Advent 3 Year A
John the Baptist sends his disciples to question Jesus
Isaiah 35: 1-10; James 5: 7-10; Matthew 11: 2-11
Once again this morning, we have one of those exquisitely beautiful readings from the prophet Isaiah!
What a picture of how the whole of creation will rejoice when the world is as God intends it to be! A place of true peace, true SHALOM – which is a word filled with all good things! Make firm the feeble knees, Isaiah cries, “Be strong and do not be afraid!” For you shall return to Zion with everlasting joy – sorrow and sighing shall flee away!
And indeed, Cyrus the Persian conqueror, in line with his benevolent policies regarding conquered nations, encouraged the Jews to return to their homeland! Wonderful imagery – yet, return to their Jewish homeland was never quite the Utopia they had envisioned.
Move forward four hundred years. Life in Judea and Galilee is hard indeed under the Roman boot.
John the Baptizer is in prison for his preaching. And for all that John fulfilled the role foretold by the prophet in exile, that is, the role of messenger to prepare the way for the Messiah, for all that he has baptized the man Jesus in the Jordan and proclaimed him Messiah, this man who had been his disciple, and some of whose own disciples had also been John’s followers, despite all this, in prison the doubts in John’s heart concerning his former disciple, are growing stronger by the day.
There was obviously something about Jesus and his ministry that did not fulfil John’s expectations of the Messiah. This man, his cousin, Mary’s son, has abandoned the rigours of discipleship as practised
by Essene monasticism, the likely early training the wild man in the desert, John, has received. Yes, Jesus’ understanding of their Hebrew scriptures is profound. But now. Now he has increasing followers – including women! Wealthy women who support his ministry. The Essenes were male only communities. Then Jesus welcomes the outcast – repeatedly breaking the purity codes as he prioritises love. On top of which, he appears to enjoy social dining with the well to do! Such is the power of Jesus’ authority and charisma, even his enemies are eager to extend him their hospitality, make a name for themselves pulling in the crowds eager to hear what their guest has to say!
Poor John! Is this really how the Messiah will behave? Can he, Jesus, really be the one spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, the Saviour who is to come? Or should they wait for someone else? John needs to know – and he sends his disciples to find out! It is human to doubt – especially if one is held prisonner by a capricious king. As we look around our world today, it is easy for us too, to question what difference the coming of Christ is making in our war-torn, hunger ridden, exploitative and violent world. As the fearsome shout of the atheist: if your God so good and so loving, how come the world is in such a mess!?
The greatest refugee crisis since the Second World War. The rising again of superpowers competing for dominance – and worse, fighting for dominance in proxy war, the mass killing of other nations’ populations, men, women and children. The moving to the extremes in religion and politics, in the ideologies which control our world. We too may want to shout at God: why should I trust you, serve you, when all this is happening!?
Jesus’ quiet answer to John’s friends: Consider what you see – and go, tell it to John. The proof of the pudding is in the eating: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the poor are lifted up, filled with hope!
The world can only be transformed from the inside, the inside of individuals. From inside our hearts and souls. We can only find true happiness within our own beings; in our determination to make the best of ourselves, the best of the communities within which we live – to see and believe the best in others. In our determination to forgive ourselves and others. Address our fears and the insecurities which control and blight our lives. And the greedy hunger for attention that fear drives.
When we stop, take time to reflect, look at our world through Jesus’ eyes, we may begin to see life differently, discover those signs of hope: perceive the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers healed.
As we come to baptise our children into this hope in Christ, we are called to look at ourselves and our faithfulness to Christ. Christ who continually challenged those around him, to stop criticising others and look to their own lives, how they could be more honest, loving and faithful. John the Baptist had good reason to question whether Jesus was indeed the Christ.
And most of the time life is not simple; the things that make our hearts ache are not things that can be patched up with a nice story about a baby in the manger and a box of chocolates. They require much more grappling with. They require work of us.
Someone once said that preachers are like road signs; they point the way to places they have never been! God has a place for each one of us this Christmas, a place where we have never been, a place of deeper joy and peace. Advent is our journey of preparation to arrive at that place, a journey which will require decision and work, then we shall know the joy and shalom of Christmas in our hearts, as we celebrate the birth of the baby – and the beginnings of a new world order.
In the power of the Holy Spirit, as we listen in prayer, together as the community of those who follow the Way of Jesus, in receiving his life into our very beings, as we do so in receiving the sacraments, baptism, Communion, we have the opportunity of opening our hearts to that spiritual conversion,
which will in turn transform our society. Amen.