good news - for whom?

Above is an extract from a first-century AD, eye-witness biography of Jesus the Christ, Jesus the Messiah. Earlier, Matthew had been a tax “farmer” – a person contracted to extract taxation revenues for the Roman occupying forces who could keep for himself anything he gained over and above the amount he had contract to pay to Rome. By the time he wrote his biography, he had changed – remarkably.

In the above incident, Matthew reports that Jesus was out and about “in their cities” – in the cities from which Jesus had called his disciples. Jesus was therefore among folk who knew all about him but had held back.

Those agnostics were joined by some of the disciples of John the Baptist. John, who was in prison for calling on King Herod to live a more-righteous life, had sent these disciples to Jesus because he had begun to doubt that Jesus was really the Messiah – the “one who is to come”. If not, “shall we look for another?”

Matthew reports that, some months earlier, John the Baptist had preached to the crowds this message: “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” 

 

Now (above), like the folk in these cities, he is unsure about Jesus. How will Jesus respond? What will convince John that Jesus is really the Messiah?

There were six things which the disciples of John the Baptist were asked to observe and report on to John in prison.

• the blind receive their sight;

The Messiah was not living in a palace, did not have an army, had no financial resources and was not the boss of any hierarchy. He had not come with “unquenchable fire” but with prior “good news”.

He had gifts for the needy – those unable to see or to walk, those with deep-seated illness, those who were deaf, and, indeed, for the dead.

And he loved the poor. Matthew wrote in Greek and the word for “poor” which he used (ptochoi) meant persons reduced to begging from others. These were having “good news brought to them.” 

These days in Jersey we are all increasingly distrustful of our political leaders – insular, national and global. We are also distrustful of experts – medical, scientific, financial and spiritual. We are especially suspicious that we may discover hypocrisy – play-acting - in other people: pretence as opposed to truth; self-love as opposed to love of the poor.

Jesus did not ask the disciples of John the Baptist to go back to him with anything other that what they “hear and see” – the six things which were indisputable there, in front of them, at that time.

 

It might even be good enough news for one beggar to share with another.

As Jesus said, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”