COMMENT

Advent Preaching on "Doubting John"

by MARY JANE HAEMIG

or centuries Matthew 11:2-11, the story of John the Baptist

F sending his disciples to Jesus, was the gospel lesson for Advent
3. Preachers have taken very different approaches to a nagging issue
raised by the beginning of the pericope. "When John heard in
prison of the works of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to him
with this question, 'Are you the one who is to come, or should
we look for another?'" Does this question indicate that John did
not believe that Jesus was the Messiah? Does it indicate that John,
having previously believed, now doubted Jesus was the Messiah?
Or does it indicate something else? The text does not explicidy
raise or address these questions. Yet preachers have asked such ques-
tions of the text and have believed it necessary to deal with them.
I here review how seven preachers since the Reformation have
approached this issue: Martin Luther, John Gerhard, Philip Jakob
Spener, Wilhelm Lohe, Albert Schweitzer, Karl Barth, and Bo
Giertz. My purpose is not a general review of how this text has
been preached but rather a focused examination of how these
preachers have dealt with one question. The point is not to declare
one approach correct and the others incorrect. Rather, this review
of preaching can help us reflect on how theological and other
presuppositions affect exegetical conclusions and homiletical ex-
pressions.

Martin Luther (1521)

Luther's first postil or sermon collection, written while he was

at the Wartburg (1521-22), contained sermons for Advent through

348

LUTHERAN QUARTERLY Volume XX (2006)

 ADVENT PREACHING ON "DOUBTING JOHN" 349

Epiphany.1 The gospel sermon for Advent 3 deals with John's ques-
tion right at the beginning. Luther does not think the issue of John
the Baptist's state of mind is important: He begins: "The most I
find on this Gospel treats of whether John the Baptist knew that
Jesus was the true Christ, although this question is unnecessary and
of litde import."2 In a brief paragraph Luther reviews two previous
interpretations. Ambrose believed John asked not because of ig-
norance or doubt but "in a Christian spirit." Jerome and Gregory
thought John was asking whether he would also be Christ's fore-
runner in hell. Luther rejects the latter opinion, noting that the
text clearly relates the question to Christ's coming on earth.3
Luther noted that John knew well who Jesus was, for he had
baptized him and confessed who he was. Why then did John ask?
In thefirstplace, it is certain that John asked it for the sake of his disciples,
as they did not yet hold Christ to be the one he really was. And John did
not come in order to make disciples and draw the people to himself, but to
prepare the way for Christ, to lead everybody to Christ.. .4

Luther continues that John's disciples had heard his testimonies

concerning Christ-that he was the Lamb of God, the Son of God-
but they did not believe it or understand it. They and all the people
thought more of John than of Jesus. They were led to this error
by the fact that Christ was known only to John, not to the people
generally, and by the fact that Christ appeared so humble and com-
mon. Jesus did not belong to the priesthood or the learned, but
was rather a layman and carpenter's apprentice. John's disciples
looked for a mighty leader.
From such delusion John could not deliver them with his words. They clung
to him, and regarded Christ as being much inferior, meanwhile looking for
the glorious appearing of the great person of whom John spoke. And should
he really be Jesus, then he had to assume a different attitude; he must saddle
a steed, put on bright spurs, and dash forward like a lord and king of Israel,
just as the kings aforetime had done.. .5

When Jesus performed miracles and became famous, John thought

he would point his disciples away from himself to Christ. "John
sends them to Christ so that from now on they might learn not
350 LUTHERAN QUARTERLY

only from the witness he bore of Christ, but also from the words
and deeds of Christ himself that he was the one of whom John
had spoken."6 The works and deeds of Christ could not be done
by all the kings, all the learned, and all the rich in the world.
For Luther this is not an abstract consideration of an interesting
exegetical question. His concern is that the benefits of Christ be
applied to real people.
How necessary it was for John to point his disciples away from himself to
Christ is very clear. For what benefit would it have been to them if they had
depended a thousand times on John's piety and had not embraced Christ?
Without Christ there is no help or remedy, no matter how pious men may
be. So at the present day what benefit is it to the monks and nuns to observe
the rules of St. Benedict, St. Bernard. . .if they do not embrace Christ and
him only, and depart also from their John. . .
. . John deals kindly with his disciples, has patience with their weak faith
till they shall have grown strong. He does not condemn them because they
do notfirmlybelieve him. Thus we should deal with the consciences of men
ensnared by the examples and regulations of pious men, until they are freed
from them.7

Luther does not linger on the issue of why John asked; he gives
it only three and one-half pages in what is a twenty-five page
sermon (in the translated edition). His view of John's question is
consistent with his view of John's person. For Luther and other
preachers in the Lutheran Reformation, John the Baptist was the
paradigmatic evangelical preacher, the one who pointed or sent
others to Christ.8 Matthew 11 is heard and preached in a manner
consistent with this view. Luther and other Lutheran preachers in
the sixteenth century consistendy argued that John did not doubt
Jesus but was rather concerned about the faith of his disciples.
Aware of their doubts, he sent them to ask Jesus this question.

Johann Gerhard (1613)

In his model sermon for Advent 3, Johann Gerhard stresses that

John did not himself doubt but asked on behalf of his disciples.9
John's lack of doubt is not a major point for Gerhard. Rather,
Gerhard emphasizes that just as the miracles of Jesus healed then,
 A D V E N T PREACHING O N " D O U B T I N G J O H N " 351

so Jesus heals us now. His sermon has two parts: i) Concerning

the miracles of Christ and how he is recognized from them as the
true Messiah, and 2) Christ praises his forerunner John and esteems
his steadfastness as well as his high office given by God.
The first part has many subparts; the discussion ofJohn's lack of
doubt forms a short prologue to these. Gerhard comments that it
is as ifJohn really wanted to ask whether Christ was the promised
Messiah who speaks in Psalm 40 and of whom Haggai 2 and Mal-
achi 3 prophesy. John intended his question to lead the disciples to
Christ and to have Christ take their doubts away. John himself did
not doubt; he had witnessed to the Messiah by jumping within his
mother's womb (Luke 1), he had seen the Holy Spirit descend
upon Jesus, and he had heard the voice from heaven (Matthew 3).
He himself had pointed his finger at Christ and declared him the
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1). In this
faith and witness to the Messiah he in no way had been made
doubtful or confused by his imprisonment, for Christ praised him
for his steadfastness. John's concern was to send his disciples to
Christ and to have the remaining doubts in their hearts taken away-
which Christ gladly did.10

Philip Jakob Spener (1687)

Philip Jakob Spener's postilla sermon11 on Matthew 11:2-10

spends only a paragraph (about a third of a page) on the issue of
John's doubt or lack thereof. Spener rejects the suggestion that
John asked because he did not know or because he doubted. John
had recognized Jesus while both were still in the womb (Luke 1),
God's voice and the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of the
dove had made Jesus known to him at the baptism of Jesus (John
1), and John himself had told his disciples that he (John) must
decrease and Jesus increase (John 3). (This is almost the same list
of scriptural passages that Gerhard had used.) Spener continues in
the interpretive line of Luther and Gerhard, attributing John's
question to his desire to send his disciples to Jesus. John knew that
no matter how diligendy he had witnessed to Christ his disciples
352 LUTHERAN QUARTERLY

still did not believe in Christ and rather preferred to cling to John.
John also knew that he would soon depart and for this reason
wanted his disciples to cling only to Jesus. The best opportunity
for this was to send them to Christ with a question that would give
him his own opportunity to speak and convince them who he was.
John hoped that when his disciples heard from the Lord's mouth
what he (John) also had told them it would pierce deeper into their
hearts than it had when it camefromJohn's mouth.12

Wilhelm Lohe (1847)

In his model sermon for Advent 3 (Matt. n:2-io) 13 Wilhelm

Lohe is adamant: Of course John doubted! How could anyone
deny he did? John is exemplary in that he went to the right place
for the answer.
Löhe's sermon has three parts: 1) The temptation of John, 2)
Healing (Salvation) through Christ, and 3) Christ's praise of the
tempted one. Lohe devotes considerable space in part one to the
issue ofJohn's doubt. He begins by stating the view (although not
associating it with any names) that said John did not doubt who
Jesus was but rather asked on behalf of his disciples-and Jesus played
along with this trick. Lohe does not believe this interpretation,
attributing it to a fear of diminishing John by admitting that he
doubted. For Lohe it is clear that John was tempted by doubt-"not
one letter in the text" supports the earlier interpretation. He re-
views John's life and stresses how convinced John was and how he
had received divine revelation. But now in prison John doubts. He
was the forerunner but why had the new kingdom not arrived?
He thought that when he was silenced the Lord would appear and
reign as king. But this did not happen. Now he is in prison and
Christ hesitates. According to Lohe, this produced temptation and
"tortuous doubt" in John. Lohe asks why we find it hard to accept
that John doubted. What saint lived without temptation? In the
Old Testament the patriarchs and prophets were tempted. In the
New Testament Mary and the aposdes were tempted. Temptation
did not win out over John! To the contrary, he is an example of
 ADVENT PREACHING ON "DOUBTING JOHN" 353

how one should behave in temptation. Had John not been tempted
we would not have John's noble example of how to behave in
temptation. Christ's temptation is beyond our sphere but John's
temptation, the temptation of a fallen one, is closer to us. A strong
man does not need to hide his weakness; the weak man is a hyp-
ocrite. John is not ashamed that his disciples and Jesus see him in
temptation. Lohe praises John's authenticity-he was a strong man
but when he could not be strong he did not hide this. He also
praises John for finding Jesus his refuge in doubt.
Nevertheless Jesus remains his only refuge, his bright star: he seeks light and
strength from no human other than him. He doubts him-and from him he
demands the resolution of his doubts.14

Usually one does not ask for information about a personfromthat

person himself but John had no such mistrust. Lohe calls John a
hero and praises his "holy simplicity" and noble character. John is
an example for us of how to deal with temptation and doubt.

Albert Schweitzer (i8gg)

In an Advent 3 sermon15 preached in a congregation Albert

Schweitzer makes John's doubt the central theme of his sermon.
Schweitzer believes that John's question indicates justified doubt.
John had preached a Messiah coming to judge the world but now
he was confronted with a Messiah who ruled through love.
Schweitzer believes his listeners are similarly struggling with dif-
fering visions of the Messiah and therefore with similar doubts.
Using a shorter version of the pericope (Matthew 11:2-6),
Schweitzer connects John's doubt to the Advent theme of the
coming of the Messiah. Advent 1 had presented the prince of peace
entering Jerusalem, a Messiah with loving and lovable character-
istics. Advent 2 presented the Messiah as judge of the world, a
powerful and shocking Messiah. Which Messiah is it? Schweitzer
comments that we cannot unite these two pictures of the Messiah
and so must decide. We turn away from the Messiah as judge of
the world and prefer the loving Messiah whom we have known
354 LUTHERAN QUARTERLY

since our youth. John faced a similar problem. John had preached
the Messiah coming to judge. How could he now receive a Messiah
very different from what he had imagined, a Messiah who was the
prince of love? John resembles us in this: presented with two com-
peting pictures of the Messiah, he had to decide.
Schweitzer spends some time on John's psychological state. Pre-
viously John had been lonely because, although he was among
humans, he did not understand humanity. Now he was lonely in
prison. He hears of a Jesus who preaches the kingdom of God,
heals the sick and associates with the poor. Can this possibly be
the Messiah? Where is the judging, destroying Messiah whom he
preached and expected? He wants certainty before his death, so he
sends his disciples to Jesus.
Schweitzer then moves to connect his listeners' situations to
what he considers the themes of Advent. Advent is not only a
joyous time of waiting for Christmas, it is also an earnest time of
considering the coming of God's kingdom. This kingdom does
not come at the end of time with power; rather, it comes in that
it becomes. It is the goal of our life and work. When you look
back on the development of the kingdom and look forward to its
consummation, have you never asked "Are you the one who is to
come?" Schweitzer thinks this is a double question: Are you the
Lord of love? Are you the Lord of the world? Historically Chris-
tianity has spread through the use of force; where Christendom
reigns, its questions cause civil and religious wars and other dis-
putes. Given this, Schweitzer raises the question whether the Lord
of love is the Lord of the world. Considering the inner struggles
of John is consoling for us, not because our question takes the same
form as his "Are you the one who is to come" but because we too
doubt that Jesus the Lord of love is really the Messiah the Lord of
the World.
The deepest reason for John's doubt, the reason that John finds
it difficult to see that Jesus the Lord of love is also the Messiah, is
that he thinks of the consummation of the kingdom of God in
terms of a messiah who comes to judge and simultaneously brings
the kingdom of God. But with Jesus the kingdom of God begins
with something small and seeks through love to conquer the world.
 ADVENT PREACHING ON "DOUBTING JOHN" 355

Will the Lord of love one day be Lord of the world? Will the
kingdom of love be consummated on earth? This is the form of
John's question that faces us during Advent. Is the gospel of love
powerful enough to overcome the world? We have questions and
doubts for which we have no answer. The kingdom has still not
come on earth. It is not godless to ask "Are you the one who is
to come?" All humanity, all those who have worked on the coming
and the consummation of the kingdom of God, live in the time
of Advent. The kingdom of God is not completed and we do not
know how it will be. Expectations and questions have no answer.
Despite this, humans continue to work on the kingdom of God,
for out of the mouth of the Lord of love comes the beatitude
originally directed at the questioning forerunner, "Blessed is the
one who does not take offense at me." This is the great Advent
beatitude, directed first at the one who in faith had worked for the
kingdom of God, and meant now for all those who wait and work
for the coming of the kingdom of God.

Karl Barth (1937)

In a radio address on December 12, 1937, Karl Barth preached

on Matthew 11: 2-6.16 Barth rejects the idea that John asked be-
cause he doubted. Rather John asked because he needed to hear
again. He did not ask for his disciples, out of ignorance, or because
he doubted Jesus. Jesus wants to be asked and gives himself in the
answer. In the first of three parts Barth considers John's question.
Part two deals with Jesus' answer and part three with the statement
"Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me."
For Barth, John's question is not one of mere curiosity or in-
terest. For the one who asks, life and death depend on hearing the
right answer, "I am the one." For if he does not hear this, then it
does not help him that Jesus is the one. It is as if Jesus is not the
one for him. He will not believe in Jesus, for how should he believe
if he does not receive the answer that Jesus is Christ, God's Son?
He will perhaps wait for another. Barth points out that John did
not ask this question in conversation with himself. He did not ask
356 LUTHERAN QUARTERLY

it to the world, a wise man, or a clever theologian or philosopher.

This question, upon whose answer all depends, can only be di-
rected to one. Who other than Jesus himself can answer this ques-
tion? The one who is Christ must say it, otherwise we will not
hear.
Barth had done his homework on the historical interpretation
of this text for he notes three prior views ofJohn's question.
i) The question is not John's own. John sent his disciples for pedagogical
reasons to Jesus, so that the disciples would get the right answer from
Jesus. (A footnote cites Calvin as an example of one holding this view.)
Barth finds this difficult to maintain. John asked for himself and Jesus
answers "Go and tell John.. ."
2) John really did not know whether Jesus was the Christ. (A footnote cites
J. Weiß.) Barth says this cannot be true for according to Matthew 3:13—
17 John knew well who Jesus was.
3) John while in prison doubted what he earlier thought he knew. (A foot-
note cites E. Klostermann.) From history and psychology one can well
imagine this. But in the gospel all things run a litde differendy. That Jesus
is the Christ is not a matter in the Gospel on which one can doubt. Peter
did not doubt; Thomas did not doubt but demanded to see. Jesus did not
doubt when he prayed "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me"
for he continued "yet not what I want but what you want." All these did
not doubt, for their faith was not in question.

Barth continues, stating that John too did not doubt. Rather, be-
cause he was the prophet who had pointed to Jesus and said "Be-
hold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" and
because he now heard of the works of Jesus he asked, "Are you
the Christ?" Faith knows no doubt. But faith can ask questions.
Much more: Faith must ask questions, not because it does not
know and not because it doubts but because it must always receive
again what it has. Faith is nothing other than an always new re-
ceiving.
Jesus wants to be asked whether he is Christ. He gives us the
answer in that he himself is the answer. For this reason we may
and must, while we receive and have his answer, always again be
those questioning him.
 ADVENT PREACHING ON "DOUBTING JOHN" 357

In the depth of his prison, in the face of death might and must John the
Baptist hear again from Jesus himself what he had already heard from Jesus.
We may and must also hear it again. This is what we have to learn from his
question.17

Bo Giertz (1967)

Swedish Theologian Bo Giertz makes doubt the central focus

of his study for preaching on Matthew 11:2-io.18 He tides his study
"What the Bible Says about Our Doubts." In his short study Giertz
distinguishes between two types of doubt: the doubts of those who
do not wish to believe in Christ and the doubts of the disciple.
This text deals with the latter. "John the Baptist himself began to
wonder if Jesus really was the one who was to come."19 Giertz
claims that such doubts "can always be conquered. But not through
rational thought."20 For Giertz, John the Baptist is the example of
what the doubting Christian should do. Our speculations will
never overcome our doubts that Christ is God's Son. Rather:
our doubts concerning Christ can be overcome by learning to know Christ
himself. It was when the disciples lived with him, listened and walked with
him, and companioned with him that they found their faith in him. If any
man feels himself far removed from Christ, then he must do as did John the
Baptist in prison. John sent a message to Jesus and laid bare all his doubts.
And Jesus answered by mentioning the things that were taking place. "Go
back and tell John what you hear and see." The Gospel is exactly this kind
of greeting from Christ. Here we too can hear and see.21

Giertz reinforces his view that "one should not be silent about
one's doubts before God" by citing the Psalter. In conclusion he
notes
And then we must not forget what Jesus says about the doubting John. That
he was more than a prophet, greatest among those who had been born into
the world. In the midst of our doubts we can thus be surrounded by the
grace of God and be used as a tool in the hand of God.22
358 LUTHERAN QUARTERLY

Concluding Thoughts

An examination of how preachers have seen and approached

John's question raises several issues in biblical exegesis and homi-
letics. What issues should a preacher address in a biblical text? What
should a preacher do with the unstated? What presuppositions af-
fect how a text is preached?
All of these preachers are aware of the potential difficulties posed
by John's question. Did John's question spring from ignorance,
doubt, a desire to direct his disciples to Jesus, or something else?
Each preacher seeks to address this. Several-Luther, Lohe, and
Barth-explicidy mention prior interpretations, if only then to re-
ject them. While crafting their own sermons, they dealt with an
issue that preachers before them had also deemed significant. These
great preachers all showed respect for the homiletical traditions
concerning the text and an understanding that these traditions may
have already shaped how their audience would hear them.
This survey also highlights the issue of what preachers do with
the unstated in a text. Nothing about John's doubt or lack thereof
is explicidy stated in Matthew n . But preachers have been strug-
gling with this issue for centuries. Any debater will tell you that
an argument from silence is not permissible. Obviously procla-
mation is a different form of speech than debate, but biblical ex-
egetes and preachers need to ponder whether and how they should
deal with the unstated. Luther's move is based in the text-John did
send his disciples to Jesus and provided an occasion for Jesus' proc-
lamation. But, for example, does Löhe's discussion stray too far
from what is actually in the text? Does Schweitzer's or Giertz's
treatment also stray too far? One could further question whether
some of the statements Luther, Gerhard, and Spener made about
the lack of faith ofJohn's disciples have sufficient basis in the text.
To what extent are homiletical moves such as these consistent with
faithful preaching of the text?
This survey also reminds us that what a preacher gets from a text
depends at least partially on what he brings to it. Presuppositions-
whether about the text or the contemporary audience, whether
theological, ecclesiastical, historical, or psychological- influence
 ADVENT PREACHING ON "DOUBTING JOHN" 359

how the text is preached. Given Schweitzer's theology, it is not

surprising that he sees John's question in terms of what it tells us
about John's understanding of the coming of God's kingdom. But
one must be careful about drawing easy conclusions. One could,
for example, attribute Barth's failure to allow for John's doubts to
his Reformed theology that lacks a theology of the cross. Yet such
a conclusion is drawn into question when one considers that Lu-
ther too did not think John doubted.
It is notable that the preachers from the last two centuries-Löhe,
Schweitzer, Barth, and Giertz-focus much more explicidy and ex-
tensively on the issue of John's doubt than did Luther, Gerhard,
and Spener. In doing so, they focus much more on John as a person
rather than on John's calling to be a preacher. Even Barth, who
rejects three interpretations offered by others, resembles the other
modern preachers in that he believes John's question tells us some-
thing about the state of John's faith rather than about John's mission
on earth as a preacher, one who directs others to Christ (the earlier
tradition). All four preachers seem to assume that what is going on
inside of John is more important than John's outward activity, an
assumption that appears to be linked to a modern (romantic? En-
lightenment? secular?) emphasis on the individual.
Ecclesial traditions may also influence preaching. Luther's view
of John's question is consistent with the Reformation's under-
standing of Advent as not primarily a season of human preparation
for either Christ's first coming at Christmas or his second coming
to judgment. The reformers reoriented Advent to focus on Christ's
coming to us now and the work of Christ effective in those com-
ings.23 Accordingly they saw Advent as a season in which Christ's
coming to us is preached and taught—Christ's coming in the flesh
in birth at Bethlehem and to Jerusalam to die, his future coming
in judgment, and his present coming in the Word. John was a
preacher whom the Word uses to come to people. John's state of
mind was not important (hence the small space devoted to it) but
his activity of bringing the Word and directing his disciples to Jesus
is worthy of mention and his question is understood in this frame-
work. The move, beginning in the nineteenth century, to under-
stand John's question as an expression of doubt and to deal with
360 LUTHERAN QUARTERLY

that doubt, was perhaps related to a renewed emphasis on Advent

as a season of human preparation for a future coming of Christ. In
such an understanding of Advent, it is understandable that John's
state of mind-specifically his doubt-became an important ques-
tion.
Finally, a survey such as this should lead us to appreciate the
breadth within the Christian homiletical tradition and encourage
us to mine its riches in approaching biblical texts today. This is not
to say that all approaches used previously are or were equally valu-
able. However, considering the broad homiletical tradition can
open our minds to some of the possibilities in a biblical text and
prevent preachers from being hostages to their own presuppositions
and those of their age.

Research for this article was done at the Herzog-August Bibliothek,

Wolfenbüttel, Germany, and used the resources of the Luther Seminary
Library, St. Paul, Minnesota.

NOTES

i. D. Martin Luthers Werke: Kritische Gesamtausgabe. Eds. J.F.K. Knaake et al. (Wei-
mar: Boehlau, 1883ο) (Hereafter cited as WA) 10/I/2, 147-151.
2. Sermons of Martin Luther: The Church Postib, voli, ed. John Nicholas Lenker
(Grand Rapids: Baker, 1983, 1995) (A reproduction of the Precious and Sacred Writings of
Martin Luther, volume 10 (Minneapolis: Lutherans in All Lands, 1905), 88.
3. Lenker, 88; WA 10/I/2 148-149.
4. Lenker, 89; WA 10/I/2 149.
5. Lenker, 90; WA 10/I/2 150.
6. Lenker, 90; WA 10/I/2 150.
7. Lenker, 91; WA 10/I/2 151.
8. Mary Jane Haemig, "John the Baptist in Reformation Preaching," Vanhaja nuori
(Old and Young: Festschrift for Professor Simo Heininen) (Helsinki: Luther-Agricola-Seura,
2003), 147-163.
9. Johann Gerhard, Postilla: Das ist/ Erkla(e)rung der Sonta(e)glichen undfu(e)mehmesten
Fest-Euangelien/über das gantzeJahr. . .Vom Advent bisz auffTrinitatis. . . (Jena: Steinman,
1613), 39-40.
10. Ibid. In solchem seinem Glaube(n) un(d) Bekentnisz vom Messia war er keines
weges durch sein Gefa(e)ngnisz jrre oder zweiffemafftig gemacht worden/ weil ihn Chris-
tus seiner Bestendigkeit halben bald hernach hoch preisete/ sondern es war ihm mit
dieser Legation und Frage umb seine Ju(e)nger zu thun/ dasz auch dieselbe zum HErrn
 ADVENT PREACHING ON "DOUBTING JOHN" 361

Christo gefu(e)hret wu(e)rden/ und was noch fu(e)r ZweifFel in jhrem Hertzen war/
jhnen benommen wu(e)rde/ welches denn der HErr Christusfleissigund willig gethan
hat...
i i . Philip Jacob Spener, Die Evangelische Gkubens-Lehre/ in einem Jahrgang der Predig-
ten. . .Anno 1687 (Frankfurt/Main: Johann David Zunners, 1688) reprinted in PhilipJacob
Spener Schriften edited by Erich Beyreuther, Volume 33.1/1 (Hildesheim: Georg Olms,
1986) , 49-69.
12. Ibid, 52 . . .sondern der liebe mann wird bey seinen Ju(e)ngern gewahr worden
seyn/ daß/ wie fleissig er ihnen von JESU gezeuget/ sie doch noch nicht recht an ihn
glaubten/ und viel Heber an ihm Johanne hangen blieben; er wird auch gewust/ daß die
zeit seiner abschiedes etwa bald vorhanden/ und deßwegen verlangt haben/ daß seine
Ju(e)nger sich darnach allein an ihn Jesum hielten; darzu war die beste gelegenheit/ daß
er sie zu Christo sendete/ und ihnfragenliesse/ darnach aber ihn anlaß gebe/ daß er sich
selbs gegen sie herauß liesse/ und sie kra(e)fftig u(e)berzeugte/ wovor sie ihn halten solten
: der hofmung/ solche warheit solte auß des Herrn mund/ wann sie gleiches von ihm
ho(e)rten/ was er auch biß daher ihnen gesagt ha(e)tte/ etwa tiefFer in ihre hertzen
dringen/ als noch auß seinem mund bißher geschehen wa(e)re.
13. Wühlern Lohe, Gesammelte Werke, vol 6,2 (Neuendettelsau: Freimund Verlag,
1965) 30-40.
14. Ibid, 34 Jesus bleibt ihm dennoch seine einzige Zuflucht, sein heller Stern: von
keinem Menschen begehrt er Licht und Stärkung als von ihm selber. An ihm zweifelt
er-und von ihm verlangt er die Lösung seiner Zweifel.
15. Albert Schweitzer, Predigten 1898-1948 eds. Richard Brillmann and Erich Gräßer
(Munich: C.HJBeck, 2001), 97-102.
16. Karl Barth, Gesamtausgabe I.Predigten 1935-1952 eds. Hartmut Spieker and Hinrich
Stoevesandt (Zurich: Theologischer Verlag, 1996), 104-112.
17. Ibid 108. In der Tiefe seines Gefängnisses, im Angesicht des Todes durfte und
mußte Johannes der Täufer von Jesus selbst wieder hören, was er von Jesus selbst schon
gehört hatte. Wir dürfen und müssen es auch wieder hören. Das ist es, was wir aus seiner
Frage zu lernen haben.
18. Bo Giertz, Preachingfromthe Whole Bible: Background Studies in the Preaching Texts
for the Church Year (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1967), 12-13.
19. Giertz, 12.
20. Giertz, 13.
21. Giertz, 13.
22. Giertz, 13.
23. Mary Jane Haemig, "Sixteenth-Century Preachers on Advent as a Season of
Proclamation or Preparation," Lutheran Quarterly 16 (2002): 125-152.
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