Second Sunday of Advent
As we can understand, during the four Sunday’s of advent, the scripture readings are chosen very carefully. There are particular things that the Church wants us to know as we prepare for the birthday of Jesus. I am going to give you a little bible study here. First, the messiah must come from the tribe or the house of Judah. Jesse, who we hear about in the first reading, was King David’s father and he was of the house of Judah. God had made a promise to David, that his kingdom and his lineage would be secure forever. Jesus, through his foster father Joseph, came from the lineage of David. In this way, Jesus is the “shoot of Jesse” that Isaiah talks about in today’s first reading (Is 11:1).
Secondly, Scriptures want us to know about the role of John the Baptist. His message, “A voice of one crying out in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths,” originally was proclaimed by Isaiah (Is 40:3). It was the common belief that the prophet Elijah, who was taken up to heaven in fiery chariot (2 Kgs 2:11), would return before the day of the Lord (Mal 3:23a). Is it not interesting that the gospel tell us what John the Baptist wore? We do not have that kind of information about Jesus. So why is it important to tell us what John the Baptist wore? Because, it is said of Elijah that he wore a hairy garment and a leather girdle around his loins. In this way, scripture lines up Elijah with John the Baptist. If Elijah was supposed to come before the day of the Lord, then John the Baptist was preparing the way of the Lord, just as Isaiah had prophesied.
We cannot avoid both the message of Isaiah and John the Baptist. There is a certain amount of firmness and straightforwardness to both Isaiah and Baptist’s messages. Isaiah, for example, says about the coming Lord that he will not judge by appearance, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips (Is 11:3-4). The Baptist has an even more firm tone. He says, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.” (Mt 3:7) He also says, “Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Mt 3:10).
So what is the message in all of this for us? If Isaiah and John are a voice crying out “prepare the way of the Lord,” and if we want to indeed prepare, are the scriptures also suggesting how we can prepare? The answer is, “Yes.” John the Baptist says, Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. We generally associate repentance with Lent.But even during advent, the scriptures are telling us that we must take an honest look at our lives and prepare ourselves for this great event of our salvation. Let us remove any sentiment, thought, action that would be a stumbling block for Christ. Let us make straight the path of the Lord. Let us produce good fruit.
- Fr. Satish Joseph