14 December 2014
Third Sunday of Advent
“There is one among you whom you do not recognize.”
The Evangelist John was believed to have penned his Gospel at least fifty years following the death and resurrection of Christ. Just when one might expect that the fledgling church was well on its way, there still existed bitter tensions between a) Jews and their leaders who did not believe in Jesus as the Messiah and b) the followers of Jesus (some of whom probably still considered themselves Jewish!). These tensions are clearly reflected in today’s passage.
John the Baptist, central figure of today’s Gospel, is something of an enigma to the Jewish religious leaders of his day. They interrogate him, seeking to understand his person, his role, his identity. He is even mistaken by some for the Messiah. John simply identifies himself as “a voice crying in the desert to make straight the way of the Lord.”
As the frustrated Jewish authorities press on with their questions, we ourselves stand before John hearing a voice that
demands of us: Who are we as followers of Christ? What messages do our
voices cry out to others? How do we make straight the ways of our lives
to welcome him anew in our hearts, this Advent season and each day? How
do we enable others to recognize Jesus in us? Do we see Jesus in others?
Are we, like John the Baptist, a herald of the Good News?The voice we hear from John the Baptist bids us to divest the trappings and fineries of this world, as he did, to make straight our lives. His message this Advent day is to consider not so much the glittery rituals of the holiday season, but the call to renew our hearts and minds as we welcome the Incarnate Word. John’s cry is as relevant today as it was two thousand years ago.
Let us join our own voices with that of John that his may not be the lone voice crying in the wilderness. Let our voices herald the Good News, recognizing and bringing to others the God who is in our midst.
The author, Ms. Barbara Gawle, leads Bible studies at her parish, Incarnation Church of Wethersfield, CT. She is a CBS graduate and the 2012 recipient of the Biblical School's highest award, the Lawrence Boadt Memorial Medal.
