Third Sunday in Advent
FIRST READING: Isaiah 35.1-10
NEW TESTAMENT READING: James 5.7-10
GOSPEL Matthew 11.2-11
Today is the third Sunday of Advent and this Sunday has a particular name. This Sunday is known as GAUDETE SUNDAY. Gaudete means Rejoice. Gaudete Sunday reminds us of the reason for us to be Joyful. Rejoice because the Lord is near. He is coming soon to gather his people to be with himself.
Today we are remembering John the Baptist in a very special way. John has been imprisoned by king Herod because he pointed out Herod’s mistake and challenged him. People with power and in power don’t like to be challenged, Herod is one such person he uses his power to silence John the Baptist. Staying in prison, John’s desperation for the Messiah has not diminished. Earlier, while he baptised Jesus, he proclaimed that Jesus is the lamb of God and introduced Jesus as the one who is going to judge the world.
From the prison he sends a word to Jesus, are you the messiah or are we to wait for another. Jesus replies to those who brought the query, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them’. The work of the messiah is to bring healing and restoration of life. It is to make people rejoice, people whose situations have come to a standstill. The people who are blind, Jesus makes them see again, people who are not able to walk or move, Jesus gives them the ability to walk, those with severe skin conditions are healed and cleansed and the poor and helpless are given the good news that their situation will change. Here is Jesus the reason for people to come back to life. This is the reason for them to rejoice. A new door has been opened for them to begin their life anew.
Jesus fulfilled the great prophesy of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 35 is an amazing passage in the bible. The prophet brings before us, a wilderness and the dry land. There is no life in the wilderness and the dry land. It is desolate and depressive. Need not be anymore, God is going to transform the wilderness and the dry land. Therefore he exclaims, the wilderness and the dry land shall be glad and the desert is going to rejoice. There is going to be new life. Glory and majesty are going to be given to it.
‘The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes’. The prophet does not stop there he promises a new world of rejoicing and singing. This is the saving work of God that Jesus makes it possible. In his birth he brings joy to the world, a world that is crying and moaning.
St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians he asserts rejoice and again I say to you rejoice. One of the hallmarks of Christian faith is the Joy that Jesus pours into our heart. Joy that is not because of wealth or possessions a Joy because Jesus is near always and he is coming to be with us as God Emmanuel as God who will save and transform the wilderness, desert like situations of life. We look forward to his coming but we also come to him that Jesus the glorious messiah may touch and transform our sadness into joy.