Second Sunday of Advent Homily

In 2019, I was fortunate to take a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and visit many of the places that are mentioned in the Bible. The Scriptures seem to come alive when you are there. At many different locations in Israel we would read a passage from the Gospels, then our guide would say, “What you just heard happened right here.” There was a level of excitement that ran through us whenever this happened. Anybody that has had this experience will hear the stories in the Bible in a different way from that moment on.

One of the places that we visited when we were in Israel was the Jordan River at the location where Tradition says that Jesus was baptized by John. Even though they have built a structure there so that pilgrims can move about easily and get down to the water safely, the area still appeared quite primitive to me. It looked like they had not done much to change the appearance of the landscape. So, using one’s imagination, you could easily picture a group of people approaching John the Baptist in order to be baptized in the river.

This area of the baptism of the Lord is also the area where Tradition says that the ancient Israelites crossed into the Promised Land after their 40-year journey through the desert. So, that area around the Jordan River has great significance going all the way back to the time of Moses. Why is this significant to mention? Well, for the Israelites, they believed that the coming Messiah would inaugurate a new Exodus. So, it is very significant that Jesus is baptized at the same location in which the first Exodus came to an end. Once the ancient Israelites ended their 40-year journey through the desert and crossed over the Jordan into the Promised Land, their Exodus came to an end. Now the Messiah had finally come, and His baptism at the Jordan would inaugurate the new Exodus.

John the Baptist preaching: “Prepare the way of Lord, make His paths straight-”

Many people in Israel knew the history of their ancestors and the prophecy of the coming Messiah. When they heard that this man named John was baptizing people in the Jordan River, many people naturally thought that John might be the Messiah. After all, John was an enigmatic figure, and as we heard in the Gospel reading “John the Baptist appeared in the desert.” (Mk 1:1-8) John came out of the desert much like the ancient Israelites came out of the desert in the first Exodus. John looked and sounded like some of the ancient prophets of Israel. We also heard in our Gospel reading that word had spread about him, and many people went to see for themselves to see if this was the one about whom the prophecies had spoken.

However, John was not the Messiah; as John himself related, but the one who was the precursor. John announced that “one mightier than I is coming after me. . . . I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” John would prepare the way of the Lord, so that the people would be ready for Him. John’s message was one of repentance so that the people would be ready for Jesus’ message of forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God.

This is why we have the first reading today from the prophet Isaiah (40:1-5, 9-11). It was a message from God to the people of Israel that God will come to set them free, in other words, there would be a new Exodus. We heard, “Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated.” What happened in the first Exodus? God set the Israelites free from their service as slaves in Egypt. Now the new Exodus would set the Israelites free from their slavery to sin. Her guilt would be expiated. How would God do this? By the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross when He died in expiation for our sins. Jesus’ sacrifice and the shedding of His Blood would wipe away our sins. This new Exodus was about to begin, and John the Baptist was the prophet announcing its coming. The first reading continues with Isaiah’s prophecy, “A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! . . . Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together.” John was preparing the way, and soon the glory of the Lord would be seen in the Messiah – Jesus.

This message is important today. The Advent season asks us to prepare the way of the Lord into our hearts. John the Baptist’s message of repentance of our sins, getting rid of the obstacles that hinder God’s grace from being fully effective in our lives so that our hearts will be fully receptive to His grace. This is the hope of the Advent season. As we heard in the second reading from St. Peter, “God is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. . . . What sort of persons ought you to be, conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, . . . Therefore, beloved, . . . be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, [and] at peace.” (2 Pet 3:8-14)

If we heed the advice of the Lord and prepare the way for Him to come into our hearts, then we should experience peace. God’s grace will fill us with His life and peace. We will be a part of the new Exodus, even though it is 2,000 years later. The new Exodus that sets us free from our slavery to sin, allows us to live in the freedom of being God’s beloved sons and daughters, and one day will lead us into the Promised Land of heaven. The message of John the Baptist is needed more than ever. “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” For He comes to bring His people salvation.

Fr. Tim Ilgen