30^th December 2010

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley (Sunday 12 December 2010)

Lessons - Psalm 146:1-6,10; Luke 1:46-55; Matthew 14:1-12; Matthew 11:2-15

Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one
greater than John the Baptist; yet those who are least in the kingdom
of heaven are greater than he. (Matthew 11:11 RSV)

For the second week our Advent readings focus on the unlikely figure of John the Baptist as central to our thinking about Christmas. Last week we saw that this social misfit, with appalling dress sense, an unmarketable product, a poor PR strategy and an unpopular message about repentance, points to the coming of One 'whose sandals he is unworthy to undo'. Today, from a prison cell, he asks whether in fact Jesus is 'the One'.

John the Baptist was a formidable character. He was brave in speaking unpalatable truth, resolute in opposition to consumer religion, humble in pointing away from himself. Imprisoned, and later beheaded (Matthew 14:1- 12), he was an uncompromising prophet of God. Jesus calls him 'the greatest human being ever born'.

It comes as a surprise then to hear that Jesus regards this remarkable man, who is 'more than a prophet' (v9), as being less significant than the humblest person in the 'kingdom of heaven' (v11). How can this be true of a man who represents the best of Israel's faithful prophetic tradition and connects Jewish hopes to the coming of Jesus?

The answer is not found in any supposed 'superiority' of the Christian community over the Jewish community. There are no grounds to dismiss Hebrew faith; no grounds for anti-Semitism -- a point sadly lost on some
Christians throughout the centuries.

In John the Baptist the two traditions, old and new, are indissolubly joined by his pivotal question to Jesus: 'Are you he who is to come or should we to expect another?' Neither John the Baptist nor his fellow prophetic witnesses to God's grace are to be ignored because Jesus says that 'those who are least in the kingdom are greater than he'.

Before looking more closely at this puzzling saying, we should see what John the Baptist and Jesus Christ have in common. Both are united in suffering for speaking an unpopular word. In preaching on the Kingdom of Heaven that shatters (religious and secular) complacency they both experience violence by those intent on doing evil (11:12ff; 14:1f). John the Baptist is imprisoned and later murdered by the State (Matthew 14:10).
Jesus is crucified by the State with the collaboration of the 'Church' and the acquiescence of 'the people'. Jesus and John the Baptist are united by preaching that gets a largely hostile reaction and ends in murder. They have much in common.

The difference between Jesus and John the Baptist is this. Where John the Baptist is 'the greatest person ever born' (v11), Jesus is the very presence of 'God with us' in the flesh. The Creator has not only 'spoken'
through Jesus, as he did and does in John the Baptist. God became incarnate in the man Jesus who was crucified and raised from the dead for us all. In a manner that was completely unexpected even by the most perceptive prophets, God participates in the 'lowliness of human flesh', identifies himself with our broken humanity and suffers at our hands, yet
in triumphing over evil he reconciles us to himself.

In the words of the Nicene Creed, Jesus is 'true God from true God . . .
of one Being with the Father' who has come 'for our sake' and 'our salvation'.

Where does this leave John the Baptist? His unique role, as the representative of truly courageous faith who heralds Christ's coming, is to highlight the unique presence of God in Jesus. John the Baptist's question about Jesus: 'Are you the one who is to come or should we expect another?' is answered by the fact that 'the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, lepers are healed, the dead are raised up, the poor hear the good news and those who welcome him are blessed' (vv4-6). The signs of hope for the coming of Messiah -- which are expanded to include lepers and the dead -- are present in Jesus' ministry.

John the Baptist's importance is not diminished! He is 'more than one of the prophets' in that he alone is the forerunner of Messiah. In this sense he closes the era of prophetic hopes and foresees the messianic age in Jesus. His unselfconscious courage and humility in pointing away from himself to Jesus is exemplary. It is no criticism of John the Baptist to say that, in pointing to Jesus, he stands on the threshold of the new age without crossing into the Kingdom of Heaven brought by and embodied in him.

It would be a grave mistake therefore to think that followers of Jesus are more important than John the Baptist. When Jesus says that 'those who are least in the kingdom are heaven are greater than he' (11:11) 'it is clear,' as Eduard Schweizer points out, 'that we cannot be dealing with "small" and "great" in the usual sense.' (The Good News according to Matthew, p261.) Elsewhere Jesus warns disciples against vying to be the greatest (Mark 10:42ff). They are to count themselves among 'the least' by serving God and their neighbours without sidelong glances at their own goodness.

The 'least in the kingdom' must learn from John the Baptist by pointing away from themselves to Jesus. Disciples are only 'greater than John the Baptist' in the sense that, by virtue of God's grace, they have seen the unique fulfilment of God's promises to Israel and all humanity in Jesus.
That is to say, 'the least person in the kingdom of heaven' sees in the person of Jesus what the beheaded John the Baptist himself did not and could not fully see: the very character and being of God with us -- the
embodiment of the Creator's costly, self-giving love.

Such greater insight is often lacking among those who might consider themselves to be among 'the least' at Christmas! Our 'vision' of Jesus is blurred by a desire to make Jesus fit in with our 'family values', our 'simple piety' and our 'commonsense logic'. We easily overlook the fact, so powerfully expressed by Mary in the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), that the joyous event of his 'coming into the world' is intimately connected to the suffering and hope of Israel and will be accompanied by strife and
hostility and judgement on all that demeans our God-given dignity.

At this time of year, it is easy to forget that the Kingdom of Heaven, which was expected to bring God's victory over evil and peace to the persecuted, was and is largely unwelcome. John the Baptist is imprisoned and beheaded; Jesus is rejected and crucified! Even the works of compassion, justice, healing and mercy -- that point to the messianic fulfilment of ancient hopes (v4ff) -- are done by One who is to be crucified!

Not everything about the mystery of God's presence in the Christ can be adequately conveyed in words. A C14th Macedonian icon portrays the splendour of the incarnation.

John the Baptist, Mary and Jesus are very 'human figures'. At the same time, the icon conveys a sense of 'special divine action' centred on Jesus. All have halos, but his is the most well-defined. The humanity and divinity of Jesus is emphasised. John the Baptist heralds the coming of the Christ. John the Baptist and Mary are as one in welcoming Jesus. Both point away from themselves. John the Baptist's staff is topped by a cross, indicating the fate of baby Jesus being held by Mary. On the ground between Mary and John the Baptist is a plate on which sits the severed head of John the Baptist, indicating John the Baptist's sharing in the suffering of Christ.

The icon is full of humanity, sorrow, hope and deep joy expressed without a hint of sentimentality. We are in the midst of a profound mystery: the mystery of the incarnation that cannot be made to fit our values, but challenges our pretensions, calls us into costly discipleship and enables us to live with an unequalled sense of freedom and joy.

The question for us is whether we see what it means to be 'the least' in the Kingdom of Heaven: to follow the One in whom the crucified and risen love of God is embodied. To see this is to be among 'the least in the kingdom of heaven' who are 'greater' than John the Baptist -- not because of 'superior' piety or morality but only because, by God's grace, it is a privilege to know God's costly grace for us in the flesh of Jesus Christ.

-----------------

Rev Dr Max Champion is minister in the St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley, Victoria, Australia. Dr Champion is Chair of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the UCA.