Reading 1
Is 41:13-20
I am the LORD, your God,
who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I will help you.”
Fear not, O worm Jacob,
O maggot Israel;
I will help you, says the LORD;
your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
I will make of you a threshing sledge,
sharp, new, and double-edged,
To thresh the mountains and crush them,
to make the hills like chaff.
When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off
and the storm shall scatter them.
But you shall rejoice in the LORD,
and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will open up rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the broad valleys;
I will turn the desert into a marshland,
and the dry ground into springs of water.
I will plant in the desert the cedar,
acacia, myrtle, and olive;
I will set in the wasteland the cypress,
together with the plane tree and the pine,
That all may see and know,
observe and understand,
That the hand of the LORD has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
Gospel
Mt 11:11-15
Jesus said to the crowds:
“Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent are taking it by force.
All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John.
And if you are willing to accept it,
he is Elijah, the one who is to come.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
Meditation: Matthew 11:11-15
Whoever has ears ought to hear. (Matthew 11:15)
What is Jesus after here? First, he speaks about the kingdom of heaven suffering violence and the violent taking hold of it, and then he tells us that John the Baptist is the Elijah who was to come. Let’s put these two statements together to see how they can help us take hold of the kingdom of heaven.
It is one of the great paradoxes of the Christian life that while the kingdom of heaven is a gift that Jesus has freely given us, he also asks us to lay hold of this gift aggressively and decisively. There needs to be a kind of “violence” in the way we seek after the Lord and in our commitment to stay on the straight and narrow path.
Why such an aggressive approach? Because the world is filled with temptations that threaten to distract us and separate us from the Lord. It takes a concerted effort to stay alert to these temptations. It also takes a willingness to renounce ourselves, turn away from sin, believe in the gospel, and practice kindness toward others. All we have to do is look at Elijah and John the Baptist for examples. Clearly, the kingdom of heaven is not for the faint of heart!
The prophet Malachi predicted that Elijah would come to prepare for the day of the Lord (Malachi 3:23-24). And as far as Jesus was concerned, John the Baptist took on that role of the new Elijah, boldly preaching the kingdom and staying faithful even unto death.
A word of caution: While these words from Jesus highlight the cost of discipleship, we shouldn’t lose sight of the rewards of discipleship! Jesus promises every disciple a relationship with him that is strong enough to sustain us through all the challenges and difficulties we will encounter. So as Christmas approaches, let’s decide to take aggressive hold of the kingdom of God. Let’s resolve to imitate John the Baptist in preparing the way for the Lord.
“Jesus, I want to follow you. I want to prepare your way in my heart and in the lives of those around me. Lord, grant me the grace to stay devoted to you. Open my ears to hear you and my mouth to proclaim your gospel.”
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