Prepare the Way of the Lord
Mt 3: 1 – 12
Second Sunday of Advent
Introduction
Today
is the second Sunday of Advent. Our reading presents to us the person of John
the Baptist who proclaims a message of repentance.
The Gospel
In those days John the Baptist
appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2 “Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is the one of
whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,
“The
voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.’”
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.’”
4 Now John wore
clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was
locusts and wild honey. 5 Then the people of Jerusalem and all
Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, 6 and
they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many Pharisees and
Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned
you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit worthy of
repentance. 9 Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have
Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to
raise up children to Abraham. 10 Even now the ax is lying at
the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is
cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with
water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I
am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit
and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will
clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the
chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”Reflection
We are now on the second Sunday of Advent. Our reading this
Sunday once again deals with the theme of the Lord’s coming and how we should
prepare for it. Interestingly, our reading presents to us the person of John
the Baptist who has been given this task of preparing for the Lord’s coming.
There are two things in this reading that we need to focus on:
First, is the message of John the Baptist. John went about the
barren wilderness preaching a message of repentance. People came not only to
hear him speak but also to repent from their sins. Their repentance, symbolized by their baptism in
the river Jordan spoke so much about the power of John’s message to them. John exhorted people to turn away from
everything that was wrong and evil because the Lord is now drawing closer more
than ever before. He said this to
everyone; even to a group of Pharisees and Sadducees, who at that time, were
considered the religious elite of Israel.
John also spoke of the Lord’s coming as a time of judgment
and reckoning. John used some striking metaphors to drive this point. He tells
people that “the ax lies at the root of the trees,” and that “ every tree that
does not bear fruit shall be cut down and thrown into the fire.” These
metaphors clearly suggest that the Lord’s impending arrival signaled the end
times where the Lord would finally demand the fruits of our lives and when he
finally would dispense justice by rewarding good and punishing evil.
Secondly, our reading also wants us to focus on the person
of John the Baptist himself. Obviously, he was ascetic. At seeing him wearing
clothes made of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, one could immediately
sense the austere and simple life he had embraced. His food, made up of locusts
and honey indicated that he lived frugally and deprived himself of any form of
abundance.
His uncomplicated lifestyle matched the dry, arid and barren
desert where he lived. The stark and quiet surroundings where he moved about through
the years, fostered a quiet spirit in him that made him capable of listening
and pondering on the voice of the Spirit; the same Spirit that led Jesus to the
desert; the same Spirit that led him to speak out clearly and boldly about the
urgency for repentance.
For John, it was clear that the inbreaking of God’s kingdom
doesn’t take place in city centers or in places of importance. God’s voice,
many times gets drowned within city centers and crowded streets. But in the
quiet, undisturbed and isolated places in the desert, God’s voice becomes clear
and anyone who listens to this voice in the quiet stillness of it all becomes
familiar and receptive to this divine inner voice. It was here, in the desert,
where John learned how to be receptive to the Spirit.
John’s receptivity to the Spirit allowed him to capture the
movement and the will of the Spirit. Capturing the Spirit’s will and the
Spirit’s promptings gave John the full certainty of the truths that he
proclaimed without fear. But most important of all, John’s ability to listen to
the Spirit allowed him to accept the fact that he was just a plain messenger
and no messiah at all.
As he embraced the simple and uncomplicated life, so did he
embrace the truth. His embrace of the truth made him humble, as truth itself can
unmask all that is pretentious and untrue. He pointed out in humility the truth
about himself, that he simply baptized with water and that there was someone
else who would come to baptize people with the Spirit. His humility, borne out
of his careful listening to the Spirit, made him the perfect messenger to
prepare for the Lord’s path in the desert.
Today’s gospel tells us that as the Lord draws near, we need
to change our ways; we need to sense the urgency of changing the way we think
and the way we live our lives. Together with this message is the message we get
from the austere figure of John the Baptist who looms large into the horizon of
this new season of Advent.
John has turned his back on the values of the world.
He has turned his back on the complicated materialism and gluttony that the
world had to offer. He has even turned his back on the temptations of power by
humbly declaring that he was a mere messenger to one who comes in the name of
God most high. In the end, it is John’s message and his own witness as a person
that is presented to us as the way to prepare for the Lord’s coming. And
together with John, we say, “ Come Lord Jesus, come!”
Jesus, you are coming again. Thank you for reminding me because
this allows me to pause and reflect on my life and see whether I am indeed
ready to welcome you when you come again.
Thank you too for the person of John the Baptist. He was a
man who sought nothing from the world; not its riches, not its power and not
its glory. He was one attuned to your Spirit who taught him the ways of God.
Come Lord Jesus, come. Come, transform our hearts that we may worthily welcome
you as our Lord and master. Amen.
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain. “ – Isa 40: 4
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