Sunday, December 7, 2026

 

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT 
(Isaiah 11:1–10; Romans 15:4–9; Matthew 3:1–12)

Today is the Second Sunday of Advent. It may also be called “John the Baptist Sunday.” Every year on this day the Gospel highlights John the Baptist. This year we read the presentation of John in the desert according to Matthew. Next year John is presented according to Mark, and in 2027 according to Luke. In none of these years do we hear the voice of Jesus on this Second Sunday, although his presence always permeates the background.

The biographical information about John comes mostly from the Gospel of Luke. He was born the son of the priest Zechariah and his barren wife Elizabeth. By God’s command he was named “John,” which means “Yahweh is merciful.” Aside from Mary and Joseph, John was the first to recognize Jesus as Lord. When Mary, pregnant with Jesus, visited her relative Elizabeth, who carried John in her womb, John leapt to honor him. After his birth, Zechariah predicted that he would go before the Lord to prepare his ways. John lived as an ascetic in the desert, surviving only on locusts and wild honey.

In today’s reading John is proclaiming the coming of the Messiah. “Repent,” he says, “for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” According to Jewish tradition, the Messiah would inaugurate the eternal Kingdom of God. John looks upon him with the greatest reverence when he proclaims, “I am not even worthy to carry his sandals.” Like Jesus, John finds the Sadducees and Pharisees guilty of hypocrisy. He calls them a “brood of vipers,” although he does not consider them beyond hope. If they repent, John  will baptize them with water as a sign of their intention to live righteously. However, for those who do not truly repent, John will leave them for the Messiah to burn with fire.

Matthew continues developing John’s story with his baptism of Jesus, his arrest, and his death. When Jesus presents himself to be baptized, John hesitates, saying that he should be baptized by Jesus. Yet when Herod Antipas arrests him, John shows some doubt that Jesus is the Messiah. He expected a Messiah who would burn sinners, but Jesus prefers to talk and even to eat with them. This is why John sends two disciples to ask him: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Jesus does not give them a direct answer. He says: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight and the lame walk; lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor.”

We do not know whether John went to his executioner convinced that Jesus truly is the Messiah. Perhaps he did, since Matthew includes the story of his death in his Gospel. Certainly the Church understands John this way by telling his story during Advent  as testimony of the coming of the Savior. In doing so, the Church gives us the opportunity to reaffirm our faith in Jesus.

People everywhere raise objections to belief. Some Jews do not believe because, according to them, when the Messiah comes everything will change. But deceit, theft, and homicide continue. Others do not believe because Jesus’ return has taken twenty centuries, and even now we see no sign that he is coming soon. Still others do not believe because they see Christians—supposedly formed by the Gospel—conducting themselves morally like anyone else. In other words, they see most Christians as hypocrites, not living as redeemed people.

In favor of Christ as Messiah we have his legacy, as deep as it is wide. His teaching is sound and beneficial. His followers now span the entire earth. His benefit to the world has been immense—from feeding the poor to educating civic leaders. Another reason is the testimony of those who claimed to have seen Jesus risen from the dead. In almost every case they gave their lives to proclaim what they had seen. Finally, there is our own experience. Who among us has not asked for Jesus’ help and received it, not only once, but many times?

The fact that Jesus has not manifested his lordship in a spectacular way to everyone is not necessarily an impediment to belief. It may instead be seen as a sign of God’s consistency. Since the time of Abraham, God has asked men and women for the assent of faith. He has endowed us with free will to accept Jesus as God’s full revelation or to reject him. We humans must choose for or against Jesus as Lord and live in harmony with that decision. It is the most significant question of our lives.