December 4, 2022, Second Sunday of Advent (Year A)
Today, on this Second Sunday of Advent, we once again hear about preparedness for the coming kingdom of God and the peace that will come along with it. In the Gospel (Mt 3:1-12) we encounter John the Baptist, the precursor of Jesus. He is described as the one about whom Isaiah had written. In fact, John the Baptist identifies himself as this anonymous prophet of Isaiah. He claims, “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert.” (John 1:23).
John is warning the people to prepare for the way of the Lord, meaning repent and cleanse their souls in preparation for Jesus who ushers in the kingdom of God with his arrival. John is described as living a simple life like prophets before him, for example, like Elijah. He wore clothing made simply of camel’s hair with a leather belt and existed on a diet of locusts and wild honey. John had already repented and prepared himself for the arrival of Jesus and people from all around Jerusalem and Judea have been flocking to him to cleanse them of their sins through his ritual washing with the water of baptism.
John is offering his baptism to the common people sincerely seeking to repent of their sins, but at one point he spies the Pharisees and Sadducees, those who will become the staunch enemies of Jesus. John compares their evil to the bite of a deadly snake, a viper. He warns them not to assume that the ritual of baptism will preserve them from God’s wrath. Rather they must do good deeds which are evidence of true repentance. Simply being descendants of Abraham will not protect those who refuse to repent and do good deeds. He compares them to a tree that does not bear good fruit and threatens their punishment as being a dead tree thrown into the fire.
John then makes a declaration of the importance of his baptism. He is baptizing with the waters of repentance, but this is an action meant to prepare the way for someone else who is coming, someone mightier than himself. He will baptize, not with water, but with the fire of the Holy Spirit for those who seek his forgiveness and the entrance into his kingdom, but the unremorseful he will burn like the chaff of wheat.
In the First Reading (Is 11:1-10) we hear about another man who Isaiah had also foretold. Now Isaiah preached much earlier than John the Baptist. It was nearly six-hundred years earlier, when the people of Judah were being held in captivity in Babylon. These people, along with Isaiah, were awaiting the arrival of a messiah, a savior from the line of David, a descendant of Jesse, who would free them from exile and eventually welcome them into the kingdom of God.
This messiah would be filled with the spirit of God, blest with wisdom and understanding, counsel and strength, and knowledge and fear of the Lord. Although not specifically identified as Jesus, this predicted savior will have all the characteristics of the son of God. He will not judge by appearance nor hearsay, but rather with justice for the poor and the afflicted. His very being will be like justice and faithfulness as a belt around his waist. He will strike the ruthless and slay the wicked. And he will bring peace, depicted by the comradery of wild animals, the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, the calf and the young lion, and the cow and the bear. And the young children will live peacefully and safely in the kingdom that this messiah brings.
For Christians this unidentified savior sounds a lot like Jesus. For some of the very first words we hear from Jesus in the Gospels are “Repent!” Behold, the kingdom of God is among you.” (Lk. 17:21) Isaiah describes this kingdom as God’s holy mountain which shall be filled with the knowledge, the word, the tender heart of the Son of God who comes for the salvation of not just Jews, but all the people of the Lord. When this savior comes, this root of Jesse, he shall set up as a signal for the nations, and the Gentiles shall seek him out, for his dwelling shall be glorious
So, what do these readings have to do with us this advent? Well, really they assure us that our wait is not in vain. Some six hundred years in an advent of past before the birth of Jesus, the Lord promised that He would guarantee the people’s release from captivity and so it happened. Then in the first century John the Baptist guaranteed a savior who would save us from our sins. During that time Jesus was born and crucified and raised from the dead establishing God’s kingdom in the form of the church offering repentance throughout the nations. Now we celebrate past advents and the Church present as the interim kingdom of God until Jesus brings the influx of the kingdom of the final days of salvation. Herein lies our cause for anticipation, repentance, and celebration until Christ comes again.
