Sunday 11th December 2022 The Third Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 35:1-6,10 / Psalm 145(146) / James 5:7-10 / Matthew 11:2-11

Today we have reached the third Sunday of Advent, known as Gaudete (rejoice) Sunday, with the lighting of the pink candle in the Advent Wreath. As Lent prepares us for Easter, Advent leads us up to Christmas. In Lent we have Laetare Sunday which gives us a break from the penitential theme of Lent and in Advent we have Gaudete Sunday which does very much the same thing in Advent. ‘Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.’ is the cry of the entrance antiphon at Mass today. We take a break today from the penitential mood of our anticipation of Christmas and rejoice in the nearness of the celebration of the birth of Jesus but also remember and rejoice in his closeness to us in our gathering, in his word and especially in the celebration of the Eucharist. Today we feel the joy and anticipation that comes from the promise of our redemption.

The first reading comes from a dark time in the history of the Jewish people. They had suffered defeat, occupation, and deportation into slavery. The hope they had in a promised messiah gave them joy as they anticipated their release from capture. We can see ourselves living in dark times in which many have abandoned their faith and lost the joy that comes from the anticipation of the return of Jesus. We are oppressed by sin and slaves to the things of the world, we look to our faith, we look to Jesus to save us, to redeem us, from this tyranny. The joy we have stems from knowing that we have been rescued and Jesus is very close and will return to address all the ills of the world.

The Gospel passage today can be puzzling. John the Baptist has been imprisoned and he sent messengers to ask Jesus if he was, ‘The one who is to come?’ In other words, John is asking Jesus if he is the promised messiah that he had been preparing the people for. Did John not know who Jesus was? We have the passage from John the Evangelist (John 1:29) which has John the Baptist pointing out Jesus saying, ’Look, there is the Lamb of God’, and in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:41) we hear that the child John leaped in his mother’s womb at the presence of Mary who was pregnant with Jesus.

The answer to this apparent confusion in John’s mind might be found in his mission to make the way ready and to point out the coming of Jesus. The question John sends his disciples to ask may be a rhetorical one. John recognised Jesus as the Messiah, but his question allows Jesus to confirm it in a way that answers the question that is embedded in scripture and satisfies enquirers throughout history. The answer from Jesus is an answer to us and the whole world rather than a simple answer to John. It is through this question that Jesus can continue the gradual revelation of who he is to all of creation.

If John had simply said ‘look there is the Messiah’ and Jesus had simply responded ‘yes, I am he’ there would have been no reason for people to take much notice. Throughout the Old Testament we find a gradual revealing of God’s plan to redress the split between the creator and the created. The answer that Jesus gave to John’s disciples refers to the prophesy in the first reading from Isaiah, ‘Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unsealed, then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy’. During his ministry on earth Jesus did not cure everyone of all their physical ailments but he chose certain moments to carry out significant miracles to fulfil the prophesies that were foretelling his appearance. The answer Jesus gave allows us to delve into scripture and get an understanding of what the promises of the coming messiah mean and how Jesus revealed who he is by fulfilling those prophesies to the letter. This is a far deeper and more comprehensive answer to John’s question. ‘Are you the one who is to come?’ than simply replying, ‘yes’.

Jesus went further and commented directly about who John was pointing out that he was much more than one of the prophets they knew of old. John was the one foretold in scripture as being sent to prepare the way for the Messiah and through his works and teachings Jesus is revealing himself to be that promised Messiah. At this stage Jesus had not yet been revealed as God but that would come later and again not so much directly but by inference associated with his actions and teachings.

On this third Sunday of Advent let us rejoice in the knowledge that Jesus has come to us, remains with us always and will return in Glory. Let us prepare joyfully for the celebration of Christmas, growing in patience and faith and not letting our worldly preparations blind us to the coming of Christ amongst us.

God Bless Brendan.