3rd Sunday-Advent

Is 35:1-6a, 10; Jas 5:7-10; Mt 11:2-11

While the words of the prophets are timeless, they are spoken from a specific time, crafted in a specific political context to address a specific issue. Prophets were imbedded in the political structure of the day, advising kings on approaches to diplomacy and military strategies. Many of the political and military situations of the ancient Israelites’ history come from other rulers’ desire to prove to the Israelites that their Lord God was either not all-powerful or did not care about them. Foriegn rulers wanted to prevail against the Lord God’s people in order to defeat the Lord God himself. This Isaian prophecy is ultimately reassurance of God’s intervention (1) in the face of what appears to be abandonment, a vital role of the ancient prophets.

The Letter from James reminds us to be patient, not solely about outrageous injustices, but in the ordinary trials of life (2). He suggests we turn to the prophets for an example of “intelligent patience” (3). One explanation of a prophet’s work is to, “tell of what would happen in the future, based on what has happened in the past, if the present doesn’t change.” Prophets would then exhort the people to make the changes necessary in the present so that that future they foretold wouldn’t come to pass. Often their words were heeded and history changed course.

In mentioning the prophets, James is reminding us that no less is expected of us than was expected of the prophets. The role of the prophets included a) reassuring people and rulers of God’s intervention and care, b) exhorting behavioral changes, c) exposing the threat of not changing and the promises fulfilled if these changes are made, and d) speaking for God. John was such a prophet because of his message of repetence, his pattern of threat and promise echoes, and his reassurances that “One greater than He was coming.” Jesus also refers to John as a prophet.

“John stood on the threshold of the new age (v 13), honored above all who belong to the old order, though not as blessed as the least who participate in the new (v. 11) (3).” John was the greatest to humans but the least in the kingdom because he has not witnessed the cross (4). He is a bit like Moses in that he leads the people to the promise, yet doesn’t see it fulfilled in his own time. John is the last of the prophets because with the coming of the Messiah, the role of the traditional prophet was no longer necessary.

Because of the promise of the Second Coming, we cannot possibly imagine or predict of future, eternal life with the Lord. Repenting and making changes is always apropos, because of the gospel the threat-promise dichotomy has shifted. The cross is that promise, and the threat comes from ignoring the cross. We need no reassurance of that the Living Lord will intervene on our behalf, because He already has.

It is written in Amos 3:7, “Surely the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants, the prophets.” However, we are all such servants, and such prophets, in a manner of speaking, because He’s revealed His son to us. We do not need prophets to serve as “mouthpieces” for God, as we have directly experienced “The Word.” Advent gives us a window to discern what we will do this firsthand experience of God’s presence in our lives, with the promise of the cross, with the Word that can transform or reform our lives. How will we allow The Word to change us in the year ahead?

Journal Questions:

Would I consider myself a modern prophet? How is this role different and similar to that of the ancient prophets? (Consider the four points mentioned in paragraph 3).
How has the Lord fulfilled past promises to me of intervention?
While we all have changes in mind for our own lives, these aren’t always the same as the Holy Spirit’s plan. How will I allow The Word to change me in the year ahead?

Resources:
1- The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentarty on the Bible. Abingdon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 1971.
2- New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1990.
3- The New Interpreter’s Bible: One Volume Commentary. Abingdon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 2010.
4-The Gospel of Luke, Barclay, William. The New Daily Study Bible. Westminister John Knox Press. Louisville, Kentucky, 2001.

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