Third Sunday of Advent Year B
Isaiah 61:1–2a, 10–11
Luke 1:46–48, 49–50, 53–54
1 Thessalonians 5:16–24
John 1:6–8, 19–28
Scriptures reveal the coming of the Messiah as the hope, the dream, the longing that arose from Israel’s experience of God through their entire history. God was with them as they came into being as a people, then a nation. God was with them when they faced wars and the devastation of their homeland.
God was, much to their surprise, found to be with them even in their time of exile. Their return to the homeland was less than glorious, but their trust and hope for deliverance remained. In a time of expectation, they heard the voice of John the Baptist, and their expectations were renewed.
John knew his call. He never claimed the role of Messiah. “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” John declared that another would come after him: “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
At a particular moment in time, in a particular place (“Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing”), this proclamation was made. Soon after, Jesus would come to be baptized by John, and John would identify Him with such clarity that some of his own disciples would follow Jesus.
The Advent season up to now has been an invitation to acknowledge that Christ will come in glory at the end of time. Now we move toward a renewal of our welcome of the Christ Child as our Savior.
St. Paul invites the Thessalonians to trust in God’s fidelity to His people: “May the God of peace make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will also accomplish it.”
This Third Sunday of Advent calls us to turn our thoughts to the coming of Christ in history. We are to recognize Him as the fulfillment of our longings. Immediate preparation for Christmas allows us to open our lives to the presence of God with us.
Day by day in the week ahead, the “O Antiphons” of the Magnificat in the Liturgy of the Hours call to mind the prophecies of old that are fulfilled in Christ: O Wisdom (Dec. 17); O Leader (Dec. 18); O Root of Jesse’s stem (Dec. 19); O Key of David (Dec. 20); O Radiant Dawn (Dec. 21); O King of all nations (Dec. 22); and O Emmanuel (Dec. 23).
While these prophetic expressions begin as the promise to Israel, through John and the unfolding story of the Incarnation, they also prove to be the cry of every human heart. There is a dawning of understanding that is ongoing through human history. In these times of turmoil and struggle, it is good for us to remember that God is with us in every circumstance. We can face the challenges of our time with confidence in the hope of salvation.
When God fulfills His promises to us, we are filled with joy. This joy lifts our hearts from sorrow and makes known our capacity to share the Gospel promise of salvation and justice:
“I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels. As the earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth spring up, so will the Lord God make justice and praise spring up before all the nations.”
With Mary, soon to give birth to the Messiah, the hope of Israel and Savior to the nations, we cry out our joy: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”