Waiting and Wondering in Advent
We stand today at the halfway point of Advent—Gaudete Sunday—a Sunday of rejoicing. The pink candle on our wreath reminds us that the Lord is near. But Advent is a season of beautiful tension, isn’t it? It is a time when we are called to hold two things at once: the joy of what is coming, and the reality of what is now.
The readings today—from Isaiah, James, and Matthew—confront this tension head-on with a simple, profound question, posed from a dark place: “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” 1
The Question from the Prison
This question comes from John the Baptist. John, the wild man of the wilderness, the one who prepared the way, who baptized Jesus, who saw the Spirit descend—he is now in prison. 3 His life’s work of proclamation has led him not to triumph, but to a dungeon. He is suffering, and from that place of doubt and darkness, he sends his disciples to Jesus with his deepest anxiety: “Are you really the one?” 4
It is a question that gives us permission to acknowledge our own doubts. When we look at the brokenness of the world, or the suffering in our own lives—when we feel like we are waiting endlessly in a kind of spiritual prison—it is natural to wonder: Is this it? If the Messiah is here, why is the world still so hard?
John’s question is our question.
The Evidence of the Kingdom
Jesus does not answer with a theological dissertation or a grand announcement. He responds with evidence—with a series of transformative actions. 5He says, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:” 6
- “Those who are blind receive their sight“7.
- “Those who are lame walk“8.
- “Those with a skin disease are cleansed, those who are deaf hear“9.
- “The dead are raised“10.
- “And the poor have good news brought to them.” 11
These are not just random miracles. They are a direct fulfillment of the vision we heard in the First Reading from Isaiah: “The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be opened; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.”
Jesus is essentially saying: “Don’t listen to my titles; look at my fruit.” The Kingdom is arriving not with a conquering army, but with healing, restoration, and good news for the marginalized.
Be Patient, Strengthen Your Hearts
This brings us back to the reading from James. It tells us: “Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord.” 1And again, “You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.”
James compares our waiting to that of a farmer. 15 A farmer plants the seed, but he cannot rush the sun or the rain. He waits patiently for the “precious crop from the earth… until it receives the early and the late rains.” 16
We, too, are waiting for a harvest, the full and visible arrival of God’s Kingdom. But Advent teaches us that the seed is already planted. The evidence of the Kingdom is already here.
When we strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees of those around us (as Isaiah commands), when we bring sight to those who are blinded by prejudice, or liberation to those who are imprisoned by despair—we are participating in that precious crop. We are making manifest the good news.
Answering the Question
John the Baptist was great—Jesus himself said that among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than John18. But he was still looking for a different kind of Messiah: a roaring lion, perhaps, rather than a gentle lamb.
Jesus reassures John—and us—that he is the one, but the Messiah’s work is not yet complete. The transformation of the wilderness into a blossoming garden, the Holy Way where the redeemed shall walk—this is a promise that is both fulfilled in Jesus’s first coming, and is still unfolding in the world through his body, the Church.
So, as we light this third candle of Advent, let us answer John’s question with a resounding “Yes! He is the One!” But let us also recognize that our waiting is not passive.
- We are called to patiently wait for the full coming of the Lord. 20
- And we are called to actively embody the evidence of the Kingdom right now: through healing, helping, and proclaiming good news to the poor.
Strengthen your hearts, beloved. The Judge is standing at the doors! The King is on the way. And the sorrow and sighing shall flee away. 22