Dispatches from Herod's Prison (2025-12-14)

Speaker: The Reverend Harman Thomas

Scripture: Isaiah 35:1-10, Matthew 11:2-19

Summary: Pastor Harman explores how John the Baptist in Herod's prison exemplifies for us the universal Christian experience of the "already-not-yet." While Jesus the light of the world shines just down the street, John the Baptist sits in the darkness of Herod's prison, and likewise while Jesus works in the world to reveal His Kingdom, it often feels like we watch longingly as if from the darkness of the prison cells of the sin, loneliness, loss, and suffering of this life. Rather that being without Christ, however, in the darkness of Herod's prison, our suffering is united with the mystery of Christ's Cross, where we are His Body suffering for the salvation of the world. While this may not be the answer we want, it is the only answer that makes sense of the "not yet" of our lives, until Jesus comes and brings His eternal "now."