Gaudete (Advent 3)

Gaudete – December 14, 2025

Psalm 85; Isaiah 40:1-11; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

St. Matthew 11:2-11

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

As St. John the Baptist sits in prison for preaching against the adultery of Herod, he sends two of his disciples to ask our Lord a question, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”[1] This question is full of mystery and meaning. Why is John asking this question? Is he questioning if Jesus is really the Christ, the Messiah, come to take away the sins of the world? Is he confused over what the job of the Messiah is? Or is John trying to teach his disciples a lesson, to prepare them for his inevitable execution at the hands of the wicked Herod?

We can immediately rule out the idea that John is questioning if Jesus is really the Christ. It was St. John the Baptist who leapt in his mother’s womb when the mother of our Lord greeted Elizabeth for he knew his Savior was near.[2] John was our Lord’s cousin and grew up around Him, being only six months older than He. And in adulthood, St. John loudly proclaimed Jesus to be the very Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world; He whose sandal John was unworthy to untie; the One who must increase that John might decrease.[3] St. John saw the heavens opened as he baptized our Lord, and heard the voice of the Father proclaim, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.”[4] Everything we know about St. John tells us that he is confident that Jesus is the Christ, the very Lamb of God and the Promised Messiah.

There is, however, a good chance that John is asking this question because he is doubting the job of the Christ. This says more about St. John than it does about Christ. John is wondering if he has misunderstood the Scriptures. Afterall, the Old Testament prophets speak of the Messiah freeing the captives. Isaiah says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken hearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound…”[5] And again, Isaiah says, The Messiah is given as a covenant to the people, “As a light to the Gentiles, To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.”[6] And again, Zechariah says, “As for you also, Because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.”[7]

Here John is sitting in prison, and he knows the Scriptures speak of the Messiah freeing the prisoners from captivity. He must be asking himself, “Did I misunderstand the Scriptures? Is this Christ different from the one who will free the captives? Will this one be the Lamb of God and then we must wait for another to fulfill these other prophecies? What gives?”

In this way, we can find St. John to be very relatable. There are plenty of passages of Scripture in which God promises wonderful things and yet our experience is different. Sometimes, we want to clear up this seeming contradiction by simply spiritualizing everything we read in God’s Word. “Freeing the prisoners just means freeing us from our sins.” That is true in one sense. Especially the passage I read from Zechariah, “Because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit,” speaks of being free from the eternal consequences of your sin. The blood of the covenant speaks of the blood of Christ, which, because it was shed on the cross, has set you free from slavery to sin. This is most certainly true.

But if we are content with the Scriptures only giving spiritual truths, then the moment we face tragedy, disaster, poverty, or other great ills, there will be a strong temptation to believe that God has no answer. The opposite is also true. If Scripture only gives spiritual truths, then when we are tempted by sin, our pride will puff up, believing that since God only cares about the Spiritual, our actions have no consequence. God forgives me so it won’t matter if I give into this sin or that sin.

St. John is humbly asking Christ to clear up this confusion. The Scriptures say one thing, and I am experiencing something entirely different. Why? God sometimes allows His saints to suffer so that we would learn to rely on Him; that we would learn that God knows how to care for us better than we know how to care for ourselves. This includes learning not to trust our senses or our own experiences. St. John needs to learn that imprisonment and even suffering a martyr’s death are not the worst things that can happen to a man. The worst that can happen is to suffer eternity in hell. And so, John’s faith needs encouragement. His soul needs encouragement.

When Christ says, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see,” He is confirming for John that He is the Christ, the promised Messiah, and those things that He is doing have effects even in the material world, not just spiritual effects. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear. And these outward signs are themselves pointing to the spiritual truth, that Christ has forgiven the sins of these people. Just so, John will be released from prison. It won’t be the way that John hoped. He won’t walk free to again follow Christ across Judea. He will leave prison in a proverbial body bag.

But even this isn’t the end of the story. John also will be released from the prison of the ground. His flesh will be raised on the last day, reunited with his soul, and he will spend eternity with Christ, seeing Him, hearing Him, and praising Him without end. Once again, God knows better how to take care of His saints than we do.

To John’s credit, he already had some idea that this was true. The translation of John’s question we read this morning gets something wrong. John doesn’t ask, “Are you the One who is to come,” but “Are You the Coming One?” That seems like a small difference but it is important. Christ is not the One who came once, but the One who is eternally Coming to His church. Baked into his question, St. John is asking if Jesus is the One who not only came in the flesh but will continue to come to His saints. St. John is fairly certain that he is going to die in prison, so he wants to be sure that Christ is going to come for him in death and again come to raise him from death.

So Christ gives John an answer which says, “Yes. Not only did I descend into your flesh, but I will forever be with you. I will come to you in prison. I will come to you in death. And at the last day, I will come to raise you from the grave. There is never a time that I am not coming to you. My presence is not a fanciful, spiritual ideal, but a present reality, no matter what day or time you have in mind.”

And our Lord’s final words to St. John this morning are “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” This offense is not hurt feelings or a bruised ego or hurt sensibilities over manners. Offense in this context, like most of the times in Scripture, means to loose faith, to fall away from the faith, to abandon the faith of the Scriptures. Christ pronounces this beatitude on all who would not abandon their faith because God isn’t meeting their expectations; on all who humbly approach the Scriptures, realizing that any misunderstanding or seeming contradiction exists only because of a failure on their part, not on the part of God. St. John is truly blessed, as are you, for coming to Christ to say, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”[8]

The final option I gave for why St. John asked his question was to teach his disciples. This can be true even if John is also asking for comfort for his own soul and clarity for his confusion over the words of the Scriptures. St. John clearly confessed that he must decrease as Christ increases.[9] John does not want his disciples to make any mistake. His role of prophet was to point people to Christ, not to gather followers to himself.

St. John was a good pastor. His disciples loved him, even coming to take great care of his body once he had been martyred.[10] John’s chief concern was that his disciples not become “Johnnites,” but Christians. He did not want them setting up shrines or praying to John after his death, but to turn to Christ. And after the Ascension, John wants his disciples to listen to other preachers who have dedicated their lives to pointing people to Christ.

This Sunday is called “Gaudete,” which means, “rejoice.” We light the rose colored candle in the Advent wreath as a momentary break from the penitential nature of the season of Advent. The same thing happens about halfway through Lent, on the fourth Sunday in Lent, when we celebrate Laetare. It is funny that we celebrate the Advent Sunday of rejoicing by reading of St. John sending messengers from prison.

At the same time, this is an incredibly appropriate reading for a Sunday of rejoicing. St. John is experiencing perhaps the worst chapter of his life. What does he do? He calls on Christ. And what does Christ tell him? “John, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Though the kings and princes of the earth throw you in prison and execute you, they have no power over your soul. They have no power over your life. Live each moment knowing that your present suffering is nothing compared with the bliss of eternity which you have inherited through My Blood. Well done, My good and faithful servant. Soon, I will see your face in the kingdom of my Father.”

As we pray in the psalms, “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.”[11] Christ assures St. John that this desire will be fulfilled in today’s reading. He is also assuring you of the same. This place, here at the altar of the Lord, you behold His beauty. And so long as you are not offended by Him, trusting instead that He knows what He is doing, then you will one day see Him as He is. Today, you see bread and wine with your eyes but the eyes of faith know that it is the very Body and Blood of Christ. In the day of the Lord, He will no longer veil Himself in earthly elements. You will see and behold Him as He is, even as you are made like Him.[12] What better cause is there to rejoice?

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] St. Matthew 11:3.

[2] St. Luke 1:41.

[3] St. John 1:29; St. Luke 3:16; St. John 3:31.

[4] St. Matthew 3:17; cf. St. John 1:32-34.

[5] Isaiah 61:1.

[6] Isaiah 42:6-7.

[7] Zechariah 9:11.

[8] St. Mark 9:24.

[9] St. John 3:30.

[10] St. Matthew 14:12.

[11] Psalm 27:4.

[12] 1 John 3:2.

Gaudete (Advent 3)

Gaudete (Advent 3) – December 11, 2022

Psalm 85; Isaiah 40:1-8 (9-11); 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

St. Matthew 11:2-10

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

At first blush, today’s Gospel reading and the ceremonies seem contradictory. We name this Sunday, “Gaudete,” the Latin word for “Rejoice.” This name comes to us in the antiphon, or the phrases repeated at the beginning and end of the Introit: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, ‘Rejoice.’”[1] The paraments and vestments are rose to reflect this joyous character. The penitential nature of Advent is lightened for a day as we enter the final days of Advent. The Old Testament Lesson speaks of comfort and pardon, the glory of the Lord and His enduring word.[2] In the Gradual, we cry out to our Shepherd to come and lead us as a flock; to stir up His might and come to save us, enthroned upon the cherubim.[3]

The seeming contradiction arises in the Gospel lesson. John the Baptist is in prison. He undoubtedly knows that he will soon be executed. In preparation for his own death, and likely in a moment of doubt concerning the Christ, John sends two of his disciples to Jesus. They are to ask on John’s behalf, “Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?”[4]

Our Lord’s oblique response is to tell John the things the disciples see and hear, namely His miracles and teachings, and that he who is not offended by Jesus is blessed. As the disciples of John depart, Jesus questions the surrounding crowd concerning who John is and what he came to do. He says John is more than a prophet, he is the messenger of whom Malachi foretold, who would prepare the way of the Messiah.[5]

I say the Gospel reading seems to contradict today’s liturgical character because the Gospel text seems to focus on doubt. John is about to die and wants confirmation that Jesus is the Christ, the One Who is to Come, and that this Christ would save him from his sins. Then, rather than expounding on the glory of salvation, the mercy of God, or the compassion of the Father, Jesus reprimands the crowds for their impious curiosity in seeking John. Joy is not mentioned in the Gospel and the tone speaks more of rebuke for lack of vigilance.

And yet, such a contradiction only exists if you do not slow down and read the Gospel of St. Matthew with a careful eye. Twice in the text, Jesus makes reference to the Scriptures being fulfilled in His life. First, He speaks of His deeds, foretold by Isaiah. “The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them;”[6] and then He confirms the office of John as the messenger prophesied by Malachi.[7]

Our Lord is not trying to give the disciples of John an encoded message confirming that He is the Messiah. In the first place, He is pointing John, and his disciples, to the Old Testament, to the Scriptures, to the Word of God. He is saying, “Why ask Me if I am the Messiah? You have Moses and the Prophets. They tell you what to look for. Trust your eyes and ears that what you have heard and seen in Me is the fulfillment of them.”

In the second place, Jesus is directing John and his disciples to the concrete actions of the Messiah. It is all well and good to hear that a prophet has arisen in Galilee, and He is healing people. But the minds of men are strong. Our self-delusions are mighty. “Oh, such works are easy to fake. I heard He likes to eat with unwashed hands and gave wine to a bunch of drunk people at a wedding. Some Messiah…”

The ferocity of our sin will find any excuse to disbelieve the Word of God. Does your conscience tell you that you are a sinner and God couldn’t possibly love you for what you have done? Look first to the Scriptures and ask, “Did Jesus die for the sins of the world? Are you a part of the world?” The answer to both questions is undeniably, “yes.”

If you stop here, Satan will rejoice. He will whisper in your ear, “Are you sure? Did God really say that? And if Jesus did die for your sins, there are still people in hell. What makes you think you won’t join them? You’ve thought and done some pretty nasty stuff.”

Knowing the guile of our evil foe, God binds His Word and His salvation to physical means, so that we would have no excuse to disbelieve. These are the sacraments. What makes you think you won’t join the souls in hell? You are baptized! You are baptized and you receive the Body and Blood of Jesus. You desire the Body and Blood of Jesus. Your ears hear the words of Jesus from my lips, “Your sins are forgiven.” Do you know this to be true? Then you have nothing to fear concerning your salvation.

Even in the rebuke of the crowds, Jesus gives us a reason to rejoice. He says that John was more than a prophet, he was a messenger. While we shouldn’t apply this distinction too broadly, our Lord is here making a distinction between a prophet who speaks the Word of the Lord, and a messenger who also speaks the Word of the Lord but does so immediately before His coming. A messenger, or angel, is one who goes before the Lord to prepare the way.[8] St. John is a herald. He is the watchman on the gate who cries out, “Awake, Jerusalem, arise!”

Now, St. John was clearly the messenger sent to prepare the hearts of man for the first coming of the Messiah in the flesh. He was to prepare their hearts by confronting them with their sin. He did this, not with the final purpose of frightening them into inaction or damnation. He did this to reveal their sins and their need for the Messiah. He did this so that they would be prepared to be forgiven. This is the office of St. John the Baptist. After Christ began His ministry, after Jesus was baptized in the Jordan and anointed with the Holy Spirit, it was necessary for St. John to decrease that Jesus would increase.[9]

But St. John is not the only messenger, nor is the Incarnation the only time that Jesus comes to man in the flesh. When Jesus returns on the last day, the messengers will be the Holy Angles, who with the sound of mighty trumpets, will announce the coming of the King. This very day, Jesus comes to you in His flesh. He comes to you invisible to the eyes of flesh, but radiant to the eyes of faith. He comes to you in His Holy Body and Precious Blood, in the Eucharist. Before He comes today, however, He has sent His messenger. He has sent you a pastor to proclaim the Word of God, preparing your hearts and minds to receive your King.

How is this achieved? It is true that you need to be shown your sin. You need to constantly be shown the failure of your flesh and the weakness of your heart. Yet these things are so that you would be prepared to receive the forgiveness of sins. As such, your pastor is more a messenger than a prophet. He goes before to announce the coming of the King. So long as you are sincere in your faith, desire to be rid of your sins and to do better according to the Word of God, the Office of the Holy Ministry is never given to hold you under the water a little while longer, forcing you to suffer.

No. The Office of the Holy Ministry is to bring you the joy of the Holy Gospel. We hear the Word of God read and pastors preach before we receive the Sacrament because it is necessary that the messenger be sent before the coming of the King. It is necessary so that you would be prepared to receive your King. Having heard the Word of God, having been confronted by your sins and your need for a Savior, it is with most joyful hearts that we now cry out, “Stir up your might and come to save us.”[10] “Rejoice in the Lord always; [for] the Lord is at hand!”[11]

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Philippians 4:4-5.

[2] Isaiah 40:1-8.

[3] Psalm 80:1-2.

[4] St. Matthew 11:2-3.

[5] St. Matthew 11:4-10.

[6] St. Matthew 11:5; cf. Isaiah 26:19; 29:18; 35:5; 42:7, 18; 61:1.

[7] Malachi 3:1.

[8] St. Luke 1:76-79. The conclusion of the Benedictus.

[9] St. John 3:30.

[10] Psalm 80:2b.

[11] Philippians 4:4, 5.

The Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist

 The Decollation (Beheading) of St. John the Baptist – August 29, 2022

Psalm 31; Revelation 6:9-11; Romans 6:1-5

St. Mark 6:14-29

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Church does not remember her saints to teach a moral lesson. The lives of the saints, especially those found in Holy Scripture, are not fables. Aesop’s fables are taught to children for the purpose of teaching a moral lesson – what you should do and what you shouldn’t do. The Tortoise and the Hare teaches children not to rush but work slow and steady. The life and death of St. John the Baptist are not given to teach you what to do and what not to do.

The church remembers her saints for three purposes. This ought to sound familiar as I have mentioned these three purposes at the feast of many saints over the last two years. We remember the saints first as an example of God’s mercy shown both in the works God performed on behalf of the saints and in His giving such magnificent teachers to the Church; second, for the strengthening of our own faith as we see how God forgave the sins of these saints and know with certainty that He has forgiven us, too; and third, to imitate first their faith and then their virtues.[1]

We gather tonight first to give thanks to God that He has given such a magnificent teacher as St. John the Baptist to the Church. John was the forerunner of the Christ. He preached repentance in the wilderness that the heart man would be prepared to receive the Blood of Jesus. The Law must precede the Gospel. The Law must uncover our sins before we can see the need for a Savior.

It is true, this Law can take the form of physical suffering. It can take the form of emotional suffering. It can take the form of disease, loss, pain, betrayal, or any other type of non-verbal suffering. But anything communicated non-verbally will always be less specific than something communicated in words. Man was created to communicate through words because we are created in the Image of God. What is that Image of God? In the first place it is original righteousness, but it is also the very literal form which God takes to relate to man. The Second Person of the Holy Trinity is called the Word of God and it is this Word which took on flesh. We are created in His Image and thus were created to communicate in words.

As forerunner, St. John necessarily came preaching and necessarily came preaching the Law. Herod, the son of the Herod who murdered the babies at Jesus’ birth, clearly shows the result of one whose heart is struck by the Law of God but who only hardens against God’s Word rather than begging for forgiveness.

Herod enjoyed the preaching of St. John. He enjoyed it so much that he would not let his adulterous lover murder the prophet. But Herod did not enjoy the preaching so much that he would stake his reputation on reneging a vow made to his stepdaughter. With a measure of regret, Herod gave the order to have St. John executed.

Sometime later, when he heard about the miracles and teachings of Jesus, Herod was terrified in his heart. He believed John had returned from the grave and was going to come for him.

There are bold unbelievers in the world. They are entirely content to deride the True God. These are a law unto themselves. They have no moment’s hesitation regarding their salvation. Then there are those who have heard the Word of God and even though they profess against it, or against some doctrine therein, they cannot escape the pangs of their conscience.

It is here that many Christians find themselves. Sincere Christians do not profess against the Scriptures or God’s doctrines. But we often find ourselves with pangs of conscience. We know what the Word of God says but we don’t like it. Or we know what the Word of God says, and we agree, but are afraid of what might happen if we speak it out loud.

It is a dangerous time for children to be in schools and for adults to be employed. Parents must be prepared to scrutinize everything your children are learning. We cannot take anything for granted. Homosexuality is assumed in almost every subject down to the youngest grades. Transgenderism, equality of outcome, and resistance to binary truths are being taught even by well-meaning teachers. As for adults, one overheard comment can cost you your job, health insurance, and retirement. Woe to you if said comment is in print via social media. You are looking at years of ramifications.

And yet none of this should stop us from proclaiming the truth. St. John knew that telling Herod he was committing incestuous adultery by marrying his sister-in-law would eventually lead to his death. But he did it anyway. Why? Because he loves the Word of God, and he cared enough about Herod to say something.

A sin of omission is failing to do the right thing. It is very easy to convince yourself that by not saying something, you are protecting yourself or your family. But at what cost? By staying silent in the face of your employer, your child’s teacher, the school board, or even your sister, are you condemning him? Are you sinning against yourself as well as that person? The answer is yes.

And then there is the direction of our fiction, news, and all forms of media. Things unimaginable 30 years ago are commonplace on primetime TV. It is so very easy to claim to shut your eyes or mute the TV for a few moments, but you will eventually get too lazy to catch it every time. Then you will figure it isn’t so bad, so long as you remember that it isn’t good. But eventually, you will become hardened to the sexual images, the images of violence, the crude joking, and substance abuse.

So repent. Repent of not loving others the way you have been loved by God. Repent of thinking you are stronger than everyone else so as not to be tempted by sex, drugs, and violent images. God loved the world so that He gave His only Son, the lost to save. But God also sent the forerunner. He sent John, preaching the Law to prepare the way for the Gospel.

St. John was clearly blessed with extreme humility and fortitude. These are virtues, beneficial characteristics of Godly men, we are called to imitate. John clearly confessed God’s Word, both Law and Gospel, to Herod just as he confessed to the multitudes gathered at the Jordan. He saw no difference between the beggar and the Tetrarch. Both needed to be called to repentance and both needed to receive the blood of Jesus.

Yet our imitation of these virtues is not the most important thing to gain this evening. St. John died in imitation of His Lord. He did not raise an army to fight back against Herod but humbly submitted to unjust imprisonment. From the stony garden of his cell, John prayed to his Lord, “Are you the coming One, or do we look for another?” It is true, when Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He was not experiencing a crisis of faith. St. John did experience such a dark night of the soul. Yet when faced with imminent death, both trusted that the Father in Heaven would guide them into eternal life.

Good Friday must come before Easter morning. St. John, the forerunner of Christ, prepared the hearts of man to receive their Lord but he also prepared the grave to receive God. He was a forerunner in life just as he was a forerunner in death. We, too, must imitate Christ by imitating St. John in this way. Unless Christ returns in glory to gather His saints to His bosom, we shall all experience death. Our friends and children will collect our bodies to prepare them for burial. This is the way of all flesh.

We give thanks to Almighty God that He has shown us His mercy in upholding the faith of St. John, who endured a terrible death, but who is now singing with the angels and archangels in heaven. If John could be imprisoned, beaten, and executed because of his preaching, yet retain his faith by the strength of the Holy Spirit, so too can you be assured that the Holy Spirit will uphold you through suffering and even death.

And if John had a moment of doubt before his death, yet is counted among the glorious saints in heaven, then you too can be assured that while doubt is a result of your sinful flesh, it also cannot be present without faith. You cannot doubt something you do not believe in. Doubt will come when you endure suffering of any kind.

St. John handled his doubt with much more grace than many of us are capable of. First, pray a psalm, like Psalm 13 which begins, “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?”[2] But remember the mercy of God, just as David does at the end of Psalm 13, “But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.”[3]

While this seems like a stark change, it is the experience of Christian doubt. Christians do not doubt if God exists; we doubt if He is on our side. We doubt whether He cares about what we are going through.

Our Father absolutely cares. He cares for you such that He sacrificed His Only-Begotten Son that you might have eternal life with Him. The deliverance of St. John from the torment of Herod was his deliverance from this side of glory. Your deliverance might be more temporal or it might wait until you too are delivered unto heaven. Either way, the Word of God, which was placed upon your head in Holy Baptism, delivered into your mouth in the Holy Supper, and proclaimed into your ears this night, though it is undeserved, is true for you. God has never forsaken the soul that trusted in Him. Just as Christ died for John, He died for you.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Ap. XXI 4-7.

[2] Psalm 13:1.

[3] Psalm 13:5-6.