Back in
the first century in Palestine, there is a man named John the Baptist.
John is
a fiery preacher. People like his talk
about God’s terrifying wrath.
They
figure that God’s wrath will come down heavy on the Romans who are occupying
their country and oppressing them. They
want the Romans to get their just desserts and John seems to be saying that God
will take vengeance on them.
John
points to Jesus as the one who will lead his people in all of this. He refers to Jesus as “one more powerful than I.”
Jesus
Jesus
has listened to John and even been baptized by him.
But
then, Jesus goes in a very different direction.
He doesn’t talk about wrath or about God as punishing or vengeful.
Instead,
Jesus introduces a whole new language about God. He speaks in terms of compassion and mercy.
Jesus
even speaks about the forgiveness of enemies.
He speaks of union with God and with one another and not of division.
Jesus
emphasizes that God comes to save us from what oppresses the human spirit. He does not speak of God in political or
military terms.
Jesus
replaces John’s austere life in the desert with a lifestyle centered on meals. He replaces John’s good guy/bad guy,
insider/outsider mentality with an approach that is open to people.
Jesus
doesn’t push away or condemn people. He
eats dinner with those labeled as sinners and he talks with them about God.
And beyond
all this, Jesus does something that John the Baptist never does. He heals people and his physical healings,
while real, seem to point to something deeper – to the healing of the deepest
hungers and hurts of the human spirit.
Very
remarkably, Jesus directs a lot of his attention to the lost and the last and the
least of society. And that includes
women and children.
A Revolution
This is the
background of today’s gospel.
This is why John
sends some of his followers to ask Jesus: “Um,
are you really the One we’ve been waiting for?
You’re looking pretty different from what we expected.”
Jesus responds by
going back to Isaiah, to what we heard in our first reading. He knows that Isaiah gives the accurate idea
of what this Savior will do, and he knows that this is revolutionary.
So Jesus says: “Tell John what’s happening. The blind now see a vision and purpose for
their lives.
“The deaf now hear a message of unconditional
acceptance and self-worth. The lame are now
able to walk through the challenging bumps of life.
“Those as good as dead are now alive and have
something to live for. And the poor now
have their deepest hunger satisfied.”
So what he’s
telling John is that a revolution is taking place. He is bringing a whole new understanding of
God and our relationship with God.
The Revolution Continues
Today we still need to hear what Jesus says because sometimes we still
hang on to John the Baptist and his understanding.
Sometimes we see faith only as a checklist of truths that have to be believed. We can miss faith as an alive, personal
relationship with Jesus.
Sometimes we see Church as a club with members, with the need to determine
who’s in and who’s out. We can miss
Church as a community of persons who can be at different places in their
journey with the Lord, a community where there can be unity without complete
uniformity.
Sometimes we see God as punishing and condemning those who don’t measure
up. We can miss God, as revealed by
Jesus, as reaching out and even including those whom we think are doing wrong.
Maybe it all boils down to this.
We need The Joy of the Gospel.
That’s what Pope Francis is talking about in a recent and refreshing statement
called The Joy of the Gospel. The Pope has expressed the way of
understanding God that Jesus presents on this Third Sunday of Advent.
He calls us to embrace this more fully.
And my bet is, if we do, then the One whose birth we celebrate at
Christmas will come much more fully into our world.
Both of today’s readings refer to
the Old Testament prophet Elijah.
The Book of Kings tells us that
Elijah was taken up into heaven in a whirlwind.
The assumption was made that
Elijah did not die and that he would return to earth to prepare the way of the
Lord.
This is a belief throughout Old
Testament times.
In today’s gospel Jesus refers to
this expectation and seems to identify John the Baptist with Elijah.
He may simply mean that John has
fulfilled the role that Elijah was expected to play, preparing the way for the
Day of the Lord.
This expectation that Elijah
would return gave rise to some customs among the Jewish people.
At a Jewish Passover table, there
is always an empty chair so that Elijah will have a seat if he comes that year.
There is also an empty chair at a
circumcision ceremony.
The idea behind both of these
customs is that Elijah was a fierce advocate of faithfulness to the covenant.
And so, the empty chair for him
at a Passover Supper is appropriate because that supper is a renewal of the
covenant, and the empty chair at a circumcision ceremony is appropriate because
there a child enters the covenant of Abraham.
During this Advent season, this
custom of the empty chair might lead us to reflect.
Do we expect Christ to come to us
as the Jews expect Elijah to come?
Do we try to open our minds and
hearts to make room for Christ who might well come to us in unexpected ways?
Are we open to Christ coming to
us in other persons, sometimes the least likely of persons?
Are we open to his coming even in
situations and events?
So, Elijah and the custom of the
empty chair raise a good Advent reflection for us.
