"It was during a dark time that God chose to send a messenger."
"It was during a dark time that God chose to send a messenger."
Luke, the Evangelist and writer of the Acts of the Apostles, announces the coming of John the Baptist to the Jews embroiled in their own topsy-turvy world. Gone were the days when the people’s faith in one God and their leaders was solid as a rock as in the time of the Macabees. The Idumean Herod the Great, the client king of the Romans and a polarizing figure in Jewish society, is long dead; many religious factions adhering to diverse religious views, such as the Pharisees, Sudducees, Essenes, Zealots and what have you, have emerged in their midst further dividing and confusing the community. Roman Emperor Tiberius divided Israel among Herod’s sons, assigning Judea and Jerusalem to Herod Archelaus. There was no trusted leader among the people unlike in the Davidic era. Caiaphas and his father-in-law Annas were mistusted because of their questionable allegiance as they were seen as lackeys of the Roman oppressors. The Roman emperor’s stranglehold over Jewish society remain stronger than ever.
In other words, John came into the scene during one of the most turbulent times in Jewish history.
It is a time of uncertainty and insecurity when John came out of the wilderness to preach the gospel of repentance, urging the people to be baptized. His message resonated among the people who were beginning to doubt God’s providence, feeling that he has abandoned his people. It was a message of hope amidst hypocrisy, violence and greed, conflict and confusion.
It was at this time when everything seemed hopeless that God sent a messenger to rekindle the hope of the people, calling on them to put their trust in the Lord.
Every person’s relationship with God is a microcosm of the Chosen People’s historical experiences. Sometimes a person is driven to a point so low such that he teeters on the verge of despair. It is as if God has concealed his face from him. Regardless of the extent of one’s spiritual maturity, it’s possible to reach this point to actually feel that everyone—even God—has made himself scarce. It was at this point in life that King David, hiding in a cave being pursued by his enemies, cried out in despair—How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
John the Baptist spoke the words of God, but he also acknowledged that there is one greater than him whose sandal he is not worthy to unstrap. The Prophet was speaking about Jesus, the Prophet of all Prophets. God answered the people’s cries through Jesus Christ who revealed himself to redeem humanity from the bondage of sin.
Do our world and society not mirror the kind of social environment that John the Baptist was in? Ours is a society so permeated with violence, fear, insecurity, poverty, hypocrisy, disrespect for cherished values and all forms of societal ills. Is it not that communities are now so detached from God that people would preoccupy themselves with their own secular devices, plots and schemes rather than cultivate a good relationship with God? Moral callousness and spiritual apathy have effectively enveloped so many such that even murder, blasphemy, profanity and all forms of abomination are now met with nary a whimper of protest, if at all. Several decades ago this was unthinkable. These actions would arouse the most vehement and vigorous expressions of indignation. How much our society and the world we live in have changed!
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I write this on a plane to Katowice, Poland for the 24th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It will be a challenging conference. From a purely human point of view, one must say that it is an uphill climb to overcome this most serious development and environment challenge of the world. But I go to Katowice with confidence and hope.
This is because God never abandons his people—the faithful who repose their trust in him especially when they are called upon to swim against the tide. Ours is a faithful God of history. He intervenes in every point of human events, even when sometimes we do not recognize him. It does not matter whether you are a Christian, a Muslim, a buddhist, a Jew, black, yellow, brown or white. Salvation is for all people and situated in world events. It is understood as God’s breaking into this political and social history. Always, God never fails to intervene. He walks among us even as we try to survive in the darkest of hours. A true believer clings to his faith despite the promptings of forces telling him not to trust in his God. Yet they shall be amply rewarded.
This Advent, the Lord is once again calling on us to renew ourselves and straighten our crooked ways. He promises to lead us to the path of salvation if we do. Just as John called upon his people to prepare the way for Jesus, we too are being called to welcome Him this Advent Season and are called to be prophets to illumine, by our lives, the dark path that surrounds us, just as John the Baptist did.
The Lord keeps his promises. This is what Advent assures us of. And so in this season, let us sing together the Canticle of Mary and proclaim the greatness of the Lord, for He has remembered His promise of mercy, the promise He made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.”
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