Third Sunday of Advent, December 14, 2025: Isaiah 35:1-10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11; Psalm 146:4-9 or Canticle 15
Now that I live in California, I love that we read this passage from Isaiah in December: The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom. As I drive to work, as December progresses, the land becomes greener. The rains (or a few at least) have come, and the grass is growing again. Cattle are once again grazing in the pastures around the campus where I work.
For Isaiah, this is one of the signs of the Lord’s presence. The whole reading describes a world of justice, generosity, and abundance.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
Throughout Advent, we read of the signs of the Lord’s coming. At times it is a cause of anxiety, but here it is not. And then we read in the gospel, and the question is, “how do you know”? John wants to know if Jesus is the one described by Isaiah. When Jesus is asked the question, in usual Jesus fashion he does not answer directly. Instead, he tells them to tell John (in prison) what they see: “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.”
And then Jesus turns to the crowd surrounding him and asks them questions: what did you expect when you followed John into the wilderness? “What did you go out to see?” And he asks the question three times, a reminder that it is very important. First he suggests a reed — which, since they grow on the banks of streams, would be a welcome sign of water. Then he suggests soft robes, but reminds the listeners that those belong in a royal palace, not the desert. A prophet? This is the answer, and Jesus gives the answer, “Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’”
What is important here is that Jesus is telling us not that this will happen, but it has happened. The Kingdom is here, and alive.
The radical promise of Jesus, and of Isaiah, is echoed in the Magnificat, offered today as an alternative to the psalm:
He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
This has happened.
And yet, it is often hard as we look at the world around us to believe that it has happened. Where is the good news in the world today? In the last 24 hours alone there has been a mass shooting at Brown University, where students at a review session were the target. Another, at a Hanukkah festival in Sydney, Australia, left 15 dead. We daily hear stories of both immigrants and US citizens being seized by masked federal agents, often for no reason. People in Ukraine and Gaza suffer regular bombings. One can go on, but it is safe to say that there is great suffering in many places not just in the US, but around the world.
But Mary reminds us that “He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.” Our task is both to see the kingdom where it is, where there is justice, community and caring, and to help make space for it.
Where do you see the kingdom breaking through? And how can you help it along?
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