December 17, 2023
Third Sunday of Advent
On this Third Sunday of Advent, we a hear a Gospel from John (Jn. 1:6-8, 19-28) which is similar to the one from last week. It is the scene where John the Baptist is preaching repentance in the desert and announcing the imminent arrival of the Messiah. The writer of John’s Gospel describes him as the one who “came to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.” (Jn. 1:6).
The Jews to whom John was preaching would have had high expectations for the arrival of the promised messiah during their time as the expected waiting period prescribed in the book of Daniel for the appearance of God’s anointed one had been completed. So, when some of the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem hear about John, they send priests and Levites to inquire if he is the long-awaited messiah come to redeem Israel.
In response to their questioning, John the Baptist denies that he is the Messiah, saying “I am not the Christ.” (Jn. 1:20b). But the priests and the Levites persist in seeking his identity for the benefit of those who have sent them. They wonder if he might be one of two great Jewish historical figures expected to appear at the time of the messiah, Moses, or the prophet Elijah. They ask him, “Who are you then? Are you Elijah? Are you the Prophet?” (Jn. 1:21).
John answers “no” to these, but then identifies himself in the same way that the evangelist Mark had done last week by referencing the prophet Isaiah. John says, “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” (Jn. 1:23).
There are some Pharisees in the crowd also seeking the identity of John and they continue to question him. They ask John, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?” (Jn. 1:25).
To this John answers, “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,
the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” (Jn. 1:26-27). Of course, John the Baptist is speaking about Jesus, but at this point Jesus has not yet been baptized by John nor begun his public ministry.
After Jesus is baptized by John, he begins preaching in his hometown of Nazareth and he is not the least bit subtle about revealing his identity. In fact, he quotes verse for verse from the description of God’s chosen representative given by Isaiah today in the First Reading (Isa. 61:1-2a, 10-11).
This occurs in Luke’s Gospel where Jesus attends the synagogue on the sabbath in the custom of his family. He stands to read and is given the scroll of Isaiah. He searches until he finds the portion which details the commission that has been given by God: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” (Lk. 4:18-19, cf. Isa. 61:1-2a).
Jesus then sits down, and we are told that all the people in the synagogue are looking at him intently. At this point Jesus makes a remarkably bold statement revealing himself as God’s chosen one. In fact, his statement is so bold that it draws the anger and ire of his neighbors and friends. He says, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Lk. 4:22).
After this incident, Jesus will continue to reveal his identity as the Messiah in innumerable ways. He heals the blind and the lame (Mt. 21:14), exorcises demons (Mt. 8:16–17; Mk. 1:32–34; Lk. 4:40–41), multiplies loaves and fish (Mt 14:13–21; Mk 6:32–44; Lk 9:10–17; Jn.6:1-13), and changes water into wine (Jn.2:1-11). He announces the arrival of God’s kingdom with his presence (Mk.1:15; Mt.3:2). He offers the Father’s mercy and compassion to sinners (Mt. 9:1-8; Mk. 2:1-12). And he outright declares himself to be the divine Son of Man of the book of Daniel (Mt. 26:64, cf. Dn. 7:13). Yet with all his revelations, many of the Jews, especially the Jewish leaders, fail to recognize Jesus for who he is. Even after his crucifixion and the proclamation of his resurrection, they do not recognize him as the Messiah.
Today the situation is no different. After two thousand years of the Church’s testimony, the witness of thousands of martyrs, and the continued existence of unexplainable miraculous events in the name of Jesus, there are still people who fail to recognize his identity.
This is another reason why this Advent season is so important. The secular world has abandoned the “reason for the season.” Some have gone as far as to discourage or even make illegal religious displays in public at this time of year. As Christians it is more important than ever that we become the face of Christ to perpetuate his presence in the world, to reveal him as the one, true Savior.
As the body of Christ, we are tasked to carry on his mission in imitation of the words of Isaiah. We bring glad tidings to the poor by putting extra money in the collection or donating canned goods to the food bank. We proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind by offering our time to those imprisoned by addiction or mental illness. And we help those oppressed by loneliness or feelings of inadequacy become free of their unease by visiting and sharing.
Most of all during this season, we proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord so that all who encounter us will recognize Jesus in their midst until he returns.
