Sermon for December 14, 2025, Third Sunday in Advent

Matthew 11:2-15 (Third Sunday in Advent—Series A)

“Do you See It? Really? ”

Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer, Enfield, CT

December 14, 2025

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our text is the Gospel Reading recorded in Matthew 11:

²Now John, when he had heard in prison the works of the Christ, sent through his disciples ³and said to Him, “Are you the Coming One or should we look for another?” ⁴And Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and announce to John the things that you are hearing and seeing: ⁵the blind are receiving their sight and lame are walking, lepers are being cleansed and the deaf are hearing, and the dead are being raised, and the poor are having good news preached to them. ⁶And whoever is not caused to stumble because of Me is blessed.” ⁷Now as they were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John, “What did you go out into the desert to look at? A reed that was being shaken by the wind? ⁸But what did you go out to see? A man who was dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. ⁹But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one more than a prophet. ¹⁰This one is he concerning whom it stands written, ‘Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ ¹¹Truly I say to you, one greater than John the Baptist has not risen among those born of women, but the one who is least in the reign of heaven is greater than he. ¹²But from the days of John the Baptist until now, the reign of heaven is being violently attacked, and violent men are trying to snatch it away. ¹³For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John, ¹⁴and if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah , who is going to come. ¹⁵Let the one who has ears hear.”

          When my son was just a little guy and wanted me to pay attention to something, he would hold it up right in front of me and say, “Do you see it? Really?” “Yes, Aaron, I really see it.” I mean, it’s hard to miss when it’s right in front of you!

          “And in those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea, saying, ‘Repent, for the reign of heaven stands near’” (Matt. 3:1-2). The God of heaven has come down to reign, to perform His kingly deeds, and that reign is in Jesus. God’s reign in Jesus comes to a world in rebellion against God. And God is fully committed to reclaiming His creation and restoring it, to remove the effects of Satan and human sin. Jesus the King has come down to perform kingly deeds of salvation through His Word, the Good News of the reign of God in Jesus, and through His sacramental gifts in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The reign of God stand near—do you see it, really?

          Well, actually, not always. Even though God’s reign in Jesus is here among us through the preaching of His Word and by the power of His Spirit, sometimes it’s pretty hard to see. John the Baptist was in prison, in Herod’s dungeon for speaking God’s Word against Herodias, Herod’s brother’s wife whom he had taken as his own wife. We are told in Luke 3, “But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by [John] for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison” (Luke 3:19-20 ESV). From his dungeon cell, it is easy to understand John thinking, “The reign of heaven stands near? Am I sure? This doesn’t look like it at all. Is something amiss? I don’t understand.”

          There has been much debate over John’s question, sent through his disciples to Jesus, “Are you the Coming One or should we look for another?” Does John himself doubt that Jesus is the Messiah or does he send his disciples to Jesus with the question so that they will not doubt? Luther wrote, “Did John the Baptist know that Jesus was the true Christ? This is an unnecessary question, since not much depends on it.”[1] Martin Luther, as well as most of the Early Church Fathers, understood that John DID believe that Jesus was the promised Christ, the Savior, and that John was pointing his disciples to Jesus as the Christ, fulfilling his ministry even as he had done in the wilderness, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

          I would agree that John did believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior. He proclaimed it. He saw the dove and likely heard the voice of the Father at Jesus’ baptism, “This is My beloved Son.” But things had greatly changed for John. What he was experiencing was not at all what he understood the reign of heaven to be. Jesus said to John’s disciples, “And whoever is not caused to stumble because of Me is blessed.” Imprisonment is being blessed? That makes no sense! John sat in prison because of Jesus and the Word of God, and this is somehow the reign of heaven present with blessing? Yes.

          The reign of heaven stands near in the person and work of Jesus, the Christ. Do you see it? Really? There are times, like John, when we have to answer, “No, I don’t see it.”

          The reign of heaven stands near . . . but you are fighting cancer.

          The reign of heaven stands near . . . but your family is having such a hard time making ends meet. Income doesn’t keep up with expenses.

           The reign of heaven stands near . . . but your relationship with your spouse is crumbling and you can’t see how it can be resolved.

          The reign of heaven stands near . . . but your body hurts, physical ailments and pain are debilitating.

          The reign of heaven stands near . . . but so does depression or anxiety.

          The reign of heaven stands near . . . but I don’t really see it. Where is this reign of heaven for me? Where is the inbreaking of God’s reign? Evil still runs amuck in this world. The power of wicked people remains strong. The effects of sin loom large in life, from disease and illness to pain and poverty. Just last Sunday, a person ran out of Barnes and Noble attempting to steal several books while my family was there. (He dropped the books outside and ran off apparently.)

          Like John, we might be left asking ourselves about Jesus, “Are you the Coming One or should we look for another?” And like John, we ask our question to Jesus Himself. We are bold enough in trust to go to Jesus with fears and doubts, and say, “I don’t understand. I’m confused. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” And Jesus, who loves you with an everlasting love, replies: “The blind are receiving their sight and lame are walking, lepers are being cleansed and the deaf are hearing, and the dead are being raised, and the poor are having good news preached to them. And whoever is not caused to stumble because of Me is blessed.” The works that Jesus performed during His earthly ministry were indeed the long-expected signs of renewal and restoration. God was at work through His incarnate Son bringing about the new age of salvation, overthrowing the power of sin, Satan, and death.

          A creation fallen and broken because of humanity’s sins, where physical ills seem to be the norm, finds in Jesus a Savior who is restoring and healing. God’s promises were being fulfilled in Jesus because the age of salvation is here and Jesus is the One who was to come. On the cross, Jesus accomplished the greatest act of salvation in suffering and dying for the sins of the world. His death reconciled you to your Father in heaven. His blood cleansed you from sin and grants you forgiveness and new life in Jesus’ name. In Holy Baptism, “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11 ESV). You are saved from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil. Salvation is yours in Jesus Christ alone. It is yours, this very day, by grace through faith in the Christ. Do you see it, really?

          We do see it, now, dimly (1 Cor. 13:12). We are saved in body and soul, now, completely. But the fullness of that salvation is also “not yet.” Like St. John, we struggle with the puzzle of salvation already won and salvation not yet fully experienced. We are looking forward to the Coming One, whose second advent will bring us into the fullness of the salvation Jesus won for us with His cross and empty tomb. We are looking forward to what Isaiah saw in today’s Old Testament reading, “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.’ 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. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.

No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Is. 35:3-10 ESV).

          This, dear friends, is a picture of the new creation. This is the fullness of our salvation when Jesus returns to usher in His new creation and bring His Church together in glory. This is the fullness of the reign of heaven in Christ that we have now by faith, but on that Day, by sight, when we will be with the Triune God forevermore and will see our King, the Lord Jesus Christ, on His throne.

          The reign of heaven stands near. Do you see it? Really? Yes, through the power and grace of the Holy Spirit, we see Jesus Christ, our Savior. We have, as the fruits of His cross and resurrection, the forgiveness of sins and life eternal now. We have the power of the Gospel in Word and Sacrament to carry us through the times of suffering, grief, pain, and confusion. We have a Savior now who is the Coming One. Even to old age and gray hairs, your Lord and Savior will not forsake you (Psalm 71:18). One day, perhaps today, He will come in glory and bring you into a new creation where there will be no more imprisonment, poverty, marriage and relationship troubles, or physical or mental distresses. There will be no more sin and its effects. No more death. Look to Christ Jesus, present in His Word, Baptism, and Supper for you, for your forgiveness, life, salvation, and the strengthening of your faith now until you are with Him forevermore in glory. The reign of heaven stands near in Jesus—and you see it! Really!! Amen.

     [1] Martin Luther, “Gospel for the Third Sunday in Advent,” Luther’s Works 75: Church Postils I (St. Louis: Concordia, 2013), 137.