Second Sunday in Advent
“In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming,‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” ’ ”
Overview
Today is the second Sunday in Advent, a day when we celebrate the prophets in every generation who call us to a better future. Prophets are not always popular because they almost always call us to change. John the Baptist, Matthew 3:1-12, is pretty terrifying: munching on locusts, wearing camel skins and warning us of “the wrath that is to come”. He calls us to repent (literally, turn around) and do things differently, to bear good fruit. For many in the world today the wrath is not to come, it’s here already: floods, famine, conflict, and insecurity abound in our world. John’s message is harsh and judgmental and yet it also carries with it the hope that we are capable of change. He foretells the coming of Christ who will baptise us with the Holy Spirit; the giver of life, the creative force of God, which generates endless new possibilities out of the chaos and mess we make in our world.
GOSPEL
Matthew 3.1-12
In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming,‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,
‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.” ’
Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
‘I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’
