The readings for this Third Week of Advent give us an indication of the importance of having a familiarity with the scriptures of the Old Testament in order to have a fuller understanding of the life and mission of Jesus.

In the First Reading (Isa. 35:1-6a, 10), the prophet Isaiah is writing to the Israelites; Judeans who have been captured and sent into exile by the mighty Babylonians. Their beloved Temple, the dwelling of the LORD, has been ravaged and the city of Jerusalem all but destroyed. Their prospects for the future seem bleak and hopeless.  

Isaiah, however, sends a message of consolation and hope. He foresees a future when the “splendor of God” will return the exiles to Jerusalem and they will enter the city singing with joy and gladness. It will be a time of vindication when suffering will be eradicated: the blind will see, the deaf will hear, and the lame will walk once more.

In the Gospel from Matthew (11:2-11) we find John the Baptist, who has been preaching repentance in the desert and baptizing in the Jordon River, now imprisoned by Herod and awaiting his sentence of death. John is at the darkest moment of his life and he seeks solace. He wants to be reassured that his life’s work as a prophet has not been in vain.

He sends some of his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” John wants to know if Jesus is, indeed, the long-awaited savior about whom John has been preaching. Jesus’ response to John comes directly from today’s passage from Isaiah and a few other verses from Isaiah’s book.

Jesus tells John’s followers: “Go and tell John what you hear and see:  the blind regain their sight (Isa. 35:5a), the lame walk (35:6), lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear (Isa. 35:5b), the dead are raised (Isa. 26:19), and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them (Isa. 61:1).” In essence Jesus is saying that the “splendor of God” promised to the Jews centuries earlier has now come to fruition through his life and work.

This allusion to the Old Testament to explain the mission of Jesus is not very difficult to detect. Even a cursory reading will demonstrate that the words of the First Reading are closely duplicated by the Gospel. But there is a further reference in today’s passage from Matthew which is much more obscure. It comes in the second part of the Gospel reading where Jesus gives his testimony to John.

Jesus asks his audience a rhetorical question: “What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing?” The answer is understood to be “no.” Such a person would not be found in the desert like John the Baptist, but rather would be found “wearing clothing in a fine palace.”

Jesus affirms that those who have gone to the desert seeking John the Baptist have gone out to see a prophet. And John is not just any prophet. According to Jesus he is “the one about whom it is written: ‘Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you.’”

Here we have a clue to the identity of John and the importance of his preaching about Jesus from a lesser known prophet of the Old Testament, the one known as Malachi, the very last prophetic work of the Old Testament. The Book of Malachi contains a promise from God that before the LORD returns to fill the Temple with the glory of His presence and restore the covenant with Israel, He will send a messenger, a final prophet to “prepare the way before me” (Mal. 3:1).

In his testimony, Jesus identifies John the Baptist as being this last great prophet about whom Malachi writes. And he goes on to expound on John’s identity for he is greater than “none other.” John is greater than all the prophets before him because he has come to deliver the news of Jesus, the one through whom the final age of God has come into the world.

For the Jews of the first century who have been awaiting the in-breaking of God’s kingdom foretold by the prophets Isaiah and Malachi, Matthew proclaims that this event has occurred through the Incarnation of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit and the cooperation of Mary. He is the “one who is to come” referred to by John the Baptist and the “one who is to come” for Christians as we eagerly celebrate this Advent Season.