3rd Sunday Advent A - Homily 7

Homily 7 - 2022

Today’s First Reading from the collection of prophecies in the Book of Isaiah was probably written about five -hundred-and-fifty years before the birth of Christ. Despite the wonderful faith-insights of Isaiah and his capacity to express his thoughts in beautiful poetic imagery, the thoughtful Jewish world to which he belonged still had needed more time to mature. It would need more reflecting before it could open itself to the message of Jesus and his revelation of the unconditional love proper to the heart of God his Father.

Today's passage outlining Isaiah’s anticipation of God’s imminent liberation of the Chosen People from their humiliating seventy-year-long captivity in Babylon were wonderful. As he put it:

“… the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
the ears of the deaf unsealed,
then the lame shall leap like a deer
and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy…
They will come to Zion shouting for joy,
everlasting joy on their faces..
sorrow and lament will be ended.”

Yet, he still saw no inconsistency in prefacing that comment with:

“Look, your God is coming,
vengeance is coming,
the retribution of God;
he is coming to save you”.

Six centuries later, John the Baptist would say in relation to the coming mission of Jesus:

“Even now, the axe is laid to the roots of the trees, so that any tree which fails to produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire… The one who follows me is more powerful than I am … His winnowing fan is in his hand; he will clear his threshing-floor and gather his wheat into the barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out”.

Not surprisingly, as we heard in today’s Gospel, John, languishing in Herod’s prison, disappointed and desperate, perhaps even feeling let down by Jesus, felt the need to challenge him. He sent some disciples to ask him: “Are you the one who is to come? or have we to wait for someone else?”

Jesus’ reply loosely quoted the prophecy made centuries earlier by Isaiah:

“Go back and tell John what you hear and see; the blind see again, and the lame walk, lepers are raised to life, and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor.”  It is significant to note what Jesus omitted from Isaiah’s prophecy — no word about “vengeance is coming, the retribution of God”.

Equally significant was Jesus’ pointed comment that he wanted the messengers to convey to John: “… happy is the man who does not lose faith in me”.

So there might be no misunderstanding, Jesus made two final comments about John to his listeners: “… of all the children born of women, a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen”. In Jesus’ mind, John's role to witness personally to him made John more significant than Abraham, than Moses, than Isaiah --  than whoever who had so far lived. And yet, said Jesus, “… the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is”.

What is so special about us? Jesus did not say. Might it be that we have the wonderful benefit of having Jesus reveal to us his intimate knowledge of the heart of his Father... to cherish the memory of his  death on the cross and then his resurrection, and their message of totally gratuitous forgiveness and love.

There is no vengeance, no retribution in the heart of Jesus, nor in the heart of God. Our challenge now is to mature enough to allow our experiences of deep hurt and disappointment; or of truly, deeply personal love; or the patient, continued experience of contemplation to stretch our hearts and to discover and to enjoy our capacity to love unconditionally, to love those who do not deserve it; and, at the same time, quietly to relax into the safe, unquestioning always joyful arms of God.

It we're not so sure, perhaps Christmas will convince us.