The sermon of the mount was directed toward the establishment of the reign of God, the type of behaviour or values that Jesus advocates is frequently the opposite of that espoused by society at large. This fact offers us a way to understand the challenges set before us in the beatitudes. Perhaps the way to interpret them is to look first at the blessings promised. We may see that the behaviour that Jesus is advocating is at odds with what society would say will guarantee the blessing that we seek. It is clear that each and every beatitude invites us to turn our standards and our way of life upside down and inside out. At the heart of Jesus’ teaching was the promise of a new age when society would be reshaped so that all would gain access to the blessings that life has to offer.
In the Gospel today, Matthew symbolically presents Jesus as a great light for a people who have lived in darkness and the shadow of death and oppression. Jesus offers the hope of an alternative reign and invites his hearers to expand their horizons, for the all-embracing empire or kingdom “of the heavens” has come near. He then calls four fishermen to follow him, to join him on his mission of proclaiming the empire or reign “of the heavens”. The verb “to follow” is an invitation to live out in their lives/in our lives the pattern of Jesus’ life. They “immediately” leave their boat and their father and follow him. Later in the story we find they still have their boat, an indication that, at some levels, the story is to be read symbolically. At times we need to distance ourselves from family expectations for the sake of the gospel. At times we have to decentre our material possessions even while we affirm the goodness of their materiality and their significance for the work of the mission. We are all invited to turn our lives around and to live out in our lives the pattern of Jesus’ life.
To understand the full significance of what John is saying we have to look forward to the climax of the Fourth Gospel. The moment of Jesus’ death upon the cross is not simply a final expiration of breath; it involves a majestic imparting of the Spirit (19:30). In the person of his Mother and the Beloved Disciple, the Church comes to birth at this moment through the gift of the Spirit and then in the hint of the sacraments (Baptism and Eucharist) in the flow of water and blood from his pierced side (19:33-34). Because his legs are not broken, Jesus dies as the Paschal Lamb. In the evening two days later, the risen Lord will stand among his disciples, breathe upon them and say, ‘Receive, the Holy Spirit; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven; whose sins you shall retain, they are retained’ (20:22-23). Only when we have learned all this at the close of the Gospel will we truly grasp why John the Baptist points out Jesus, as ‘the Lamb, that takes away the sin of the world’ (1:29; cf. v 36). In this way, as Isaiah foretold, he is the instrument of salvation for the entire world.
The baptism of Jesus inaugurates his ministry as the anointed one of God. The passage from Isaiah indicates the kind of messiah he will be. He will not exercise harsh justice, nor will he wield the sword of vengeance on the battlefield. He will be a servant, who, though mighty is gentle; one chosen by God, yet committed to the needy and the marginal; the Son of God who attends to the least within the community. The messiah of God may have come from an insignificant village like Nazareth, but he was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power. Filled with the Spirit of God, he acts out of a gentle, compassionate spirit and comes for all people without distinction.
Emmanuel; God-is-with-us – that’s what we celebrate through Christmas and that’s what we’ve been preparing for during Advent. We celebrate God-with-us in a particular time and place through our celebration of the birth of Jesus. But we remember it every year because we also use the Christmas celebration to remind ourselves that God continues to be with us. That is what is so remarkable about the Christmas season: that God-is-with-us now, not just in a stable in Palestine so many years ago, but now! Advent is the time to remind ourselves of this incredible truth and prepare ourselves to acknowledge it once again.
Half way through Advent we pause for a moment to celebrate Gaudete Sunday, a Sunday for rejoicing. Isaiah paints a picture of regeneration. The desert that once seemed to be dead is now bursting with life; eyes that lacked sight, ears incapable of capturing and holding sound, limbs without strength, and tongues devoid of speech are all given new life. There will be no death in that age of fulfilment, no limitations, no mourning. As we move deeper and deeper into the reality of God’s presence in our midst, we will discover the meaning of true fulfilment. Advent invites us to be more perceptive, and to take time out to see the presence of God with us. Like the people mentioned in the gospel, we may need to step aside, to ‘go out into the wilderness’ in order to see these signs. Look within your own life, your family, your workplace, your neighbourhood and recognise the sure signs of God’s presence in our midst.
Today’s readings sketch profiles of individuals after whom we can model our lives as we embark on our pilgrimage to messianic fulfilment. Isaiah depicts the righteous messianic king; Paul provides us with a glimpse of Jesus, the one who ministers to all; and Matthew describes John the Baptist, the prophet who prepared for the Advent of Christ. The gifts Isaiah attributes to the messianic king are the same gifts that we receive with the anointing of the Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. The image of the messianic king may have been fulfilled in Jesus, but it is also offered to us as a model after which we can pattern our lives. John the Baptist lived a life of radical self-denial, but he did not require this of others. He preached repentance or change of heart, not a rejection of the circumstances of life. He called for a return to righteousness, to relationships rooted in honesty and respect. He condemned presumption and arrogant reliance on one’s religious origin, complacency and the shirking of responsibility, disinterest in the welfare of others
The readings of the First Sunday of Advent set the stage for our reflections on the entire season. They contain a number of promises, all pointing to peace and fulfilment. The promises reveal a loving and provident, a merciful and forgiving God. These are promises full of hope. The coming of the Lord is clearly a time of expectation, not of fear and trembling. Although the earlier tradition about the Day of the Lord included punishment of the wicked, the focus here is on redemption. The time of expectation may be preceded by apocalyptic signs in the heavens and dismay on earth, but this cosmic shift will bring fulfilment, not destruction. The love and providence, the mercy and forgiveness of God will be made manifest. An Advent way of life exhorts us to ‘wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ’. This way of life is both simple and profound. It does not necessarily require unusual behaviour on our part, but it calls us to live the usual unusually well. It affects the everyday events of life; it directs the way we interact with people; it informs the attitudes that colour our judgments and motivations. It is as ordinary as the birth of a child; it is as extraordinary as the revelation of God.
Luke’s Gospel has been loaded with surprises: the poor are rich, sinners find salvation, the Kingdom of God is found in our midst. Here we see the greatest surprise of all. We are confronted with the crucified Jesus, whom faith tells us is King and Saviour of all. The irony is that the inscription placed on the cross, perhaps in mockery, contains the profoundest of truth. As the leaders jeer, the thief crucified by his side recognizes Jesus as Messiah and King, and finds salvation. Jesus is King, but not the kind of king we might have imagined or expected. His kingship was hidden from many of his contemporaries, but those who had the eyes of faith were able to see. As modern disciples of Jesus, we, too, struggle at times to recognize Jesus as King. Today’s Gospel invites us to make our own judgment. With eyes of faith, we, too, recognize that Jesus, the crucified One, is indeed King and Saviour of all.