The Third Sunday in Advent – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Matthew 11:2-10 “Finding Refuge in the Knowledge of Christ”
December 14, 2025 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
+ + +
Lord God, heavenly Father, You gave Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to become Man and to come into the world that He might destroy the works of the devil, deliver us poor offenders from sin and death, and give us everlasting life: We beseech You so to rule and govern our hearts by Your Holy Spirit that we may seek no other refuge than His Word, and thus avoid the sin to which we are by nature inclined, in order that we may always be found among the faithful followers of Your Son, Jesus Christ, and by faith in Him obtain eternal salvation; through the same, Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, by Veit Dietrich, p. 147)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 11th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:
Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 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. And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.”
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, who you only know because of the mercies of God, hearing of His good work for you in the Means of Grace, dear fellow redeemed:
As a student in a math class, if it wasn’t the math class that was the bother, there was a response by the teacher which would always make the students sigh. They would be given the homework and be told, “make sure you show all your work.” As math became easier and then getting to the point of using a calculator, why would anyone want to go through the work to do just that, “show your work?” Going over work though, is a great life skill. We use it to verify if something is true. John the Baptist’s disciples were told to check their work and then report back to their teacher. And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 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.” The work is to see if Jesus is doing the work. When we search like John’s disciples, this is what we also see. We rejoice because the Son did the work He was sent to do and we find refuge in this knowledge we have of His work which now saves us.
Since this is saving work, let’s do what Jesus tells us, let’s check His work. This is the exact work John’s disciples did. As Jesus has rattled off the miracles He is doing to help His people, there is only one place for us to look to see if He is doing what is needed of Him. We join John’s disciples in searching the Scriptures. Isaiah prophesied, Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy (Isaiah 35:5-6). Here is part of the list of what Jesus is doing. Isaiah prophesied again, The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives (Isaiah 61:1). Jesus is definitely bringing good news to the poor and binding up the brokenhearted. Jesus also confessed that He is the fulfillment of this prophecy in particular. He is the fulfillment because He is doing it and doing it in front of many witnesses.
For John, this news should bring a sigh of relief. Having the job of the forerunner, John knows what the people are waiting for. He preached that the people needed repentance. This message is needed for sinners who have failed God. Even though there are people who pushed back on this message, and it is in the nature of all to push back, this message is felt by many. St. Paul writes, now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God (Romans 3:19). The people were told this is what will happen in God’s kingdom. There will be an accounting for what they have done. The people have been taught by their leaders that they should be better in life. John points them back to Scripture and points out like the prophets before him, they can’t be better on their own. So, as he preached repentance, he preached that there would be One who would come who John was even unworthy to see.
After all His preaching, he then points out the One who would redeem the people. As John enters the end of his public ministry, he now is getting one more report about the Man who he prepared the way for. For John to know if this is the guy, he can look at the last thing Jesus said in this section. The very thing that John pointed out, that there would be One guy, Jesus says He is the guy. Fulfilling another prophecy, Jesus echoes the words of King David who wrote, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD (Psalm 118:26). The people are going to be blessed because of Jesus’ work, and yet, many who first heard the message of repentance and had their hearts moved, would later go back to their old ways.
Before we shame the people of Jesus’ day, it would be good if we checked our work. The first thing we see when we check our work is how the one who comes before Jesus was also prophesied. The last prophet before all was quiet would write of the one who would prepare the way before God. “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts (Malachi 3:1). So, just like the people, we have been prepared. We hear the message of God saving His people and how it is meant for us. We hear our Savior say, “And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.” Yet, to fully take in their message of repentance and we are offended Jesus preaches contrary to what our hearts can want. There might even be doubts if this can possibly be the One as we face the trials of life. Doubts, even when we can check Jesus’ work and see He truly does care. God will always care even as we are incapable of always caring.
The message of the coming kingdom of God is always caring even as His people who He has come to save are incapable of caring for Him. The people deserve suffering, yet Jesus provides blessing and refuge. He provides it because He is the only One who can. John couldn’t provide the saving, but he could prepare. Even his preparation wasn’t done on his own accord. The one who now wanted to hear one more time if Jesus was the One, did witness with his own eyes, The kingdom of God comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and live godly lives here in time and hereafter in eternity (Second Petition of the Lord’s Prayer). This begins with repentance. A call that has rang out through history. A call that changes hearts and points them to the refuge found in the One who is doing what was promised. He comes to be with the lowest of low people so they would have this great knowledge, that Jesus is the Christ.
This knowledge which turns into your refuge is because of the work of the Savior. John made it very clear who Jesus was going to be and what He was going to do. He made it so clear that He had to check his work to make sure it really was Him. The message that John preached is the message Jesus brings to life. John preached about the Man who would come and redeem His people. Jesus does just that. He redeems you through the cross, the fulfillment of the curse of man. Jesus reveals His gracious work, and the fulfillment of all God requires. He keeps the promise to pay for your sins, by revealing the complete care of His people. He cares for you with His life, and He will care for you by coming again. And this is why you can rejoice in the coming of your Lord. After sending a man who was more than a prophet to prepare the way, you are here because the way is prepared. The law comes and convicts for repentance and God grants forgiveness to lift you up again.
While you rejoice in Jesus’ saving work and the forgiveness of your sins found on the cross, the world can’t get over the hurdle you have also struggled with at times. They lack care because they believe He lacks care, and they have cast away His gracious evidence of His love. As he speaks his message of repentance, John had someone special that he was looking forward to seeing in all His glory. As he runs ahead with the news, there will be some who will try to shut it down. As you hear the parts of his message that cut to your heart, you understand he is looking out for you. He provides you with the knowledge of Christ. Knowledge you can find in the work done for you in Scripture. You search for that repentance and with the gracious gift of the forgiveness of sins, you find your Savior taking care of you with His good and gracious work. In your joy, you see and hear that you are prepared. You are prepared with the knowledge of Christ, hearing repentance and forgiveness, preparing your way through life forever. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
+ + +