Advent 3

Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see:
The blind receive sight,
the lame walk,
the lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the good news is proclaimed to the poor." | Matthew 11:4–5

We can understand the story of Jesus only within the context of the story of Israel, for Jesus is the culmination of Israel’s story. The proof of this lies, somewhat surprisingly, with John the Baptist, the last person to stand in the tradition of the Old Testament prophets but one who fulfills a prophecy in his own right: “Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way” (Is 57:14; Mal 3:1; Matt 11:10; Mk 1:2; Lk 7:27). John went into the wilderness and preached a doctrine of repentance. In his own ministry, Jesus took up this same call: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

The proof of the coming kingdom of God is Jesus’ unique and powerful activity in the world: “the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear”—if there is good news, the proof of it is in the restoration of creation itself: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Rom 8:22–23). This all functions as a precursor to his resurrection, which is the ultimate triumph of God over sin and Death. The proof of the Messianic mission, which is to make all things right in the world, is to actually begin making everything right in the world in the small community in which our Lord lived. This is a foretaste of the great and heavenly Jerusalem, where there will no longer be need for healing because all things will be set in order as God has made it.

For now, though, in the season of Advent we sit and wait. Like John the Baptist, we await the Messiah to come and restore things the way they ought to truly be. We have seen his powerful activity in the world already; John’s duty was to point the way forward to Jesus Christ’s first Advent. Our duty, then, is to point the way forward to his second Advent. We must be ready and prepared for his second coming. We do not want to be caught on our heels like the five foolish virgins (Matt 25:1–13); rather, we need to be awake and watchful, faithful in accomplishing our daily duties and ever-remembering that our allegiance is to the heavenly Jerusalem. From that perspective, everything we do and every word we say must be in service to the Lord and his mission in the world. For, just as John prepared the hearts of the Jews for Christ’s first coming, so we must prepare the hearts of the world—and our own hearts—for his second coming.

Readings: 1 Corinthians 4:1–5; Matthew 11:2–10

Prayer: O Lord Jesus Christ, who at thy first coming didst send thy messenger to prepare thy way before thee: Grant that the ministers and stewards of thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready thy way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at thy second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in thy sight, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Image credit: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Preaching of St. John the Baptist (1566)