The Desert Shall Rejoice

15 December 2019 –– Third Sunday in Advent

Oh, for a return from exile! Oh, for an end to the diaspora! Oh, for the savior to come! . . . Once one hope is realized, another springs up. Just as we finish scaling one peak, we look longingly toward the next. Some might say we are inherently greedy, while others would contend that we realize our incompleteness, and we yearn for wholeness. . . .

The readings proclaim new birth and remind the grieving of death. Hope is highlighted and despair quickens. If only because of the expectation that joy will reign, sorrow may become overwhelming. The community of faith must be aware of the need for increased support of members who are marginalized. –– Blair Gilmer Meeks

Matthew 11:2-11

John, recently imprisoned for his preaching, had come to question whether Jesus was indeed the Messiah he had proclaimed. . . Jesus responds simply by pointing to his deeds and hence to the fulfillment of the aspirations of Isaiah. . . .

Verses 2–6 are a warning to those who take offense (skandalizo, to stumble so as to sin), because they have defined the messiahship in a way that does not allow them to see Jesus as the Christ. That Jesus is doing what Isaiah had predicted God would do is, for Matthew, another affirmation of his deity.

John stands at the precipice of the new age, culminating the message of the prophets but distinct from them, because he proclaims the imminent kingdom of God (v 13). Yet his task must be differentiated from that of Jesus and the kingdom. He is less than those in the kingdom (v 11). He proclaims fasting, while Jesus brings celebration (vv 18, 19). –– Blair Gilmer Meeks

Isaiah 35:1-10

This passage stands in contrast to the fate of God’s enemies described in Isaiah 34. Here the blessedness of God’s people is described in their return to Zion. . . Like later Jewish visions of the new age that speak of huge harvests and material abundance, verses 1–2 are not about God’s glory in spiritual terms only. The earth itself will rejoice!

The middle section (vv 3–7) defines this manifestation of God in terms of vengeance and especially salvation (v 4). . .

Neither frail (not a reed shaken in the wind, v 7) nor surrounded by luxury (the soft raiment of kings, v 8). . . John is more than a typical prophet (v 9); he is the one who will prepare the way for the messiah (v 10; Malachi 3:1); he is the greatest of the prophets (that is, the greatest among those born of women, v 11a).

. . . The hope concerning the new age expressed in Isaiah 35 would become a significant measure for the presence of the kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus Christ. Today’s gospel reading is an example. –– Blair Gilmer Meeks

James 5:7-10

Resembling Jesus’ agricultural metaphors. . . verse 7 exhorts readers to wait in hope for the harvest to come. The author’s use of the perfect of engizo (v 8; the coming of the Lord is at hand) indicates that the wait will surely not be long. . . As in other end-time writings, the motivation to live the godly life rests not only in hope for the new age but in the realization that judgment is at hand (v 9). –– Blair Gilmer Meeks

Blair Gilmer Meeks, was at the time of this writing, a pastoral minister, writer of worship-related resources, and leader of workshops on worship living in Brentwood, Tennessee. Among her four books is Standing in the Circle of Grief: Prayers and Liturgies for Death and Dying (Nashville: Abingdon, 2002).

Homily Service 38, no. 1 (2005): 21-27.