
"The Baptism of Christ, Workshop of Veit Stoss, ca. 1480–1490, Metropolitan Museum of Art/Open Access
Homily for the Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday) – December 11, 2022
Readings:
Is 35:1–6a, 10
Ps 146:6–7, 8–9, 9–10
Jas 5:7–10
Mt 11:2–11
By Fr. Kenneth M. Dos Santos, MIC
“What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces. Then why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.”1
Christ poses these questions to the crowds, in an attempt to get them to think about what motivated them to go out to the desert. We know it was not to see royalty in the earthly sense, or to enter into the presence of an earthly king or prince. Rather, they went out to the desert because they felt drawn to the Baptist. Because they felt drawn to John, some believed him to be the Messiah.
Who John is
Yet, as we see in the Gospel of John, the Baptist himself attests that he is not the Messiah: “When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites [to him] to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, ‘I am not the Messiah.’ So they asked him, ‘What are you then? Are you Elijah?’ And he said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the Prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ So they said to him, ‘Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?’ He said: “I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert, Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as Isaiah the prophet said.”2
This should make it clear to us that John understands who he is and what he has been called to accomplish. He is completely unambiguous about his mission. John is fully aware that he is not the Messiah; rather, he is content and fulfilled to be the voice of one crying out in the desert — the precursor, called to prepare the way for the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
This humility, the humility that John exhibits, is the main reason Jesus refers to the Baptist as great: “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”3
Him who was the best
St. Cyril of Alexandria speaks of St. John the Baptist within his commentaries on the Gospel of Luke:
In order, then, that . . . He might prove that those who believe in Him are better and superior to them, and that the glories of the followers of the law are evidently but small in comparison with the evangelic mode of life, He takes him who was the best of their whole class, but nevertheless was born of woman, I mean the blessed Baptist: and having affirmed that he is a prophet, or rather above the measure of the prophets, and that among those born of women no one had arisen greater than he in righteousness, that namely, which is by the law, He declares, that he who is small, who falls short, that is, of his measure, and is inferior to him in the righteousness that is by the law, is greater than he: — not greater, in legal righteousness, but in the kingdom of God, even in faith, and the excellencies which result from faith. For faith crowns those that receive it with glories that surpass the law.
And this [you earn], and [will yourself] affirm to be the case, when [you meet] with the words of the blessed Paul: for having declared himself to be free from blame in the righteousness that is by the law, he added forthwith, "But those things that were gain unto me, those I have counted loss for Christ’s sake: and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ: not having my own righteousness which is by the law, but the righteousness that is of the faith of Jesus Christ." And the Israelites he even considers deserving of great blame, thus saying: "For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, that namely which is by Christ, and seeking to establish their own; even that which is by the law; they have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the completion of the law for righteousness unto every one that [believes]." And again, when speaking of these things: "We, he says, who by nature are Jews, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, we also have believed in Jesus Christ, that we may be justified in Him."
The being justified, therefore, by Christ, that is to say, by faith in Him, surpasses the glories of the righteousness that is by the law. For this reason, the blessed Baptist is brought forward, as one who had attained the foremost place in legal righteousness, and to a praise so far incomparable. And yet even thus he is ranked as less than one who is least: "for the least, He says, is greater than he in the kingdom of God." But the kingdom of God signifies, as we affirm, the grace that is by faith, by means of which we are accounted worthy of every blessing, and of the possession of the rich gifts which come from above from God. For it frees us from all blame; and makes us . . . the sons of God, partakers of the Holy Ghost, and heirs of a heavenly inheritance.4
Justification and righteousness
Here we must understand, a righteousness based upon adherence to the letter of the law alone is not enough to be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks about justification and righteousness in paragraph 1992:
Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men. Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy. Its purpose is the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life (cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1529): "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus" (cf. Rom 3:21–26).5
Through the power of God’s grace, the Baptist is righteous, humble, and just — among those born of women, no one is greater than John. Thus, it is being justified through faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ and the power of His grace, which allows us to surpass a righteousness attained through the strict adherence of the law.
This is the New Covenant, the New and Everlasting Covenant between God and us, within which Jesus offers His life in Sacrifice on the Cross, that we understand in the depths of our hearts and souls that God’s Law is not to be kept out of the fear of punishment. Rather, it should be understood and internalized as a help and guide which leads us toward greater union with God. Through this union, we understand His loving care for us, and recognize that He always has our ultimate salvation in mind. This is what the Lord has undertaken out of love for us, this is what He freely accepted, and has freely given from His heart, that we might know the measure of His love:
“This is the covenant I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord: ‘I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them upon their minds . . .’”6
Father Kenneth M. Dos Santos, MIC, is Provincial Secretary for the Marian Fathers. This homily was first published in Homiletic & Pastoral Review.
Notes
1. Mt 11:7–9, Catholic Biblical Association of America, 1986, Saint Joseph edition of the New American Bible, Lk. 1:29. (Hereafter cited as NAB).
2. NAB, Jn 1:19–23.
3. NAB, Mt 11:11.
4. St. Cyril of Alexandria. Commentary on Luke (1859). Sermon 38.
5. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1992.
6. NAB, Heb 10:16.
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