SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
(Isaiah 11:1–10; Romans
15:4–9; Matthew 3:1–12)
Today is the Second Sunday of Advent. It may also be called “John the
Baptist Sunday.” Every year on this day the Gospel highlights John the Baptist.
This year we read the presentation of John in the desert according to Matthew.
Next year John is presented according to Mark, and in 2027 according to Luke.
In none of these years do we hear the voice of Jesus on this Second Sunday,
although his presence always permeates the background.
The biographical information about John comes mostly
from the Gospel of Luke. He was born the son of the priest Zechariah and his
barren wife Elizabeth. By God’s command he was named “John,” which means
“Yahweh is merciful.” Aside from Mary and Joseph, John was the first to
recognize Jesus as Lord. When Mary, pregnant with Jesus, visited her relative
Elizabeth, who carried John in her womb, John leapt to honor him. After his
birth, Zechariah predicted that he would go before the Lord to prepare his
ways. John lived as an ascetic in the desert, surviving only on locusts and
wild honey.
In today’s reading John is proclaiming the
coming of the Messiah. “Repent,” he says, “for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”
According to Jewish tradition, the Messiah would inaugurate the eternal Kingdom
of God. John looks upon him with the greatest reverence when he proclaims, “I
am not even worthy to carry his sandals.” Like Jesus, John finds the Sadducees
and Pharisees guilty of hypocrisy. He calls them a “brood of vipers,” although
he does not consider them beyond hope. If they repent, John will baptize them with water as a sign of
their intention to live righteously. However, for those who do not truly
repent, John will leave them for the Messiah to burn with fire.
Matthew continues developing John’s story with
his baptism of Jesus, his arrest, and his death. When Jesus presents himself to
be baptized, John hesitates, saying that he should be baptized by Jesus. Yet
when Herod Antipas arrests him, John shows some doubt that Jesus is the
Messiah. He expected a Messiah who would burn sinners, but Jesus prefers to
talk and even to eat with them. This is why John sends two disciples to ask
him: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Jesus does
not give them a direct answer. He says: “Go and tell John what you hear and
see: the blind regain their sight and the lame walk; lepers are cleansed and
the deaf hear; the dead are raised and the Good News is proclaimed to the
poor.”
We do not know whether John went to his executioner
convinced that Jesus truly is the Messiah. Perhaps he did, since Matthew
includes the story of his death in his Gospel. Certainly the Church understands
John this way by telling his story during Advent as testimony of the coming of the Savior. In
doing so, the Church gives us the opportunity to reaffirm our faith in Jesus.
People everywhere raise objections to belief.
Some Jews do not believe because, according to them, when the Messiah comes
everything will change. But deceit, theft, and homicide continue. Others do not
believe because Jesus’ return has taken twenty centuries, and even now we see
no sign that he is coming soon. Still others do not believe because they see
Christians—supposedly formed by the Gospel—conducting themselves morally like
anyone else. In other words, they see most Christians as hypocrites, not living
as redeemed people.
In favor of Christ as Messiah we have his
legacy, as deep as it is wide. His teaching is sound and beneficial. His
followers now span the entire earth. His benefit to the world has been
immense—from feeding the poor to educating civic leaders. Another reason is the
testimony of those who claimed to have seen Jesus risen from the dead. In
almost every case they gave their lives to proclaim what they had seen.
Finally, there is our own experience. Who among us has not asked for Jesus’
help and received it, not only once, but many times?
The fact that Jesus has not manifested his
lordship in a spectacular way to everyone is not necessarily an impediment to belief.
It may instead be seen as a sign of God’s consistency. Since the time of
Abraham, God has asked men and women for the assent of faith. He has endowed us
with free will to accept Jesus as God’s full revelation or to reject him. We
humans must choose for or against Jesus as Lord and live in harmony with that
decision. It is the most significant question of our lives.
