Gospel for December 11, 2022

This fresco is on the ceiling of St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta, and it was painted by Mattia Preti.
[Photo and caption by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.]

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 11:2-11
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

John the Baptist has experienced a serious transition in his life.  The prophet who roamed the desert, eating locusts and wild honey, preaching repentance and baptizing those who confessed their sins, has been arrested by Herod Antipas.

John has done what so many prophets before him and since have done — he has spoken truth to power.  And for his truth, he will suffer.  He has denounced Herod Antipas for the king’s immoral marriage to Herodias (she had been married to Herod Antipas’ brother Herod II. Herod Antipas had divorced his wife Phaesalis, and Herodias had divorced Herod II in order to marry each other). This was a violation of the Law of Moses.

Before his death, while John languished in Herod’s lonely, dank dungeon, he may have wondered whether he’d gotten it right after all.  John had baptized Jesus, inaugurating Jesus’ ministry.   He’d identified Jesus as the Lamb of God (John 1:36).  But after his arrest, he seemed to have a moment of doubt.  He sent some of his followers to ask Jesus:

Are you he who comes, or should we look for another? (Matthew 11:3).

Jesus reassures John by telling his followers:

Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:  the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

Jesus doesn’t attempt to justify himself theologically by attesting to Scriptural prophecies and claiming that he has fulfilled them.  He points to his works.  Who else could do the remarkable works that he is doing except the Messiah?  And he seeks to encourage John’s flagging faith:

Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.

It is clear that John, like Jesus, had gathered disciples devoted to him and his teaching.  And Jesus honors his kinsman for his ministry and integrity.  Jesus recognizes that multitudes had come out into the wilderness drawn by John’s charismatic ministry.  With a rhetorical flourish, he tells them what they did not find:

A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see? A man in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king’s houses.

John was not a weak reed, blown to and fro and easily uprooted. There may be a double meaning here also — a reed was depicted on some of the coinage minted during Herod Antipas’ reign. Nor was John a rich man in soft clothes — a sly reference to the soft and comfortable king, perhaps.  No, John had chosen an ascetic lifestyle, and devotion to proclaiming God’s word:

 But why did you go out? To see a prophet?

Jesus confirms that John is a prophet — and much, much more:

Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet.  For this is he, of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’

Jesus quotes Malachi 3:1, which describes the forerunner of the Messiah who is to come.  The belief in the ‘advance man’ who makes the preparations for the Messiah and announces his coming was very strong among the Jews at this time.  Malachi goes on to say:

 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse (Malachi 4:5-6).

Jesus proceeds to confirm in this same passage that John is the Elijah figure who is the sign that the Messiah has come:

For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.  If you are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, who is to come (Matthew 11:1-14).

Jesus honors John for this role:

Most certainly I tell you, among those who are born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptizer; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.

The interpretation of the last phrase is a little tricky.  Does Jesus mean that he himself is the least of the Kingdom of Heaven, but is greater than John?  This would certainly be true based on the fact that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God.  How then is Jesus the least?  Again, a little later in this passage Jesus affirms his own humility:

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29).

APPLY:  

Circumstances have a tendency to test our faith.  It is one thing to profess our faith when the crowds are big, the people around us are responding to the message of the Gospel, and we are sure of God’s presence and power.  It is quite another when we suffer adversity or persecution, or simply undergo setbacks.

John does the right thing, when he finds himself in Herod’s dungeon facing eventual death.  He seeks answers from Jesus himself.

When we are faced with discouragement, depression, defeat, we must do the same.  Search the Scriptures, study church history and the stories of the saints who have overcome through faith, look around us at the triumphant testimony of Christians around us, and remember what God has done in our own lives.

Then we can face whatever may come in our lives.

RESPOND: 

In my private devotions I have been praying through a book called The Book of Uncommon Prayer.  I ran across a poem in this unusual book by Victor Hugo that makes me think of the uncertainty that John the Baptist experienced:

LIFE UNCERTAIN
What matter it though life uncertain be
To all? What though its goal
Be never reached? What though it fall and flee —
Have we not each a soul?
Be like the bird that on a bough too frail
To bear him gaily swings;
He carols though the slender branches fail —
He knows he has wings!

We live in a time of uncertainty, in our nations, our culture, our churches, our lives.  We may feel at times that we are in a dungeon awaiting we know not what.  But we are reminded that we have wings, thanks to he who calls himself least in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Lord, when doubts come amidst uncertain times, remind me to look at what you have done — the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news preached to them — now and in the future that you are bringing.  Amen.

PHOTOS:
"St John the Baptist imprisoned" by Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for December 15, 2019

This fresco is on the ceiling of St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta, and it was painted by Mattia Preti.
[Photo and caption by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.]

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 11:2-11
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

John the Baptist has experienced a serious transition in his life.  The prophet who roamed the desert, eating locusts and wild honey, preaching repentance and baptizing those who confessed their sins, has been arrested by Herod Antipas.

John has done what so many prophets before him and since have done — he has spoken truth to power.  And for his truth, he will suffer.  He has denounced Herod Antipas for the king’s immoral marriage to Herodias (she had been married to Herod Antipas’ brother Herod II. Herod Antipas had divorced his wife Phaesalis, and Herodias had divorced Herod II in order to marry each other). This was a violation of the Law of Moses.

Before his death, while John languished in Herod’s lonely, dank dungeon, he may have wondered whether he’d gotten it right after all.  John had baptized Jesus, inaugurating Jesus’  ministry.   He’d identified Jesus as the Lamb of God (John 1:36).  But after his arrest, he seemed to have a moment of doubt.  He sent some of his followers to ask Jesus:

Are you he who comes, or should we look for another? (Matthew 11:3).

Jesus reassures John by telling his followers:

Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:  the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear,  the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

Jesus doesn’t attempt to justify himself theologically by attesting to Scriptural prophecies and claiming that he has fulfilled them.  He points to his works.  Who else could do the remarkable works that he is doing except the Messiah?  And he seeks to encourage John’s flagging faith:

Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.

It is clear that John, like Jesus, had gathered disciples devoted to him and his teaching.  And Jesus honors his kinsman for his ministry and integrity.  Jesus recognizes that multitudes had come out into the wilderness drawn by John’s charismatic ministry.  With a rhetorical flourish, he tells them what they did not find:

A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see? A man in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king’s houses.

John was not a weak reed, blown to and fro and easily uprooted. There may be a double meaning here also — a reed was depicted on some of the coinage minted during Herod Antipas’ reign. Nor was John a rich man in soft clothes — a sly reference to the soft and comfortable king, perhaps.  No, John had chosen an ascetic lifestyle, and devotion to proclaiming God’s word:

 But why did you go out? To see a prophet?

Jesus confirms that John is a prophet — and much, much more:

Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet.  For this is he, of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’

Jesus quotes Malachi 3:1, which describes the forerunner of the Messiah who is to come.  The belief in the ‘advance man’  who makes the preparations for the Messiah and announces his coming was very strong among the Jews at this time.  Malachi goes on to say:

 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse (Malachi 4:5-6).

Jesus proceeds to confirm in this same passage that John is the Elijah figure who is the sign that the Messiah has come:

For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.  If you are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, who is to come (Matthew 11:1-14).

Jesus honors John for this role:

Most certainly I tell you, among those who are born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptizer; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.

The interpretation of the last phrase is a little tricky.  Does Jesus mean that he himself is the least of the Kingdom of Heaven, but is greater than John?  This would certainly be true based on the fact that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God.  How then is Jesus the least?  Again, a little later in this passage Jesus affirms his own humility:

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29).

APPLY:  

Circumstances have a tendency to test our faith.  It is one thing to profess our faith when the crowds are big, the people around us are responding to the message of the Gospel, and we are sure of God’s presence and power.  It is quite another when we suffer adversity or persecution, or simply undergo setbacks.

John does the right thing, when he finds himself in Herod’s dungeon facing eventual death.  He seeks answers from Jesus himself.

When we are faced with discouragement, depression, defeat, we must do the same.  Search the Scriptures, study church history and the stories of the saints who have overcome through faith, look around us at the triumphant testimony of Christians around us, and remember what God has done in our own lives.

Then we can face whatever may come in our lives.

RESPOND: 

In my private devotions I have been praying through a book called The Book of Uncommon Prayer.  I ran across a poem in this unusual book by Victor Hugo that makes me think of the uncertainty that John the Baptist experienced:

LIFE UNCERTAIN
What matter it though life uncertain be
To all? What though its goal
Be never reached? What though it fall and flee —
Have we not each a soul?
Be like the bird that on a bough too frail
To bear him gaily swings;
He carols though the slender branches fail —
He knows he has wings!

We live in a time of uncertainty, in our nations, our culture, our churches, our lives.  We may feel at times that we are in a dungeon awaiting we know not what.  But we are reminded that we have wings, thanks to he who calls himself  least in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Lord, when doubts come amidst uncertain times, remind me to look at what you have done — the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news preached to them — now and in the future that you are bringing.  Amen.

PHOTOS:
"St John the Baptist imprisoned" by Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for December 11, 2016

This fresco is on the ceiling of St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta, and it was painted by Mattia Preti.
[Photo and caption by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.]

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Matthew 11:2-11

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

John the Baptist has experienced a serious transition in his life.  The prophet who roamed the desert, eating locusts and wild honey, preaching repentance and baptizing those who confessed their sins, has been arrested by Herod Antipas.

John has done what so many prophets before him and since have done — he has spoken truth to power.  And for his truth, he will suffer.  He has denounced Herod Antipas for the king’s immoral marriage to Herodias (she had been married to Herod Antipas’ brother Herod II. Herod Antipas had divorced his wife Phaesalis, and Herodias had divorced Herod II in order to marry each other). This was a violation of the Law of Moses.

Before his death, while John languished in Herod’s lonely, dank dungeon, he may have wondered whether he’d gotten it right after all.  John had baptized Jesus, inaugurating Jesus’  ministry.   He’d identified Jesus as the Lamb of God (John 1:36).  But after his arrest, he seemed to have a moment of doubt.  He sent some of his followers to ask Jesus:

Are you he who comes, or should we look for another? (Matthew 11:3).

Jesus reassures John by telling his followers:

Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:  the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear,  the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

Jesus doesn’t attempt to justify himself theologically by attesting to Scriptural prophecies and claiming that he has fulfilled them.  He points to his works.  Who else could do the remarkable works that he is doing except the Messiah?  And he seeks to encourage John’s flagging faith:

Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.

It is clear that John, like Jesus, had gathered disciples devoted to him and his teaching.  And Jesus honors his kinsman for his ministry and integrity.  Jesus recognizes that multitudes had come out into the wilderness drawn by John’s charismatic ministry.  With a rhetorical flourish, he tells them what they did not find:

A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see? A man in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king’s houses.

John was not a weak reed, blown to and fro and easily uprooted. There may be a double meaning here also — a reed was depicted on some of the coinage minted during Herod Antipas’ reign. Nor was John a rich man in soft clothes — a sly reference to the soft and comfortable king, perhaps.  No, John had chosen an ascetic lifestyle, and devotion to proclaiming God’s word:

 But why did you go out? To see a prophet?

Jesus confirms that John is a prophet — and much, much more:

Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet.  For this is he, of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’

Jesus quotes Malachi 3:1, which describes the forerunner of the Messiah who is to come.  The belief in the ‘advance man’  who makes the preparations for the Messiah and announces his coming was very strong among the Jews at this time.  Malachi goes on to say:

 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse (Malachi 4:5-6).

Jesus proceeds to confirm in this same passage that John is the Elijah figure who is the sign that the Messiah has come:

For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.  If you are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, who is to come (Matthew 11:1-14).

Jesus honors John for this role:

Most certainly I tell you, among those who are born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptizer; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.

The interpretation of the last phrase is a little tricky.  Does Jesus mean that he himself is the least of the Kingdom of Heaven, but is greater than John?  This would certainly be true based on the fact that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God.  How then is Jesus the least?  Again, a little later in this passage Jesus affirms his own humility:

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29).

APPLY:  

Circumstances have a tendency to test our faith.  It is one thing to profess our faith when the crowds are big, the people around us are responding to the message of the Gospel, and we are sure of God’s presence and power.  It is quite another when we suffer adversity or persecution, or simply undergo setbacks.

John does the right thing, when he finds himself in Herod’s dungeon facing eventual death.  He seeks answers from Jesus himself.

When we are faced with discouragement, depression, defeat, we must do the same.  Search the Scriptures, study church history and the stories of the saints who have overcome through faith, look around us at the triumphant testimony of Christians around us, and remember what God has done in our own lives.

Then we can face whatever may come in our lives.

RESPOND: 

In my private devotions I have been praying through a book called The Book of Uncommon Prayer.  I ran across a poem in this unusual book by Victor Hugo that makes me think of the uncertainty that John the Baptist experienced:

LIFE UNCERTAIN
What matter it though life uncertain be
To all? What though its goal
Be never reached? What though it fall and flee —
Have we not each a soul?
Be like the bird that on a bough too frail
To bear him gaily swings;
He carols though the slender branches fail —
He knows he has wings!

We live in a time of uncertainty, in our nations, our culture, our churches, our lives.  We may feel at times that we are in a dungeon awaiting we know not what.  But we are reminded that we have wings, thanks to he who calls himself  least in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Lord, when doubts come amidst uncertain times, remind me to look at what you have done — the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news preached to them — now and in the future that you are bringing.  Amen.

PHOTOS:
"St John the Baptist imprisoned" by Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.