Yes, Jesus is the One.

John’s disciples asked Jesus, “Are you the One?”

Some years ago a woman I knew rinsed a glass and as she was putting it into the dishwasher, she dropped it and reflexively tried to catch it and did – just as it broke. She wound up with a nasty cut on her hand that required a trip to the ER and some stitches.

Her hand initially appeared to heal, but it didn’t heal down deep. She developed an infection that became so bad it threatened her life and required three surgeries. Eventually they found the tiny shard of glass that threatened her life. It had carried a particular bacterium that most of us have on the surface of our skin deep into her hand where it caused serious danger.

It’s helpful to think of sin that way – like an infection.

Our human condition is defined and infected by our capacity to choose to follow God in a particular situation - or not. Particular sins are often more or less on the surface. We think we can brush or scrub them off without too much trouble, apply some antiseptic or antibiotic and we are fine. Day by day that works, or at least appears to work. But our tendency to go our own way and thus rebel against God is a shard that is deep, much deeper than we can manage.

Further, we are in constant exposure to each other’s sins. They, too, often only impact the surface. Others go deep and cause distress. They haunt our dreams and rob us of our peace.

We find, as we prayed in the collect, that “we are sorely hindered by our sins.” This is the problem of human existence. Life is hard, then we die. Everything we do comes to dust. We look for meaning in life, that too comes to dust. That’s a real problem. It demands an ultimate solution.

We ask the Lord to “stir up” his power and come with “great might” to speedily help and deliver us. The prophets of old had promised one would do just that – to come and resolve our problems, and thereby help us with all our struggles. John’s disciples ask, “Are you the One?” That is the central question of our faith. Jesus, are you the One?

When Jesus responds to John’s disciples, he summarizes what he has been doing. His answer is loaded. It hearkens back to the proclamations of the prophets like Isaiah. In his time, the Jews were in exile so God’s message was of restoration to their homeland, which they had lost because of their sin. What the Lord said in that moment carried a vision for full restoration. Deliverance from suffering is deliverance from sin and is illustrated by healing. Jesus would often tell people he healed that their sins had been forgiven.

Let me be clear on this: healings are used to illustrate God’s promises for our future. That doesn’t mean people with illness, injuries, developmental issues or chronic illness are not forgiven. We are all waiting for ultimate healing and for many that wait is more acutely difficult and painful. Yet, God gives us a vision of hope to sustain us while we wait.

We see in this morning’s passage from Isaiah (Isaiah 35:1-10) how Jesus’ actions and words fulfill it. Isaiah describes four distinct healings; the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, the lame, and the tongues of the mute. They illustrate the hope and promise of restoration. These are all miracles the Gospels testify Jesus performed.

And so we may say of everything, of people and of everything else as the land gets water, that God’s promises are is coming true in Jesus. Even the highway Isaiah refers to, the highway that is straight and clear of any dangers is Christ himself.  He is the way, the truth and the life. And his fulfillment of these promises is older than Isaiah and the other prophets.

I’ve been working with a boy on his God and Family award for Cub Scouts. A couple of weeks ago we studied Deuteronomy 6:4-9:

 4Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.[a] 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem[b] on your forehead, 9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

This is coming at the same restoration but from the other angle. It’s kind of like preventive maintenance rather than repair. God instructs us on how to maintain our health in the first place. It’s diet and exercise to maintain health rather than surgery to fix something that has broken or gone wrong. This is important, supremely important. This passage forms the first part of the Shema, the most important prayer in Judaism. Shema means “Hear” as in “Hear, O Israel…”

That’s where it starts, with the ears – “Hear” – that we can hear God’s word, tune out all distractions from it, and be strengthened by it. We can also hear each other and learn from each other what needs to be done.

Loving God with all our heart, all our mind and all our strength, we next turn to the loosening of our tongues to teach our children, to talk about God and his commandments anytime and everywhere.

Next we bind them on our hand. Why? The hands represent our physical activity in the world, that we would do what we believe. Whatever our physical capacity, whatever we can do, we are to act as his agents.

Next we fix them as an emblem on our foreheads, that we should see with God’s eyes, see his will and purpose, that we would not be blind to his activity and direction.

Jewish people typically fulfill this commandment to “fix them on your doorposts” with what is known as a Mezuzah, a tiny box with a tiny scroll of the Shema in it, tacked into their front door’s frame. That is to help them remember the prayer as they go out and come in.  It is foundational. It forms a life of faith that looks to God for guidance.

But if we’ve gone deaf to God’s word, if we refrain from sharing his word and truth to our children, his children, if we have gone lame in doing his will and serving him, if we have gone blind to seeing the world around us through his eyes, we need to be healed. And we always need to be healed. And we need the deep shard of our sinful nature to be plucked out so we can heal fully.

“Are you the One?” Yes, Jesus is the One. All of those problems are solved. And more! The lepers, whose disease of the skin isolates them, are healed. And the dead are raised.

John the Baptist was in prison because he confronted King Herod’s sin. He would soon lose his life and his ministry would be cut off, ended. Jesus’ ministry would lead to the cross and they would imprison him in a tomb. But the tomb could not hold him. And the tomb will not hold you.

Once they removed the shard of glass from the woman’s hand, she was able to completely heal. Her skin resumed its role as a protective barrier from bacteria that could threaten her health and even her life. Your sin, your suffering, will not win. Christ has already won the victory for you.

John’s disciples asked Jesus, “Are you the One?” Yes! Yes! He is the One.

AMEN