Third Sunday of Advent - Year A
December 14, 2025
Gospel Lectionary Text
Matthew 11:2-11
11:2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples
11:3 and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?"
11:4 Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see:
11:5 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.
11:6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."
11:7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?
11:8 What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces.
11:9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
11:10 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.'
11:11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
Context
Welcome to the third Sunday of Advent. As is our practice during this season, we sit in what we are calling the Waiting Rooms of Christmas. In the first week, we waited in the apocalypse. In the second, we joined John in the wilderness. Now, we wait with him again, but this time in prison. Apocalypse, wilderness, prison. These aren’t sentimental spaces. They’re the realities of Advent where genuine hope is forged. Not the thin, sugary hope our fear-filled culture peddles, but the deep hope that finds us in our most despairing places.
In this week’s text, the prophet who once thundered in the wilderness now whispers through prison bars, Are you the One, or should we wait for another? He’s experiencing a crisis of faith, and for good reason. He is about to lose his head (literally). Jesus responds with a jailbreak of grace: The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed…. It’s a quote from Isaiah, but it's missing the final line about God’s vengeance. Knowing that his selective use of Isaiah might leave John in despair, Jesus smuggles the Gospel back to him, coded with these additional words: Blessed is anyone who is not offended by me.
The choice is clear: we can be scandalized by the grace that prunes God of all violence and remain imprisoned by our own need for vengeance, or receive God’s widely unconditional gift given to all and be set free. Welcome to the very strange joy of Advent: quiet, disarming, and fundamentally liberating.
Question
It's comforting that even John the Baptist didn't quite get it right and had to double-check with Jesus. But notice the signs that Jesus gives him that he's the real deal: healing, resurrection, Good News for the poor. Where do you see signs of the incarnation breaking through in your context?
Reflections
God of the Ordinary
By Fred Laceda |
In my part of the world, advent is sometimes seen as an ominous sign. Instead of the picturesque holiday cards we see in the hallmark aisle, Advent feels more like a warning. Yes, the Advent air has a different vibe, for it evokes the memories of the devastation of the yearly typhoons that visit the...
Born in Jail
By Lina Thompson |
John the Baptist, sitting In Herod’s prison with nothing but time on his hands, is beginning to question his expectations about Jesus. And I would imagine he’s wondering about his own life in light of his present circumstances.
The Third Waiting Room of Christmas: Prison
By Kris Rocke |
This year during Advent, the Gospel of Matthew invites us to sit in what we are calling “The Waiting Rooms of Christmas.” In the first week of Advent, we waited in the apocalypse. In the second week, we joined John the Baptist in the wilderness. Here, in the third week, we find ourselves waiting with…
Praying Eucharistically - Weekly Homily by James Alison:
Understanding the Bible anew through the Mimetic Theory of René Girard.
Poetry
When in Doubt
by Sandra Cisneros
When in doubt,
Wear faux leopard.
When in doubt,
Err on the side of generosity.
When in doubt,
Greet everyone as you would the Buddha.
When in doubt,
Collect blessings from those who own nothing.
When in doubt,
Absorb biographies to avoid life’s major mistakes.
When in doubt,
Make life’s major mistakes.
When in doubt,
Pay attention to the vendor shouting ‘Diooooos,’
Even when you find out he was only shouting, ‘Gaaaaas.’
When in doubt,
Carry a handkerchief and a fan.
When in doubt,
Thank everyone. Twice.
When in doubt,
Heed the clouds.
When in doubt,
Sleep on it.
When in doubt,
Treat all sentient and insentient beings as kin.
When in doubt,
Forgive us our myopia
As we forgive those who are myopic against us.
When in doubt,
Unreel your grief to a tree.
When in doubt,
Remember this.
We are all on a
Caucus-race.
There is no start.
No finish.
Everyone wins.
Prayer
This week, the call to prayer comes from the Street Psalms Centering Prayer: Be Still
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am
Be still and know
Be still
Be
