Thoughts on Third Advent
*Isaiah 35

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

The Gospel St. Matthew xi. 2.

NOW when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, 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. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

The prophet Isaiah wrote hundreds of years before the birth of Christ yet he told of the proofs of the Christ.  John the Baptist is in Herod’s prison he knows that he does not have long to live.  Herod’s family had a well deserved reputation as murderers.  A Roman officer remarked about his father that it was safer to be Herod’s pig than his subject or a member of his family.  John was in prison for preaching that Herod had sinned by forcing the divorce between his brother and sister-in-law and then marrying his sister-in-law.  Herod appears to have respected or been afraid on John as a prophet, but his wife wanted John dead.  John was Jesus’ cousin, he must have known Jesus most if not all his life. Yet he doesn’t seem to have been fully aware of exactly who Jesus was until he baptized Jesus and saw the Spirit of God descend on him.  Now with death waiting at the door he sends two of his followers to ask Jesus if he is The One.  Jesus answers by giving them the proofs that Isaiah had set down hundreds of years before.  Then as John’s disciples left he told the crowd just who John was.  He was the one sent before God to make straight the way of the Lord – Jesus.