be living a blissful life after our conversion. Yet, it was not like that. We find ourselves in more troubles at home and work. We saw Christians not living in harmony with one another, sometimes it is worst than our work place. Then there is our health. Why am I having so much problem with my health after the baptism? We ask: is this really what Christian faith is all about? Is this all that Christ can do for me? How come my child turns out this way? Where is his promise and power? If he is really in control, how come my world is still full of injustice and problems?

Some of us here this morning may feel this way. Our image of Jesus and his work is very different from the reality. This caused us to ask: is he really the Messiah, the savior and Lord of all? Who is this Jesus that is to come? Now, let's move on to see how Jesus responded to John's doubts.

II.    Christ redirects our ‘Doubts' to His words .

  John's disciples asked Jesus, Are we to look for someone else? In vs.4-5, “ 4 And Jesus answered them, "“Go and tell John what you hear and see:" 5 "the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them." When we read this, we understand that these words were a description of Jesus' deeds. But what did John hear in these words? John knew these are prophet Isaiah's words. Jesus was quoting several passages from Isaiah. The one thing he left out was the judgment part. You see what is happening here? John heard about the deeds of Christ. And now Jesus was telling John about Isaiah's description of the deeds of Messiah. In other words, Isaiah's description of Messiah's deeds was the same as the deed's of Christ that John had heard both from his disciples and now Jesus himself.

  John was in that desert prison for quite a while. Physically and emotionally he could have been exhausted. His vision of the Messiah had become blurred. He could not see clearly the real world around him too clearly. Thus causing him to question, to have doubts about Jesus' identity.

  John asked, are you the one? Jesus did not get mad at him, instead brought John to the scriptures, and showed him what was spoken in there. Now, what does it mean to us?

  I remember this past Monday, after working at the computer for an hour or two, I got up and looked for something. I saw things were kind of blurry, not as sharp as it could be. I thought, this is bad, something had happened to my eyes. Then all the horror scenarios began to come up: what if I can't see, can I still preach? A few moments later, I realized I was wearing my reading glasses. What a relief. Isn't it true that some times when our eyes of faith become dim, we don't see things clearly, we missed the truth about Jesus Christ.

It is ok to have doubts about Christ. When our personal expectation of Christ does not match with reality, we should ask questions. Where should we find the answers? We're to come back to the scriptures, like Christ did. We need to adjust our expectations with the scriptures' teaching. When we expect Christ to change us over-night, we're to ask, where did the bible say that? When we expect that the journey of faith is a downhill path with no obstacles whatsoever, we are to come back to the scriptures and hear Jesus' words such as John 16:33, “ 33 "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

  When we have doubts, or seeing another person with doubts, we must not rebuke ourselves or others. Instead with patience, bring the other person to God's words. Very often in Christian circles, we downplay people's doubts or questions. When someone has doubts about God's existence, goodness and faithful, our typical answer is that you need to have faith, don't ask too many questions. Sometimes we are even taught that people's questions are but a smoke screen to cover up some moral issues. Therefore we don't need to respond to those questions. I want to thank God that through Francis Schaeffer I learned that no question is unimportant. We are to treat each question seriously. When the eyes of faith is dim, when things become blurry, come back to God's word so that we can see clearly again.

III.    Christ redirects our ‘Doubts' to His true identity .

  After John's disciples left, Jesus turned to the crowd and talked to them about John. vs. 7-9, “ 7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: "“What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?" 8 "What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses." 9 "What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet."

  Jesus asked the rhetorical question: did you go to the wilderness to see a reed shaken by the wind? It was the imagery of a wavering reed. Reed was one of the symbols for King Herod. The irony here is that the reed is easily moved by the wind. This infers that Herod was easily persuaded by other people's opinion. Even though Herod dislike John for what he said, yet he was afraid of the people and dared not kill him. Later, it was Herodias' words, his brother's wife, that caused Herod to kill John. He was like a reed moving in wind.

  Jesus' second rhetorical question: did you go to the wilderness to see man wearing nice clothes and living in the palace? It is possible Jesus was referring to prophets that lived in the king's palace. In the OT, there were prophets who lived in king's palace, saying words that the king liked to hear. They are like the hired or professional prophets, living comfortable lives. The answer to these questions are obviously NO. John had that steel like moral convictions, just the opposite of the wavering reed. John did not live in the palace but instead in the wilderness, wearing clothes made of Camel's hair. This John, Jesus said is greater than any prophet. Why? Because this John was the one prophesized in the OT to prepare the way of the Messiah king. He would be the advance person for the Messiah.

  John is the greatest prophet because like other OT prophets, he proclaimed the coming of Messiah. He went one more step by identifying Jesus as the Messiah. No other prophets had such privilege. This is the reason Jesus called him more than a prophet, being the greatest among prophets.

  However, right after this, there came an equally shocking statement from Jesus. Vs. 11, “ 11 "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Yes, John is the greatest, but in God's kingdom, he was smaller than the smallest one. Why? You see, even though John prophesied about the Messiah's coming, even though he identified Jesus as the Messiah, his understanding of the Messiah's was limited. But for those who are in the God's kingdom are the ones who have seen a fuller picture of the Messiah. Those in the kingdom, see the Messiah suffered, died on the cross and then resurrected, and ascended into heaven. And we know that he will come again. At that time, there will be the final judgment as prophesied by the OT prophets. Those in God's kingdom are also the ones who point others to this Messiah, Savior and King.

  The reason for being great is because one have seen and heard the Messiah's redemptive work. You see our greatness has nothing to do with how successful is our ministry, how much money we give, our intelligence, spiritual gifts, great in administrative or preaching skills. True greatness is to have known the Messiah, submitted oneself to his rule and pointing other to him. True greatness is knowing Him and telling others about Him.

  From John's doubts, Jesus skillfully pointed us to his true identity. He is the Messiah king, the ruler over all.

  Vs.12 is difficult to interpret, “ 12 "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force." It could mean that the kingdom of heaven had been advancing with force, and there were also violent opponents trying to destroy it. Or it could mean from the beginning, the kingdom of had faced violent opposition. Whichever interpretation we take, one thing is common: the devil is doing his best to cause us to doubt who Jesus is. Therefore blessed is the one, who does not fall because of Jesus.

IV.    Christ wants us to response to Him with wisdom .

  Now what? Yes, he is the Messiah King, but how did the people responded? Jesus used a illustration to explained this. Vs.16-19, “ 16 "“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates," 17 " “ ‘ We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.'" 18 "For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.'" 19 "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.” There are two different interpretations of this parable. One is to take John the Baptist as the one who sang the sad song, and Jesus as the one who played the flute with a joyous mood. The other interpretation is that the children were Jesus opponents. They were playing in the street. One group played flute and said, come and play and dance with us. The other group sang sad songs and said, come and join us in our mourning. To the group that played the joyous mood, John the Baptist refused to join. And to the mourners, Jesus refused to join them and be sad. What Jesus is saying, whether it was John or Jesus, people had made up their mind to reject them. Jesus was saying that God sent different messengers, but people only want to criticize them. People wanted to be joyous and happy, but John fast and preached a message of judgment and repent. The people wanted to be sad, but Jesus joined the sinners to eat and drink with them. All that these people wanted to do was to play games and missing the kingdom.

  Isn't this same today? God has sent to us many different messengers. We have those who are intellectually gifted, such as CS Lewis, Schaeffer and Ravi Zechariahs. There are those gifted in illustrations and applications, such as Max Luccado and Swindoll. There are those gifted in careful exegesis such as MacArthur. No matter who they are, people criticized them as being too intellectual, too much story telling, too emotional or too superficial. No matter what, our minds were made up to reject both the messenger and the message. The last sentence, “Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds” is a summarization of the story. Your rejection or reception of the message will reveal if you have wisdom or not. The ones with wisdom will receive the message and the messenger. The one without wisdom will reject both.

Conclusion:

As we prepare ourselves for the birth of Jesus Christ in another week, what are we expecting? Are we expecting a magician, with a wave of his wand, will remove all our troubles and problems in life? Are we expecting an obedient and yet powerful servant who will help us to get what we want in life? Are we expecting a superman that we come and take us out of our problems? Or a mighty person who will make our dreams come true? You know, if this is the kind of Jesus we are expecting, we'll be terribly disappointed.

In this Advent season, it is important that we come back to the scriptures, clear our eyes, adjust our expectations, so that our image of this child that is to born matches the child as described in the Bible. Yes, he is the Messiah, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. If he is the King of kings and Lord of lords, then our only response is to be obedient to him in all walks of life. If he is our Lord, then we'll pursue things that matter to Him most: Faith, Hope and Love, Holiness, Compassion and Humility. If he is the King of kings and Lord of lords, then we can rest assure that He knows the best. No matter what situation I find myself in, I can trust him with my all. I like to close with this little quotation I heard from Ravi Zechariah's podcast (with a minor modification):

My knowledge of this life is little, my eye of faith is dim, but it's enough for Christ knows it all, and He is with me.