Third Sunday of Advent, Dec.

12, 2010
(Isaiah 35:1-6a,10; James 5:7-10; Mt. 11:2-11)

Today is known as Gaudete (Latin for “Rejoice”) Sunday for those of you
preparing in earnest for next year’s leap into yesteryear. “Rejoice in the Lord
always” is part of the opening antiphon for this Mass. It is taken from Paul’s letter
to the Philippians (4:4): “Gaudete in Domino semper.”
Prophetic visions like Isaiah’s often involve a dramatic reversal of the present
situation. “The glory of Lebanon” refers to its forests, primarily the aromatic and
sturdy cedar trees, which once adorned the Temple in Jerusalem. Cedar trees were
used as symbols of strength, of splendor and of glory throughout the Old Testament.
But in this vision Lebanon’s glory will now transform Israel’s barren and parched
land.
Moreover, the “splendor of Carmel and Sharon” will be restored. Carmel was
a small range of mountains along the Mediterranean coast in the southern area of
the Galilee. It had, at some points in the biblical period, lush vegetation and forests.
Sharon was a coastal plain made up of some fertile soil and some forests,
especially of oak trees, which fed on much of the marshland which was also
plentiful. It ran from the southern edge of the Carmel range to the modern city of
Tel Aviv (25 miles or so).
Because “Carmel and Sharon” parallel “the glory of Lebanon” which referred
to forests, we can surmise that Sharon and Carmel’s forests were Isaiah’s reference
here. But as splendid as they are, Israel will see the glory of the Lord, before whom
the forests pale by comparison.
However it is not the glory of forests but that of the Lord, which strengthens
feeble hands and weak knees, and emboldens the frightened. God the vindicator
comes, to give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, movement to the lame and
speech to those unable to speak.
Matthew uses Isaiah in the encounter between the Jesus and the disciples of
John the Baptist after John’s imprisonment. When he writes: “When John the
Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ,” this is a confessional statement
by Matthew which identifies Jesus as the Christ, which only comes through faith.
Not even the immediate disciples will name Jesus as the Christ until Mt.16:16, and
then only Peter. So Matthew shows what he already believes and what he’s trying to
help others believe: that Jesus is the Christ of God.
 John’s question does not indicate he believed that Jesus was “the Christ.” He
simply asks “Are you the one who is to come?” This recalls Mt. 3:11 where the
Baptist spoke of one who would come after him who was mightier than he who
would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. Here it helps increase the drama.
The answer Jesus sends to John demands that John and all others must decide
individually about what they “see and hear.” When he cites examples he alludes to
what Isaiah mentioned in the first reading. Thus, Jesus (Matthew) requires one and
all to decide whether Jesus “is the one to come.”
After John’s disciples leave, Jesus talks about John to the crowds. John brings
the long line of prophets to an end. And Jesus fulfills both the Law and the
Prophets. So of all people who have ever been born, none was greater than John.
But as important as John is/was, even the least one in the kingdom of heaven is
greater than any mere mortal.
The New Testament had to acknowledge the importance of John because of
the popularity of his reform movement. At the same time they stressed the
overwhelming superiority of Jesus. Thus, the least in the kingdom is greater than
John. And that gives us a lot to think about!

Fr. Lawrence L. Hummer