Commentary to the THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT – YEAR A

THE BAPTIST INVITED TO BE CONVERTED

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John" (Jn 1:6). He was destined to prepare Israel for the coming of the Messiah. He said, "Repent because the kingdom of the heaven is now at hand" (Mt 3:2). His message is clear; the language is harsh; the proposal is demanding. Austere and blameless, he gave the impression of being a master of life. He is confident in himself and his own certainties, firm and unyielding. However, like everyone else, he was tormented by perplexity, anxiety, and inner torment.

Jesus cultivated a profound respect for him and understood him. One day he asked him to review his own theological and religious convictions. He made him know that he had to realize in himself the conversion he asked others for. Last Sunday's liturgy contained the message of John the Baptist. Today it presents us with his example.

John did not teach only in words but showed with his life how we must always be ready to call into question our own securities when we are confronted with the novelty of God. Like him, anyone who is in passionate pursuit of truth should be prepared to meet the Truth.

 To internalize the message, we repeat: "The Lord does not come to condemn, but to heal."

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First Reading: Isaiah 35:1-6a,10

The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song. The glory of Lebanon will be given to them, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God. 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, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense, he comes to save you. 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.

Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy; they will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee. —The Word of the Lord.

Predictions of the planet are bleak. For some, they are even catastrophic. The social, political, and economic realities of the world present themselves fraught with tension. We do not know how they can be resolved. The crisis of faith, loss of values, and the weakening of many certainties portend difficult years. This, in a nutshell, I think is the synthesis of popular opinions about the future of our planet.

We listen to the First Reading, presenting words full of joy and hope. We suppose that the prophet has spoken at a different time from ours. That is not so. He lived in one of the most challenging periods in the history of his people. Jerusalem and its wonderful temple were destroyed. The most capable and prepared people were deported to Babylon. The holy city was reduced to a pile of rubble. There were only the old, the sick, and the children. Silence and death reigned over all. No song, no cry of joy, only sadness, and many tears!

The hill on which the town was built, now ruined and devastated, is reduced to a desert where no grass grows. In the face of such desolation, who would have the courage to throw a party, to invite to jubilation or to rejoice? Well, just in front of these ruins, the prophet announces his oracle, full of optimism. He is a sensitive man; he has the soul of a poet and expresses himself in delightful imagery.

He says the desert will turn into a plain as fertile as that of Sharon, along the coast of the Mediterranean. It is covered with leafy trees, mighty as the cedars of Lebanon; it is transformed into a carpet of aromatic herbs and flowers in a perpetual spring. Opium flowers and lilies bloom, symbols of joy and dreams of lovers. Everywhere songs of joy and rejoicing are heard (vv. 1-2).

Wonder? No! It contemplates the beautiful work that God is going to accomplish. If we trust the Lord, discouragement, slumped shoulders, or trembling knees have no meaning. Who gives up in the face of evil? Whoever considers it inevitable shows disbelief in the love and fidelity of God, who is personally involved in the history of his people. Whoever believes is never devastated but instead convinced that a garden will flourish one day where there is an arid and barren desert (vv. 3-4).

In the second part of the reading (vv. 5-6), the prophet continues to present the miraculous transformation of a divinely wrought world. To describe it, he employs the image of recovery from illnesses: the eyes of the blind will open; the deaf will hear; the lame will leap like a kid; the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. Each disease, whether physical, mental, or spiritual, is a form of death. Where the God of life arrives, every evil, every death disappears. In today's Gospel, Jesus invites the Baptist to take note of the transformation already at play in the world. The power of his word is making ‘flowers blossom in the desert.’

The last part of the reading (vv. 8-10) describes the way towards the new reality by introducing a splendid picture: the pilgrimage of the people from the land of slavery to Mount Zion, to the unforgettable Jerusalem, the city of joy and freedom. It is the symbol of the journey of the whole of humanity towards life. The road ahead will be called the "holy way" because it will not be trampled by impure feet. As we know it today, it is the way that Jesus traveled, one that leads to the gift of life.

The image becomes elaborate. The prophet sees the characters who participate in this procession: in the front, as a guide advances, perennial happiness, followed by joy and cheerfulness. Two dark shapes were visible on the horizon—sadness and tears. Defeated, they distance themselves from each other in escape. These are the words of God denouncing the prophets of doom.

Despite contrary signs, the believer recognizes that the Lord "enlightens those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death and guides his/her steps in the ways of peace" (Lk1:79).

Second Reading: James 5:7-10

Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You too must be patient. Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not complain, brothers and sisters, about one another, that you may not be judged. Behold, the Judge is standing before the gates. Take as an example of hardship and patience, brothers and sisters, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. —The Word of the Lord.

Jesus denounced the dangers of wealth. Those who hoard worldly goods, he called fools. But he never hurled invectives against anyone because of their wealth. Here we read what James says to the rich: "…You deceived the workers who harvested your fields but now their wages cry out to the heavens. The reapers' complaints have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You lived in luxury and pleasure in this world thus fattening yourselves for the days of slaughter. You have easily condemned and killed the innocent since they offered no resistance" (Jas 5:1-6).

After attacking the rich in this way, James turns to the poor. This is the passage contained in today's reading. What does he recommend to them? What counsel does he give to the exploited? Revolt, revenge? No, patience. This word is repeated four times. "Be patient" (vv. 7-8), "do not complain" (v. 9), "bear" (v. 10). They seem to be irritating, abrupt, and provocative exhortations. James is not the type to tolerate injustice against the poor. However, he realizes that there are situations in which you just must wait patientlyafter having done everything possible.

To explain his thoughts, he uses an example from the life of a farmer. What does a farmer do? He does not sit down and look at the field, hoping to produce a harvest of its own accord. He is fully committed to work: hoeing, sowing, irrigating, and weeding, but he also knows how to wait. He knows the irresistible force of the seed; he trusts the land that has never betrayed him. He believes that the Lord will do his part and send the rain that benefits and enriches the ground in the fall and spring. The farmer is not discouraged, even if months pass before the mature grain appears.

James concludes by suggesting to the poor: in your pain, you do everything you can, try to obtain justice, but do not commit violence against those who oppress you and do not complain to those close to you (v. 9).

It often happens that the poor, humiliated by the master, react, and become aggressive and hardened against their ‘neighbor’: wife, husband, children, or the weaker people around them. The poor nourish the hope that the Lord will intervene to change their situation. His ‘coming’ is near. 

Gospel: Matthew 11:2-11

When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, “Are you the one who is to come, or should welook for another?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 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.”

As they were going off, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? Then what did you goout to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces. Then why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you. Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater then he.”—The Gospel of the Lord.

It is not easy to recognize God's Messiah. Educated by the prophets, Israel has been waiting for centuries. When he came, even the more spiritually prepared and well-disposed struggled to recognize and to welcome him. The Baptist also remained indecisive. But a messiah who does not surprise, or arouse wonder and disbelief, cannot come from God. It would be too consistent with our logic and our expectation. God thinks differently from us.

In the first part of today's Gospel (vv. 2-6), a doubt that arose in the mind of the precursor and the answer given by Jesus are presented. John is in prison, and the reason is narrated in Matthew 14:1-12. He denounced the immoral behavior of Herod, who took his brother's wife. Josephus Flavius wrote that John was locked up in the Machaerian fortress. He was treated with respect and could receive visits from the disciples. He was eager to witness to the coming of the Kingdom of God. He kept himself informed on how Jesus of Nazareth, who he singled out as the Messiah, was behaving.

However, his faith begins to waver. Some say that the doubts are not John's, but his disciples'. That is not so. From the Gospel, it comes out that he doubted if Jesus was the Messiah. For this reason, he sent his disciples to ask Jesus: "Are you the one who must come, or do we have to wait for another?" (v. 3).

How did these perplexities arise in him? The answer is quite simple. It is enough to keep in mind the image of a messiah John had learned about from the spiritual leaders of his people since the beginning. He is in prison and is conscious of what the prophets have foretold. He has been expecting the ‘liberator’ (Is 61:1), the person in charge of restoring justice and truth to the world. He does not understand why Jesus did not decide to intervene in his favor.

John awaits a strict judge, a messiah who rails against the wicked. Here, we have a surprise instead. Not only does Jesus not condemn sinners, but he also even eats with them and takes pride in being their friend (Lk 7:34). He recommends not the quenching of the dimly burning wick but taking care of the ‘bruised reed.’ He does not destroy anything butrecovers and repairs what is ruined. He does not burn sinners but changes their hearts and wants them to be happy at all costs. He has words of salvation for those who have lost all hope and those avoided by all, like the lepers. He is not discouraged in the face of human problems. He does not give up even in death.

To the messengers of John the Baptist, Jesus is presented as the Messiah, listing the signs taken from the texts of Isaiah (Is 35:5-6; 26:19; 61:1), the prophet of hope, who had predicted, "On that day no one would complain: I am sickly" (Is 33:24).

The Baptist is invited to note six new realities: the healing of the blind, the deaf, the leper, the crippled, the resurrection of the dead, and the proclamation of the Gospel to the poor. These are all signs of salvation, not of condemnation.

The new world has come: those walking in the dark and who had lost their orientation in life are now enlightened by the Gospel. Whoever was crippled and could not move even one step towards the Lord, or their brothers and sisters can now walk briskly. Whoever was deaf to the Word of God now listens and allows themselves to be guided by it. Whoever was ashamed of himself, of the leprosy of sin that kept them away from God and their brothers and sisters, now feels cleansed. Whoever did only the life-sapping work of self-righteousness now lives life fully. Whoever regarded themselves as being miserable and hopeless have begun to listen to the good news: ‘There is salvation for you as well.’

The Messiah of God has nothing to do with the energetic and severe character that John had expected. His way of doing had scandalized the precursor and continues to shock us even today. There are, still, some who ask the Lord to intervene and punish the wicked. There are still some that interpret misfortune as God's punishment on those who have done evil. But can God be angry or feel pleasure in seeing His children (even if they misbehave) suffer?

Jesus ends his answer with a beatitude, the tenth, found in the Gospel of Matthew: "Blessed is he who takes no offense at me." What a sweet invitation to the Baptist to review his theological convictions. A good God contradicts all the beliefs that John had. Like us, the Baptist also imagined a mighty God. Finding himself weak, he expected sensational interventions. However, events continued to unfold as if the Messiah had not come.

Blessed are those who receive God just as God is, not as they would like God to be! Faith in the God who reveals Himself in Jesus cannot be but accompanied by doubt, uncertainty, and the inability to believe. The Baptist is the figure of a true believer. He flounders in many perplexities, and asks questions, but does not deny the Messiah because he does not match his criteria. He calls into question his own beliefs.

He is not worried about who has trouble believing, who feels lost in front of the mystery and puzzle of existence, who says that they do not understand the thoughts and actions of God. He is worried about those who confuse their own beliefs with the truth of God, those who have ready answers to all questions, those who always have some dogmato impose, and those who never allow themselves to be questioned: such a faith at times borders on fanaticism.

When the disciples of John left, Jesus pronounced his judgment on him with three rhetorical questions. It is the second part of today's Gospel (vv. 7-11). The answers to the first two are obvious: the Baptist is not like the reeds that grow along with the Jordan, symbols of volatility because they bend according to the direction of the wind. John is not an opportunist who adapts to all situations and bows in front of the powers that be. On the contrary, he is firmly opposed to the same political leaders, challenging the king head-on yet not afraid to say what he thinks. John is not a corrupt man, who thinks about his interests, accumulates money unscrupulously, and squanders it on entertainment and elegant or refined clothes. The corrupt—Jesus says—are the kings and their courtiers, the rich, the leaders who imprisoned him.

The third question requires a positive response: John is a prophet and indeed more than a prophet. No one in the Old Testament undertook a mission beyond his. More than Moses, he is an ‘angel’ sent to precede the liberating coming of the Lord. The final addition is significant: "The smallest in the kingdom of heaven is greater than him" (v. 11).

Jesus did not establish a list based on a scale of personal holiness and perfection but calls for the verification of the superiority of the condition of the disciples. Whoever belongs to the kingdom of heaven can see far more than John the Baptist. Whoever captures the new face of God, whoever understands that the Messiah has come to them to forgive, to welcome, and to love them, has entered the new perspective, the perspective of God.

What we, today, can see and understand, regardless of our personal holiness, is what the Baptist had only guessed because he remained at the threshold of the new era.

READ: The inquiry by John seems to contradict what happened at the baptism of Jesus by John. Here Matthew deals with Jesus as the true messiah, the anointed one of God. To the disciples of John the Baptist who came asking about the messiah, Jesus replies by pointing out the redemptive joy that wells up in the hearts of the blind, the lame, the deaf, the lepers, the poor, and the dead who have come back to life. Paul invites us to wait in joyful patience as the sower does, for the fruits of his labor.

REFLECT: What type of messiah did the people of Israel expect? Did Jesus fit that expectation? When the Lord comes, there will be an eruption of joy in all the people, especially in the marginalized groups of the world. Do I experience the joy that wells up in those who are alert, prepared, and eagerly await the Lord?

PRAY: Pray for an understanding of a spiritual messiah who will not solve all your problems or the problems of the world but will be present as you and others solve the problems. Pray for the gift of joy in the Spirit.