Third Sunday of Advent
Reading 1: Is 35:1-6a, 10
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10
Reading 2: Jas 5:7-10
Gospel: Mt 11:2-11
Individuals are conditioned by the society they live in and, therefore, the crimes of particular individuals disclose the corruption within society. In any society, only a few individuals are guilty of serious sin, but all of society is responsible because it is too often indifferent to that sin and fails to make it apparent that sinful behavior is unacceptable. That was true in the time of Isaiah and it is true in our world today. It is that indifference to sin that motivated the ancient prophets in the same way it should motivate us today. The prophets saw indifference to sin as devastating to man’s relationship with God. Isaiah and his disciples were acutely aware of human sinfulness and society’s indifference to that sin, and that is the key to understanding Isaiah’s message. And the message was simple: Sin and indifference to sin have brought on God’s wrath. Repentance is always possible, but there isn’t much time. God is about to punish Israel and Judah. But because they are the “Chosen People,” God will punish them but God will also save a remnant of the people and again restore them to their homeland. But first, God will use Assyria as the instrument of purification for Israel (north), and Babylon as the instrument for Judah (south). Then the purified remnant of the “Chosen People” will be restored to their homeland. That is essentially the message of the first 39 chapters of the Book of Isaiah, the majority of which were probably composed by Isaiah himself. We’ll talk about the other chapters composed by disciples of Isaiah many years later in another commentary.
Most of the ancient prophets of Israel can be identified and the period of their activity can be pinpointed within a few years. But that isn’t the case with the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. This book covers in excess of 200 years of time and is composed of oracles and poems composed by Isaiah himself during his lifetime, and by disciples who inherited the spirit of Isaiah and added to his work many years after his death.
Isaiah was from the southern kingdom of Judah and was active over the course of three kings of Judah which would date the activity of the historical Isaiah between 742 and 687 B.C. That means he was active at a critical moment of Israel’s history when Israel (north) was overthrown by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. Within a few years (701 B.C.) the Assyrians ravaged Judah as well but were unable to capture Jerusalem. Judah’s destruction came many years later at the hands of the Babylonians in 587 B.C.
Most scholars attribute the first 39 chapters of this book to the historical Isaiah along with some material added by his disciples. Our reading this week comes from chapter 35 so we are probably in that time frame between the Assyrian conquest of Israel and about 100 years or so before the Babylonian conquest of Judah. But it is in these first 39 chapters that we find Isaiah prophesying the fall of Israel; the ravaging of Judah by the Assyrians; the unsuccessful siege of Jerusalem by Assyria; the eventual conquering of Judah by the Babylonians; the birth of Immanuel; and Israel’s deliverance after their purification. And it is in chapter 35 (our reading this week) that we are given the vision of Israel’s deliverance with imagery of the desert blooming and the glory and splendor of God made manifest; the deaf will hear and the blind will see and the mute will speak and those ransomed by God will return to Zion amid gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning will no longer exist on God’s holy mountain.
So the message of our first reading this week (as it will be throughout Advent) is hope/anticipation of being restored to God’s holy mountain (heaven). But first we have to understand what got us to chapter 35 and that was Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the sins and indifference to sin of Israel and Judah. Because of sin and indifference, the Jews must be purified; and so must we. The message: Be purified! Prepare yourselves to be restored to God’s holy mountain through purification of your sins. To Isaiah’s contemporaries, purification would come through obedience to God and the reward would be restoration to their homeland of Israel. To us, purification comes through the sacraments of the church and the reward is restoration to our homeland of heaven.
Our gospel passage from Matthew 11 contains some interesting points. First, we have John the Baptist asking through his disciples if Jesus truly is the “one who is to come.” That seems curious because John baptized Jesus and testified to seeing the Holy Spirit descend and rest upon him. Why would he ask that question? It is probable that, although John believed that Jesus was the messiah, Jesus didn’t fulfill John’s expectations. John, like all faithful Jews of the time, expected the messiah to be essentially a reincarnation of King David and his role would be to re-establish the nation of Israel as it was under King David; independent and free of oppression. Obviously, Jesus’ intentions and John’s expectations were not on the same page but Jesus reminds John of Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the things that will occur when the messiah comes, and those things that are happening now because of Jesus’ ministry: the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the dead are raised. And then a slight rebuke to John: “Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
But Jesus follows the rebuke of John by attesting to his greatness in the eyes of God. The Jews of the time believed that Malachi was the last prophet (approx. 450 B.C.) and that there would be no more prophets until Elijah returned to “prepare the way of the Lord.” Jesus confirms to the crowds that what they went out into the desert to see was, in fact, a prophet. Not only a prophet but the one Malachi predicted and the one the Jews believed would be Elijah. Two verses past the end of our gospel this week, Jesus makes it very plain: “If you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
The Golden Thread??? Isaiah tells us that when the messiah comes, the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will walk, the mute will sing. Jesus tells John’s disciples, go and tell John what you see. The golden thread may be easy to spot but the message requires commitment on our part. During Advent, we anticipate the return of Christ at the end of time, and we believe that when that happens, there will be paradise on God’s holy mountain (heaven) and those who have been purified and are prepared for Christ’s return will be rewarded with return to the holy mountain. But when is he coming? Our second reading from the Letter of James reminds us that what is required of us is patience. We have been told and we believe that Jesus will return; but when? “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard ‘delay,’ but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pt 3:9). Be a good Boy (or Girl) Scout – be patient and be prepared.
