Isaiah 11:1-10 Romans 15:4-9 Matthew 3:1-12

Isaiah’s “On that day...” aims our religious imaginations toward an idealized and hope-filled future. This 8^th Century BC prophet preached this remarkable hope as the Assyrian Empire was conquered and destroyed the northern Kingdom of Israel. Isaiah observed this disaster from safety of the southern Kingdom of Judah. He and others were concerned with “Why?” their Saving God would allow the Gentiles to destroy the Kingdom of Israel. Eventually – after the eventual fall of the southern Kingdom of Judah in 598 BC and the subsequent destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 587/6 BC – the Jews realistically accepted personal and collective responsibility for their tragic situation. Prophetic voices from Moses through Elijah and Elisha, and more lately with Isaiah and Amos, had encouraged, challenged and warned God’s Chosen People that they had to live ever-more responsibly and wisely or they risked losing God’s temporal salvation, i.e., their freedom. A sufficient number of them failed to give heed to the prophetic exhortations so they all lost their nation, homeland, freedom and a significant amount of their religious dignity. Today’s descriptive text is not a prediction of what will happen in this life (Urgent: Parents must never allow their children to play by a cobra’s den!!!). Rather, this is an eschatological rhapsody on the theme of hope, a poetic description of the nearly unimaginable peace that can come with true fidelity to God and good sense, and an invitation to consider how much better real life could and would be if only the ancient Israelites (and we today, too!) would strive for greater wisdom and fidelity in life! For the Jews of both kingdoms in the 8^th Century before Christ, this would have meant being more faithful to the oral Torah and the practical good sense of the Covenant of Moses. In those days, the central Jewish focus was on the presence of God among them, called the Shekinah, which resided on the Mercy Seat which was the lid of the Ark of the Covenant housed in the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem Temple. The Torah was most likely still in a fairly primitive written form, but not yet the fixed, final text that is known today. The religious, psychological and political security the Divine Presence provided the Chosen People was tremendous. Isaiah realized the fragility of their then-current situation, and also appreciated that in any event, however tragic, God’s salvation would always be real and present. Today’s educated Catholics and mainline Christians are not “Restoration” believers, i.e., the sort who expect the mythical Garden of Eden of Genesis to be restored when the messiah finally comes. Rather, today’s text is an imaginative invitation to allow believers to find motivation toward’s God in hope of ever-more perfect and overwhelming peace, safety and security. The subjects of the Kingdom of Israel felt anything but safe and secure in Isaiah’s day. The subjects of the Kingdom of Judah would undergo a similar time of travail at the beginning of the 6^th Century BC. But, God’s power would redeem them yet again from Babylonian Captivity in 539 BC, and thus these words of the prophet would thereafter remind the suffering Chosen People to have hope in any time of adversity.

Matthew’s Gospel passage today describes in some detail the preaching message of John the Baptizer. He was serious about the proximity of the heavenly kingdom of hope and goodness, but he preached both genuine repentance coupled with visible evidence of such repentance. He challenged the Pharisees who made it their life’s work to publically strive after holiness. We can speculate that John’s problem with them was their focus on the more measurable rules and minutia of individual and personal religious practice, to the neglect of the more engaging, communal-social responsibilities of caring for their neighbors who’s behaviors, circumstances or life situations were distasteful to them. Sadducees, likewise, who embraced the Law of Moses publically, probably failed to make John content in how they related to the rest of the Chosen People. John challenged both to profound self-critique. Somewhat short on social skills, he addressed them as a “brood of vipers.” It is amazing that they were attracted to his preaching and baptism nonetheless. John preached in apocalyptic terms, a motivation-by-fear-of-condemnation approach. Many modern day believers have rightly moved beyond the need for such language and fear-inspiring rhetoric. Many Catholics along with many other Christians – who have embraced a life-direction founded on self-critical thoughtfulness and who strive for consistent good sense in all aspects of their lives – are far more attracted to the essential goodness of the Gospel message of love and justice. They (we) need not the negative and destructive pedagogy of fear formerly common among so many religious traditions and seemingly nearly universal among various cultures. We ought to rejoice that our late 20^th Century religious education process has evolved and reformed ever more towards the emphasis on and appreciation of God as Love! But, the baptist’s essential message of repentance is still fundamental to the reception of the Gospel. The Greek word for repentance is “metanoia” which literally means to “change one’s mind.” In the psychology of the ancient Jews and Greeks, one’s mind was closely connected to one’s heart. Hence, you might remember the direction still in our time to “learn by heart”? The heart and the mind together were the instruments of effective learning and insight. Thus, did John demand a profound change of mind and heart and the evidence to prove it. Jesus’ proclamation of the Gospel of God would insist on the same. Responsible thoughtfulness, a willingness and a desire to change, and then a concrete demonstration of such change – all three were necessary on the part of any who sought John’s baptism and, later, the Church’s baptism of initiation. The same is demanded of us today as disciples of the Risen Jesus, the Christ, and on an on-going basis.

The second reading today is from near the end of Paul’s lengthy letter to the Christians at Rome. His Roman audience was very likely Christians of both Jewish and Gentile (non-Jewish) background. Hence, Paul borrowed a theme from numerous places in the Old Testament literature, that God’s goodness shown through the Chosen People ought to attract the Gentiles. Most Christians today are not of Jewish background. Those who are own a very rich spiritual tradition if they choose to appreciate it. But, the rest of us are those Gentiles who really ought to “glorify God for his mercy” in making the Gospel of Jesus a universal Gospel, i.e., one to be announced to the whole world, excluding no one. Thus, that we are all the object of God’s offer of salvation is the greatest and most appealing news of all!

Advent is the Church’s liturgical season at the darkest time of year in the northern hemisphere. So, the idea that out of darkness might come a spark, then a flame, then a light, then a fire by which to warm, illumine and guide the human race towards an ever-new engagement with the God of Love will serve us well in these short days and long nights. Gospel hope rests in a loving, merciful, compassionate, wise and generous (and humorous) God to whom the various Advent scripture texts refer. Let today be our beginning of “that day” from Isaiah! Pray and work for the wisdom to let go of our fears hidden in human darkness and to embrace the profound joy and peace of the world of light, the Word of God Incarnate, Jesus the Christ (the Messiah)!

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