The Third Sunday of Advent

My favorite aspect of Jesus’s reply to John the Baptist in today’s Gospel isn’t what He says; it’s how He says it.

John has been arrested by Herod for speaking the truth about marriage. First century prisons were not comfortable, pleasant places, so while we can’t know how much John’s confidence was shaken at core, it’s certainly understandable if, in the midst of what looks a complete collapse of his life and mission, he’s begun to question things to some degree. What is going on? Where is God in all of this? Is Jesus actually the Messiah, like John believes?

Now, Jesus could have sent back to John saying simply, “Yes, I’m the One.” Instead, he references Scripture—the prophet Isaiah—not only to answer John’s question, but to speak to John’s heart. I can’t help but think that Isaiah was one of John’s favorite books of Scripture. After all, John quotes it himself, referring to himself as “a voice crying out in the desert.”

John most certainly knew the Book of Isaiah, and knew it well. That book would have been meaningful to John on a personal level, which makes Jesus’ reply to John, referring directly to Isaiah’s prophetic images of the Messiah at work, heart-stirringly personal. Beneath his reply of “Yes,” to John’s question, Jesus is saying, “Hold firm, John. I know what you are suffering, and I care. My Father sees, and His plan of salvation is unfolding, both for you and for the whole world. Your suffering will not be in vain. You have been faithful and have not failed in your mission. I am the one you paved the way for; I have come.”

Jesus still wants to speak to us, each one of us, personally and truly, just as He spoke to John. He still does speak to us that way, if we take the time and quiet ourselves to hear Him. As Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, “God solicits each of us by a dialogue no other soul can hear. His action on the soul is always for us alone. He sends no circular letters, uses no party lines. He calls His sheep by name; He leaves the ninety-nine that are safe to find the one that is lost. Once the soul becomes conscious of the Divine Presence it whispers to itself: This is a message sent to me and to no one else.”