December 12, 2010
Isaiah 35: 1-6,10 + Psalm 146 + James 5: -10 + Matthew 11: 2-11
Whenever I hear this Gospel passage, I can never help but think that John is sitting there in Herod’s prison a little disappointed. He has preached and preached about the coming Messiah insisting that he would put the ax to those who opposed him, separate the wheat from the chaff, and once and for all settle the questions of justice. He is the one who pointed out the Messiah one glorious day in the midst of a throng coming to him for baptism. Now after all he has done to make ready the way of the Lord, look where he ends up. And so, he sends some of his friends to Jesus. Personally, I think he sent them simply to remind Jesus that he was sitting over there in that prison. I don’t the questions were the least bit important. I think he was really saying: “Excuse me! While you are running around curing the sick, the lame, the blind, and the deaf. I’m over here in jail. While you’re dining with tax collectors others of questionable repute, I’m over here eating this jail food. John’s confidence is beginning to sag, and so the question: “Are you the one?”
If the questions are not really the point of the visit, neither are the answers, because all Jesus does is tell them what they already know if they’ve been paying attention. What Jesus says at the end is what matters; his ultimate and extraordinary compliment and affirmation of John’s role and place in the Father’s plan. With that affirmation, the disciples of John are comforted and affirmed about the importance and the character of their mentor and prophet. He compares John the great Elijah and in doing so affirms his own identity as Messiah since the return of Elijah was to signal the arrival of the Messiah.
We never know if those disciples even went back to John, because Matthew has Jesus begin to complain and speak harshly about those who will not see what is right before them, who will not recognize that God is working, and that the reign of God is at hand. And why do they not? Because they had other ideas; other expectations; or perhaps our plans for God to do things their way and on their time.
Matthew puts before us the image of one who had expectations about how things were to be when the Messiah came, and because they were his expectations and not God’s disappointment, frustration, and disillusionment set it. And there is nothing new about that. We do it all the time, and we know plenty of people who have had expectations about how God is supposed to fix things, settle things in their favor, and punish evil. About how God is supposed to answer prayers, especially certain kinds of prayers and from certain kinds of people. And when it doesn’t happen that way, a great chill settles upon their hearts and souls.
A culture of privilege sets us up to think that we deserve something from God, that God’s whose whole purpose in being is to give us more and more of what we want. So when we have to learn how to live with evil because God does not wipe it out, we don’t always do too well. When we know that injustice and sin seem to be getting bigger and bigger, we think God us supposed to sweep in and wipe out the bad guys while we sit and cheer safely from the sidelines. When we go to Mass without fail every week, and sacrifice with our tithe, we get knocked off balance when a test comes back and confirms that we have a disease and we’re going to die sooner than we thought. One of two things can happen: I know how to handle this, I’ll watch the Messiah, or how could God let this happen to me after all I’ve done for God? That person dissolves into self-pity and alienation while the other goes on living with Joy.
On Advent’s third Sunday, the Gospel gives us no answers any more than Jesus answered the question of John. It does give us questions. We all have dreams and ideas, visions and expectations about how thing are supposed to be here in this Kingdom of God. If there is any hint in those expectations that God is going to sweep in and settle our conflicts, reward us with something we want, or pat us on the head and say how nice we are; we’ve have failed to ask the question this Gospel proposes. “Are you the one?” is the question.
Are you the one who is going to bring peace? Are you the one who is going to seek justice for the poor? Are you the one who is going to make the first move to heal a broken relationship? Are you the one who is going to speak up when someone is lying, cheating, or hurting someone else? Are you the one who is going to make the Kingdom of God more of a reality today? Are you the one? Or do we wait for another? That’s the question this Gospel proposes. If we wait for someone else, it’s going to be a long wait.