3rd SUNDAY OF ADVENT (C)

The crowds asked John the Baptist,“What should we do?”

Lk 3:10-18

GOSPEL EXPLANATION

The gospel passage of today may be divided into two parts. The first part is about the answer of John the Baptist to the question: “What should we do?” The second part is about the Christ.

To the question, “What should we do?” John’s answer was to share one’s food and clothing. To the tax collectors, his response was to collect only what was prescribed. To the soldiers, he said that they should not to resort to extortion, and false accusation and that they should be content with their pay. It is interesting to note that John did not ask his hearers for religious acts but for acts of justice and charity.

The second part is about the people’s question about the identity of John the Baptist. Could he be the Christ? The use of the title, the Christ and not the title, the Messiah, is significant. It is possible that St. Luke wanted to avoid the political undertones of the title, the Messiah. John denied being the Christ. In fact, compared to the Christ he was even lower than a slave. A slave unties the thongs of the sandal of his master. He was not even worthy to do that.

John the Baptist also describes what the Christ would do. He would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. This was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit appeared as tongues of fire. He would also use his winnowing fan to separate the chaff from the grain. This is an image of the judgment that the Christ would make: rewarding the good and punishing the evil ones.

BEING HAPPY

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