The third Sunday of Advent is marked by Matthew’s account of John’s imprisonment. One of the very important questions that John continues to have is whether his selection of Jesus as the chosen one was accurate. A not uncommon question for all of us at the end of our lives: Did I live my life well? Have I done any good? Have I made a difference for anyone? These are questions about our legacy. John’s question is about the legacy of Israel. Will the Kingdom come? Is there leadership that will make that happen? Jesus sent back a response that the sick were being made well, the deaf heard, the lame walked, the blind were able to see, lepers were cleansed, the dead raised, and the poor clothed and fed. These are all things that turned the world of John and Jesus upside down, as well as our own. They are marks of the Kingdom which Jesus brings about and that we are called to continue to bring about. It is the Kingdom that John has anticipated. It is a revolution for a revolution truly turns the world upside down. This is to say that what is usually called a revolution is NOT a revolution for it does NOT turn the world upside down. What Jesus was about was turning all of the categories of suffering upside down. John could rest easy in his prison cell.
