Reading: Matthew 11-12, Psalm 86

So, Jesus has been wandering around the cities of northern Judea, acting like the King of an entirely new creation. Now he has sent out his disciples to the people to demonstrate what this new creation looks like. One might think that at this point the Jesus Movement would really be getting off the ground. But what we actually see is doubt, challenge, and disbelief. From the Pharisees with their accusation that Jesus casts out demons by way of demons, to John the Baptist’s question of whether Jesus is the one or if they should wait for another, the challenges to the new world that Jesus represents don’t let up. Israel, who struggles with God and man, continues to live up to it’s name.

Jesus’ answer to the challenge of John’s disciples is fascinating. To them he says, what do you see? The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead live, and the poor have good news preached to them. What other signs could they possibly have? But then Jesus turns to the crowds and starts talking not about who he is, but about who John is. He drops this rather wild statement: Of those born of women, none is greater than John the Baptist. Well, given that we all fit the category, I guess we can put an end to the who-is-the-greatest questions right now. Jesus describes John as the culmination of the prophetic tradition of Scripture- he is Elijah, and the messenger of the book of Malachi. The greatest prophet and the last prophet. But he who is least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. John doesn’t see the kingdom for what it is, he has to ask whether Jesus is the one. Those in the Kingdom will know who their King is.

Jesus turns from John to the people. They didn’t like what John had to say because he was too ascetic. They don’t like what Jesus has to say because he is too permissive. One would think they would pay attention to what both Jesus and John were doing, but the cities who had miracles performed in them are unrepentant. Jesus closing his diatribe against the stubborn people with another affirmation of who he is: all things have been handed over to me by my father. We are used to reading that line at the end of the Gospels, but here it is in the middle. Matthew is telling us that Jesus is The Authority. He is the answer.

But there are more challenges to his authority to come. He is challenged on the minutiae of the law in eating grains of wheat. He is challenged on his authority over healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. He is challenged on his authority over demons by the teachers of the law and accused of having authority because he consorts with the prince of demons. The present world order will not give up it’s stranglehold easily. Jesus is actively bringing about a new creation right in the midst of the old, and the old is fighting back.

Note that Jesus’ responses are from the Hebrew Scriptures. Stories about David and Jonah, quotes from Isaiah. While Jesus is declaring a new creation, he is doing so out of the stories of the old. The message of John the Baptist is still carried forward by Jesus. The wrath of God against a world filled with injustice and violence, the necessity of repentance, and the willingness of the creator to restore his creation. Jesus’ message is not new, it is just more active than in the past.

The last challenge comes from close to home, literally. Jesus’ family shows up. Jesus takes the opportunity to make yet another point about how all things are being made new. Who are the family of the King? The people who are in the Kingdom. Jesus is announcing a new family along with a new nation and a new creation. As the challenges come to the authority of Jesus, what he claims authority over grows ever larger.