3rd Sunday in Advent - "We are rescued!"

 

"Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you."

Matthew 11: 2-11

The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121122.cfm

This Sunday we rejoice as our Savior is about to come. The One who would rescue humanity and reclaim his creation tainted by sin is about to arrive.  Not on the clouds of heaven or in a royal court with trumpets blaring but the One who would clandestinely, as if under cover, be born to obscure peasant parents in a distant corner of the ancient Roman Empire. The shades of the rose color worn in our liturgy, an image of anticipated joy, make a silent statement that his coming will be profoundly significant.

So, as we draw closer to the Christmas season, just two weeks from now, the liturgy invites us to recapture some of the longing and hope of the ancient Jewish community.  Knowing that hope was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus’ birth is the joy we should feel as that commemoration draws closer.

Our readings reflect the joy of that longing.  Isaiah reminds us: “Be strong, fear not! Here is your God . . .” Though Isaiah wrote centuries before the coming of Christ, it is now that we reap the fruits of his coming. So, it began as a longing for the coming of the Anointed One, the Messiah to set his people free to raise up the kingdom of Israel and banish oppression.  That being said, you can imagine the varied opinions floating around in John the Baptists’ time about who and what that Messiah will be like: he will come from the priestly class, he will look like another Moses, and he will be a Son of David.

In other words, a kind of warrior king who would defeat their enemies.  Even John the Baptist had his own expectation as he preached along the Jordan River about one who would, “He will baptize with spirit and fire . . . clear his threshing floor,” etc. One thing, however, is that, despite the imagery in Isaiah we hear today about the signs of physical healing, is that the Messiah was not expected as a healer.

In this Sunday’s Gospel from Matthew, we hear further from John the Baptist, now in prison by King Herod, ask a surprising question about Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Is John questioning his own judgment for who he was preparing the crowds?

Scholars tell us that John may indeed have had some question about or wanted to finally verify his preaching about Jesus’ work who is now traveling around the countryside telling stories as a gentle preacher, sharing meals with known sinners and healing people. He is merciful and compassionate to the sinner while he shows little judgement on their sinful status, he shows empathy for the suffering; allows children to surround him, so where’s the fire and threshing? And so, John sends his disciples off to go and convey this question. But was it for John’s own confirmation or was it so that his disciples themselves may come to believe?

In response to their question Jesus, he reminds John’s disciples: “Go tell John what you hear and see.” In a typical indirect way, Jesus invites those who question to answer that for themselves.  Rather than a straight “yes” or “no,” he invites John’s disciples to come to faith and discover the truth of his mission and person. See the signs that are being done.

Using the imagery of Isaiah today, Jesus states: “. . . the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.” (Mt. 11). Isn’t it better for one who preaches to lead by example?  To put his words into action.  Jesus simply states: “If you don’t believe who I am by my words, then believe because of the actions I do.” In the coming of Christ among us, God is putting back together the pieces broken by sin. He is indeed a warrior battling the force of brokenness and evil but is doing so through a deep call to personal conversion on the part of all who encounter him. In other words, we should never see Our Lord as an obstacle in the way of my personal agenda but an invitation to a new life.

Isaiah writes: “. . . Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, . . . Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing. . . .” (Is 35: 1-6).  Our Gospel, the very words of Christ himself, fulfills what Isaiah painted and other prophets hoped to see, in the miracles worked at his word. The Kingdom of God has come among us.  The end of the line is reached and now is the time to pay attention – to “wake up” as we hear in this holy Advent season.

Here is where the rubber hits the road you might say. It is by the signs (miracles) that Jesus worked, his “fruits” of preaching, that we can now follow him with confidence. Not because he is a miracle worker or charismatic preacher but because he is our Savior, Son of God, Messiah, the hope of all humanity. Yet, the transition from following John and embracing Jesus was not a smooth process in his time.  Some enjoyed the more aggressive approach and spurred on by their hatred for the Romans, or their alignment with them, took a different course towards Jesus that put him under suspicion from the moment he appeared on the scene.

So, these readings today open a new door for us; closer and more focused on the Christ, whose birth we will commemorate. Today, the Church is meant to be a place of healing, good news, wholeness, reconciliation, unity, generosity towards others, and a welcome sign of Jesus’ presence in the world today. Yet, in the end, we are not a Church of miracles, always in demand of more and more proofs, but a community of faith and trust centered on the living Christ, risen from the dead. Jesus has provided the ultimate sign in the resurrection and the sacraments are living signs of his presence that call us to believe. 

While unexplainable physical healings are still experienced today, as in the canonization process for a new saint, the more common experience of life may be a sign of healing in itself.

These last two weeks of Advent call us to open our eyes, to look for the signs that verify God’s presence in our lives.  In his name, the hungry are fed; the poor are shown mercy and a better opportunity; the defenseless child or elderly are protected; the suffering are given dignity and compassion. His living word is proclaimed at Mass and his risen presence is made our food in the Eucharist. Yet great danger and suffering continue to exist in such regions as the Ukraine in a senseless war of aggression and under oppressive governments with arrogant violations of human rights. For this we must pray and contribute to the greater good not cooperating in our own personal wars and judgements.

Wherever good is done in his name and the sacramental life of the Church is continued as he forgives, heals, gives new life, unites, and anoints as he becomes active and alive in our midst – his mission continues to offer us redemption and his life is born in us as it all began in the manger centuries past.

So, we may be asked the same question as John: “Are you the one?”  If we truly say Christ is, there can be no other and we follow him according to his plan and not our own.  He is the Holy One, not just another teacher among teachers, greater than all before him, Lord and Savior.

 

 For all the oracles of the prophets foretold him,

the Virgin Mother longed for him

with love beyond all telling,

John the Baptist sang of his coming

and proclaimed his presence when he came.

 

(From Preface II of Advent)