Scripture Study for
Third Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 61:1–2a, 10–11 / Isaiah 61:10b / 1 Thessalonians 5:16–24 / John 1:6–8, 19–28
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Understanding the Word
By Br. John R. Barker, OFM
Despite the promises of glorious restoration given through earlier prophets, decades after the Exile, Jerusalem and Judah remained small and poor. Isaiah’s answer to the question “Why isn’t God doing anything?” has two aspects. The first answer is to be patient and trust, with a hopeful confidence that what God has promised will be done. The second aspect is captured by the phrase “wrapped me in a mantle of justice.” The people must also take responsibility for the problems that led to the Exile in the first place, especially widespread injustice, which seems to have continued after the Exile. Trust in God’s fidelity had to be combined with resolve to mend their ways and live within God’s will.
Saint Paul concludes his First Letter to the Thessalonians by encouraging a people that has struggled to make sense of the apparent delay in the return of Christ. It is difficult to maintain religious fervor and faith under such circumstances, and the tendency was to grow doubtful or negligent. But the Thessalonians should rejoice and keep up their prayer, especially thanksgiving. Attend to the gifts that God has given, Paul says, but do not be naïve: everything must be tested for its goodness. The letter ends with a prayer that God will preserve the Thessalonians during this difficult time, keeping them holy and blameless. God is faithful. The promises given in Christ will come to pass.
As in last week’s Gospel, John the Baptist announces that he is preparing the way for one greater than himself. In response to a challenge from the priests and Levites, who want to know what role John believes he plays in the expected coming of the Messiah, he assures them that he is not the Messiah, nor Elijah (see Malachi 3:23–24), nor “the Prophet” promised by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15), understood by some Jews in the first century to be a messianic figure. By what authority, then, does he baptize, if he has no messianic pretensions? John affirms that he has no authority; his role is simply “to testify to the light” coming into the world.