Children’s Sermon

Matthew 11:2-11

Who Else Is Coming?

By Dr. Carol J Miller

In today’s Scripture, John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, is in prison. John told King Herod––who was a very bad man– to stop doing the very bad things that he did. That made Herod angry, so King Herod put John into prison.

John’s followers went to visit him in prison. John was glad to see them. He had an important job for them to do. John wanted his followers to go to Jesus and ask him this question. Listen carefully: “Are you he who comes, or should we to wait for another?”

John wasn’t sure if Jesus was the Messiah! John expected the Messiah to come and start separating the good from the bad people. He thought the bad grown-ups were going to get punished as soon as Messiah came. He thought the messiah would tell people that God was going to punish them, too. John thought the grown-ups would be scared when Messiah came.

But Jesus came––John knew that Jesus was God’s Messiah. But Jesus was not yelling at everyone. He was not being mean to people who had done wrong things. It was not at all as John had imagined it. How did Jesus treat people? [Accept all answers]. Jesus treated people kindly, he told them to turn from bad things and follow him instead. He made friends of the people John might have thought Jesus would punish. He had lunch with some of them! So John sent his friends to ask that question: “Are you the one…?”

John thought that maybe Jesus wasn’t the Messiah. So he asked Jesus if he was Messiah or did they have to wait for someone else. Here is what Jesus answered. Listen: [Read slowly, as if you are reading an important list]

“Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:
the blind receive their sight,
the lame walk,
the lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear, the dead are raised up,
and the poor have good news preached to them.”

Jesus is telling John to decide for himself. Who else but God’s own special person could make the blind see? Could any power but God’s power make people who could never walk, suddenly walk? Who but God’s own special person could make the dead be alive again? Good things were happening for the poor. Jesus is showing John that Jesus is the Messiah, but he is doing things in a different way, a better way than John expected. John has his answer: Jesus is God’s special person!

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible

Copyright 2013, Richard Niell Donovan