Here is the Messiah - The Rev. Joyce Keeshin

Sermons from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

We know that the pain and the suffering is still to come. Thinking about the disciples more, are, are they walking along Jesus, flanking him? Might that be something we would have done? Or are some of them acting almost as an advance team, drawing the crowds, letting them know about Jesus, letting them know that here is the person they have been waiting for. Here is the Messiah. Way back when I was in my 20s I was very involved in political campaigns and I can remember being part of an advanced team and our whole job was to arrive early and to get people excited about the candidate who was to come, to get them excited about meeting them and to give a preview of their message. It was a very exciting time. I wonder what it would be like to be an advanced team for Jesus, to be able to tell people who Jesus was, why it was important that they meet him, know him. And we might ask, what are the disciples telling people to draw them to Jesus? In Matthew's gospel, they talk of how the city was stirred, the whole city was stirred by Jesus's arrival. And people were asking, who is this? And the crowds were responding, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee. But what are the disciples telling people? How are they getting the people to turn out? How are they getting this incredible celebration? What would we tell people if we were the disciples? What do we tell people when we seek to introduce them to Jesus? When we want them to meet the Jesus we know?