John the Baptist is front and center in our gospel once again this weekend. Usually when we read about him he is blustery and confident that Jesus is the Messiah, proclaiming the good news to others. But today’s gospel passage is different. Here John is not sure. It seems that John is caught up in the image of a political savior who would come with fire and judgment and would shake up the religious world of the time. As John is in prison, that’s not what he hears and he wants to make sure Jesus is truly the Messiah before  he himself dies.
    So he sends his own disciples to ask Jesus: Are you the one or are we to await another? Jesus answer is not an attack or disappointment. He simply  points to the undeniable good that is happening.  He goes on to quote Isaiah the Prophet as He says: The blind regain their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have the good news preached to them. Jesus is fulfilling that very vision of Isaiah.
    John’s disciples return to him with this message and John clearly changes his expectations of what the Messiah has come to do.
    We talk a lot during these days of Advent about expecting and awaiting and anticipating the coming Messiah. But do we too have unrealistic expectations of how Jesus will be when He comes into our lives? Do we have very specific ideas of who He is and how He should reveal Himself? That would not be surprising since even John the Baptist, his cousin and the one selected to be his Herald, had his own doubts and questions.
    As we await God’s coming to us, let’s pray for guidance from the Baptist. May He teach us to seek clarification from God; may we discover what it means to be open to the unexpected; and may we most of all come to rejoice in the fulfillment of God’s Promise of a Savior who will bring us eternal life!