THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT, yEAR a

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”
~Matthew 11:2-3
 
You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.
~James 5:8
 
John sits in prison, reflecting on a mission that now seems lost in the past. The staff of his prophetic message broken, the red garment a sign of his impending martyrdom, the faint light over his shoulder a glimmer of those bright baptismal wilderness days—or perhaps a hint of what is coming. You could consider it a crisis of faith.
 
“Are you the one?” he wonders.
 
So much seems to ride on this question. Perhaps everything. How can one be patient while wasting away in prison—literal or figurative?
 
Which begs the question: why is John in prison? What did he do? What does his presence there, and Jesus’ ultimate destination say about us and about what is true in the world, what will hold us firmly?
 
Advent is a season of remembering, expecting, and waiting. We await the coming of Jesus into the world. We await the coming of our salvation. But we cannot do so through the lens of historical or religious amnesia. No amount of nostalgia or magical thinking will hold us as we consider the debris of a life that seems past. You can only understand miracle through the clarity of the need for it. You can only understand salvation through the memory of what was so badly wrong, what was so badly needed in the first place. You can only understand freedom if you know the story of bondage.
 
Advent is about truth-telling—the truth of our past, of our present, so we can be prepared for the coming of the One who is, astonishingly, already here.
 
Enter into worship.
 
Readings: Isaiah 35:1-10 † Psalm 146:5-10 or Luke 1:46b-55 † James 5:7-10 † Matthew 11:2-11
 
About the Art, St. John the Baptist in the Prison, Juan Fernández de Navarrete, Painting, late 1560s, Public Domain. Retrieved on December 8, 2025 from: https://politicaltheology.com/the-politics-of-identifying-jesus-and-john-the-baptist-matthew-112-11-richard-davis/.
 
Art Notes (Adapted from The Art of Advent: St. John the Baptist in the Prison): In this image, St. John sits alone in a prison cell, illuminated only by a faint light entering through a small, barred window. Perhaps this is an appropriate depiction of our feelings at many points throughout life. Still, Advent is meant to remind us that a greater Light is coming, even in the midst of so much darkness, a faint light that will pierce the darkest darkness.
 
John gazes on two important items with a very pensive look on his face—the staff he carried and a red garment, symbolic of his impending martyrdom. The staff has been broken into a much smaller piece; John’s prophetic message has been cut off. The red garment lies in a pile, also leading John to question whether his ministry was “worth the sacrifice.” These might be questions we too ponder during Advent. 

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