“Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” It’s hard for me to imagine this question coming from John the Baptist. So let’s put in in context:
John is in prison. This is some time—probably several years after the Baptism of Jesus. He witnessed the descent of the Holy Spirit come upon Jesus at his Baptism; he proclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!” and announced “the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals.” And after several years since Jesus’ Baptism, and spending some time in prison facing execution, he is probably wondering if maybe he was wrong about Jesus, and so he asked, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” In other words, “Lord, what are you doing?” Think about that. Have you ever asked that question? I know I have.
John is probably experiencing some type of temptation against the faith, and might have been asking whether or not he should continue to believe what he thought was true. This is not to call into question the sanctity of John the Baptist. Just look at so many of the saints who experienced similar challenges, struggles, and temptations against the faith: Saint John of the Cross, who was himself in prison, and put there by his own brother Carmelites; St. Thérèse of Lisieux, who at the end of her young life experienced spiritual darkness and questions concerning the faith; and St. Teresa of Calcutta, who for decades went through what spiritual masters would call the Dark Night of the Soul—the feeling of the absence of God—and yet you could still see the joy she had that she showed and shared of her relationship with Jesus.
So John asks a logical question. “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” He would like some sort of consolation for the suffering he is going through. But notice that Jesus doesn’t give a direct answer. As we see throughout the Gospels, he always seems to be a bit evasive. Instead, he gives a kind of litany of accomplishments—a kind of testimony, if you will, about what he has done.
Each of the works that Jesus mentions: “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear,” are mentioned in the first reading from Isaiah. In all of this Jesus is telling us that his mission is to restore the reign of God according to the promises about which Isaiah prophesied.
This is significant, because when John first arrived on the scene preaching a baptism of repentance, he quoted from the prophet Isaiah concerning himself, which we heard in last week’s Gospel passage. And so when Jesus bases his own works as fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy, that is the consolation John the Baptist needed to know that what he believed, what he preached, and the suffering he is going through was not in vain.
The message to John the Baptist is the same for us, too, when we undergo trials and sufferings in different ways that might tempt us against the faith. A number of years ago a young lady was praying hard for her grandfather who was failing in health, and she asked many others to pray for him, also. After an extended illness, he passed away, and she completely lost her faith. She is now pretty much an atheist, or at least agnostic. “I prayed and prayed,” she said, “and so did others, and nothing happened.”
It’s cases like these, when someone goes through periods of trial, or suffering, or maybe other circumstances, such as scandal among other Christians or in the Church that cause people to challenge their faith, and doubt and temptation against the faith rises inside of us. And so we ask, “Lord, what are you doing?” “Why is this happening?” “Why this suffering?” “Jesus, are you the one?”
We want answers, and we want them now. But the answer is not to abandon the faith or leave the Church, or to run away from your suffering, but to understand that there are weeds among the wheat, and bad fish in the net along with the good as Jesus explains in his parables just a couple of chapters later. This does not weaken or water down the truth that the Church proclaims, but helps us to understand that these things will take place. We still strive for perfection and purity in the Church and in the world to the extent that we are able, but Jesus himself tells us that this will not be fully realized in this age, but in the age to come when he comes again to make all things new.
So Jesus answers us the same way he answered John the Baptist. “Look at what I’ve done, and you will see that all will be redeemed. All will be made new. Trust in me.
We will know the answers, but in God’s time, not ours. Listen to what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about this:
CCC 1040 The Last Judgment will come when Christ returns in glory. Only the Father knows the day and the hour; only he determines the moment of its coming. Then through his Son Jesus Christ he will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and of the entire economy of salvation and understand the marvelous ways by which his Providence led everything toward its final end. The Last Judgment will reveal that God’s justice triumphs over all the injustices committed by his creatures and that God’s love is stronger than death.
That’s the hope that Jesus promises, and that the Church teaches and proclaims. That’s why today is called Gaudete Sunday, because we rejoice in the hope that God promises for redemption, and we are called to rejoice in that hope even in the midst of sadness and suffering.
We have to trust, and we have to be patient. This is precisely what Saint James says in our second reading for this day. Be patient, and as we wait, we should not complain. And Saint James tells us to look to the prophets as examples of hardship and patience.
Why should the prophets be examples of patience? Because most of the prophets never lived to see their prophecies fulfilled: the suffering servant of Isaiah, the coming of the Messiah and the ingathering of the twelve tribes of Israel that Jeremiah spoke of, and Ezekiel’s prophecy of the new temple. They all died—and were in fact martyred—before any of these things came to be. I’m sure that many of them experienced the same temptations of the faith at some time in their life, too. But they never gave in to that temptation.
They never complained. They suffered patiently as they waited in hope for the fulfillment of their prophecies that they would never see come to pass. And so if the prophets of the Old Testament could wait their entire lifetimes and even beyond their lifetimes for centuries to see their prophecies fulfilled, how much more should we be patient as we wait for the prophecies of Christ to be fulfilled.
And so James says in his letter, “You too must be patient. Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not complain, brothers and sisters, about one another, that you may not be judged.”
We often times get so caught up with preoccupations and worries that we become anxious about many things and lose our perspective of God’s eternal plan of salvation. We are reminded today that the Lord will take care of everything. We have only to place our trust in him.