Gaudete Sunday, Year A
Theme: What Do You Expect To See? 你想看見甚麼？
Scientists sent probes to Mars, searching for water and thus signs of life beyond our planet. But do we expect to see water in desert and parched land (Isaiah 35:1) and to find abundant flowers blooming (35:2)? The chances are extremely slim. But that does not stop our God working miraculous work of mercy (35:5-7). Nor do our scientists stop their untiring probing. With medical advancements nowadays, it is not necessary to be a god in order to make the eyes of the blind see, the ears of the deaf open and the mute tongue sing (35:6). No wonder these days, scientists have no restrains from playing God! I think it is getting harder and harder for our God to reveal Himself and His will to us because our attention lies elsewhere.
It is a tautology to claim that our perception is conditioned by our experiences. In order to survive and interact in this world, we need to actively construct our world view. Such preconceptions relieve us of reinventing the wheel again and again. It saves energy and proves to be efficient. However, our Creator is a God of surprises! He will always prod us out of our comfort zone to meet the unexpected.
In the gospel reading today, we read of what John the Baptist did after he had been imprisoned by Herod. The Baptist was nearly immediately imprisoned after he had baptized Jesus in River Jordan. They no longer had the chance to meet each other afterwards. Thus, the Baptist could only hear in prison of the rising of a Galilean miracle worker whom he had previously baptized. Perhaps that was the Messiah anticipated by them all. “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3).
How did Jesus answer? He did not deny nor affirm because the Baptist was asking a wrong question. The answer Jesus was going to give went far beyond the Baptist’s question. So, Jesus could only quote the prophecy of Isaiah, “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them” (11:5, Isaiah 35:5-6a) All right, we all know that Jesus came to fulfil the prophecies of the prophets. What’s so “far beyond”? Well, if we read the prophets out of the context, we’ll miss the surprise. Let’s step back a little. Isaiah says, “Say to the fearful of heart: Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you” (35:4). This time, God takes things seriously. He does not simply send spokesmen to exhort and to console. He comes in the person of Jesus Christ to execute vindication! While the Jews anticipated a human liberator like Moses or even Cyrus, they passed the Son of God by without realizing that He was already here! By quoting Isaiah, Jesus proclaims His divinity. While the Jews anticipated vindication in the form of “To bring retribution on the nations, punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings in shackles, their nobles in chains of iron…” (Psalms 149:7-8), they missed God’s intention to save all, including their conquerors!
Now, Jesus turned to the crowd and made use of poetic rhetoric to draw the attention of the audience to the role of the Baptist. It was because the crowd did not know what to look for in the Baptist. They knew that the Baptist was a prophet. For more than four hundred years leading life under the colonial rule of different empires, the Jews received no revelation from God. It looked as if God had abandoned them because of their idolatry and wickedness. Here came a prophet announcing the advent of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 3:2). The Baptist spoke as if the wrath of God was descending on them (3:7-10) which was a typical prophetic vocabulary. He flatly denied that to be the Messiah (3:11) but failed to make it clear that he was the Elijah who would come before the Messiah (Malachi 3:23-24). Perhaps the Baptist himself was not aware of this particular role of his! It took Jesus to clarify this point to the crowd.
Jesus employed rhetorical questions to bring in the focus. It is common sense that people do not look for reeds, an aquatic plant, in desert (Matthew 11:7). Nor do people look for nobilities in the wilderness (11:8). In order to proclaim God’s message, prophets seldom stayed in deserts for long. God usually sent prophets, such as Samuel and Elijah to confront kings; and Jonah to warn the people. There were even royal prophets working with kings, advising them whether they should go to wars or not. Therefore, the Baptist was a special prophet who preached in an unexpected place --- the wilderness and people were attracted to approach the Baptist by the Holy Spirit. The Baptist did his job of preparing the hearts of the people through repentance and baptism. Jesus affirmed that the Baptist was the Elijah by quoting Malachi instead of quoting Isaiah, “Now I am sending my messenger --- he will prepare the way before me” (Malachi 3:1). Of course, people would be misled by the interpretations and teachings of scribes and Pharisees so that their preconceptions blocked them from seeing the Baptist as the foretold Elijah.
This should give us good food for meditation. Today the Church celebrates Gaudete Sunday. Simply put, we should rejoice because our Saviour is just around the corner. But what Jesus would you expect to meet this Christmas? Of course, not the military Messiah anticipated by the Jews in captivity. Is it the Holy Infant in the manger adored by shepherds? By the Magi? But the Holy Infant was in the past more than two millennia ago! Can the Holy Infant be relevant in this war-torn world today? Well, the prophet says He is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:5). Then what peace can it bring? Is the Holy Infant able to bring “quarantined people” together?
Brethren! Hope is not totally lost. Children are our hope. Let’s be patient in adversity. Our salvation is at hand. Amen.
God bless!
2019 Reflection
Picture Credit: By Nilüfer Demir from DHA Agency (Turkey) - Original publication: Published in many sourcesImmediate source: http://www.rewanbej.com/cima-min-weneye-alan-wesand-peter-bouckaert.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47737832
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