Contemplative Bible Reading

Matthew 11:2-5 (New Living Translation)

² John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, ³ “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”

⁴ Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen— ⁵ the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.

Followers of John the Baptizer came to Jesus and asked a simple question: Are you the Messiah?

Jesus answers with, “What have you seen?”

The answer includes:

1. the blind see
2. the lame walk
3. the lepers are cured
4. the deaf hear
5. the dead are raised
6. the Good News is preached

That is quite a list. Those are miracles, er, uh, wait a moment. How did number 6 appear on the list? Preaching ranking up there with raising the dead to life? That must be some type of mistake or something, right? I mean anyone can preach the Good News, right?

I can think of several explanations. Here is one:

the Good News is that Jesus, son of Mary and Joseph, is the one anointed to take away the sins of the world.

That statement is as amazing as raising the dead. Today, I guess we have grown so accustomed to that statement that it doesn’t seem like such a big deal. Too bad for us.