“Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” (Luke 7:22-23)
As Jesus interacted with the disciples of John the Baptist, He revealed to us a cause for rejoicing. Jesus was healing people, raising the dead and preaching the gospel to the poor. In Jesus’ day such things were unheard of since the Jews had not known a true prophet of the Lord since Malachi 400 years earlier. John the Baptist was the prophet sent by God to prepare His people for the Messiah.
Jesus is that promised Messiah. The signs, healings, and miracles were, as He pointed out, fulfillments of the prophecies of Isaiah 35:4-6 and 61:1-11, passages which refer to the Messiah and the Kingdom of God. Jesus even had power even over death. Jesus has come to save God’s people from sin and restore them into right fellowship with the Lord God almighty.
To the Jews, the works Jesus performed were signs that He was a great prophet on a par with Elijah and Elisha. But He was greater than both of them and greater even than John the Baptist. John led people to repent of their sins, but Jesus would actually cleanse and forgive all sin by His death on the cross.
We have seen and experienced the redemption of the cross, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all who believe, not just prophets, priests, or patriarchs, but on every single one who has faith in Christ for salvation from sin, from the greatest to the least. Our ministry is to help our neighbors to realize the same mercy and forgiveness that has been granted to us. We must be faithful to this task as John was to his not only during this time of Advent, but every day of our lives.