Sunday, December 4, 2022
Second Sunday of Advent year A
First Reading: ISAIAH 11:1-10
Responsorial Psalm: PSALMS 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17
Second Reading: ROMANS 15:4-9
Gospel: MATTHEW 3:1-12
Repent, the Kingdom of God is at hand
It’s hard to sufficiently appreciate the intensity of John the Baptist. What was the primary message of St. John the Baptist? – “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew tells us he was fulfilling a prophecy of Isaiah. Isaiah 40: 3 says, “A voice cries: In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” How did the ancient Jews understand this prophecy of Isaiah? And how did the first-century Jewish audience of John the Baptist hear these words?
The background of Isaiah chapter 40 is the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC. God is about to intervene and save His people as He did in Egypt. The prophet talks about it in terms of a “new exodus.” The exodus from Egypt was the prototype of all God’s saving interventions on his people’s behalf. When God saved Israel from slavery in Egypt, by His mighty hand, they made their way through the desert to the promised land. That was the first exodus. After settling in the Promised land, Israel did not remain faithful to God. As a consequence , God allowed them to be defeated and taken into slavery. And the prophet announced that on the day of salvation, God will perform a new exodus when He will again intervene and save His people. This is how preparing a way in the wilderness and a straight path through the desert became a metaphor of a new exodus. New because the power with which God acts now will surpass the first exodus. That is a great message of consolation. This is why this part of the Book of Isaiah is called the Book of Consolation. It anticipates a new and greater exodus when God will intervene and save His people.
The context of John the Baptist is the Roman occupation. So, when he went out into the desert of Judea and began to preach, “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” and to call the people to prepare the way for the Lord and make straight his paths, everyone understood that a new exodus was about to take place. Throughout the scriptures, geography is usually also theological. The Book of Joshua chapters 3 and 4 show that the first exodus ended when Israel crossed the river Jordan and entered the promised land. John goes back to the place where the first exodus ended to announce that a new exodus is about to begin. The first-century Jews understood from the preaching of John the Baptist that a new exodus is at hand and all the messianic prophecies are about to be fulfilled.
The first-century Jews would have known from the Book of Malachy that before the day of the Lord, Elijah must come first. The Book of 2 Kings 1, tells us that Elijah the prophet wore a garment of hair cloth and a belt made of leather. By dressing in exactly the same way, John the Baptist reveals himself as the Elisha who is to come. The question will now be, ‘who is the leader of the new exodus,’ ‘who will be the new and greater Moses?’ Mathew tells us that Jesus is the new and greater Moses.
In Christ, God has intervened with a power that surpasses the first exodus. The first exodus was a temporal deliverance from slavery in Egypt to an earthly promised land. The new exodus is a deliverance from the powers of darkness, sin and Satan. And the new promised land is not an earthly one but a heavenly one. John the Baptist calls us to prepare for it. He calls for repentance. Sin was the condition that caused the exile in Babylon. Sin exiles us from God, it is sin that separates us from God. It is sin that drives us away from the promised land. So, what John the Baptist is saying is that if we repent of our sins, we will come to know the saving action of God in our lives. He warned the Pharisees and the Sadducees, ‘do not presume that because you are biological descendants of Abraham you are going to be saved. Produce good fruits as evidence of your repentance.’ Like the Pharisees and the Sadducees, we are often tempted to presume that because we are baptized and attend mass daily, we will be saved; we also must produce the fruits of repentance.
Happy Sunday
Rev. Fr. Chidi Onwuka m.ss.cc.