Walking with Jesus on the Second Sunday of Advent

For Sunday, December 7, 2025

Isaiah 11:1-10, Romans 15:4-9, Matthew 3:1-12


I was always fascinated by Isaiah’s prophecy of a future Davidic king who would rule in an amazing way — being peaceful and caring, especially for those who are underlings who can’t care for themselves. Isaiah declares, “Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them.” [Isaiah 11:6] This reminds me of a comic strip that I would read every Sunday — The Phantom — first written in 1936 about a fictional hero character who operated from a fictional country in Africa. Eventually made into a movie, The Phantom was a skilled fighter and marksman with a genius intellect and in peak athletic condition. He was the first of the “heroes” to wear a mask. He swore “to devote my life to the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty and injustice in all their forms.” He was described as The Ghost Who Walks and The Man Who Cannot Die, living in the Skull Cave where all the previous Phantoms were buried. I loved it because no one got hurt — especially animals who were enemies yet lived in peace with each other. At so young an age I thought, wouldn't this be nice. No killing, no war, no hurting, and so on.

Did you have a child fantasy that in some way envisioned a world of peace like The Phantom did for me? I feel that the Holy Spirit is constantly working inside us, developing and nurturing feelings of care, concern, and deep feelings for those are hurting. Who needs a hero? Me?

The Israelite kings were to act as God’s representatives, promoting justice by ruling wisely and fairly — and they often failed in this. In Isaiah’s vision, God raises up an ideal king who will perfectly reflect the role of the God He represents. This “king” will bring down the ruthless and wicked and will usher in an era where violence will end and God’s peaceful kingdom will endure.

How is this to be accomplished? Paul reminds his Roman readers of the story of Israel, in which the promises given to the ancestors were fulfilled in ancient times and then more completely in Jesus — continuing and fulfilling God’s trustworthiness. God’s mercy and forgiveness and presence are examples of how to live in community as God’s beloved children. They are to think in harmony … to be of one accord … and to glorify God with one voice. Jesus is the source of this unity and its model. They glorify God by accepting those who think differently — who also have been called by God in Christ. Have we ever thought about this? God is calling everyone — those we understand and those we don't understand; even those we don't want to believe are loved just because Jesus loves them. He didn’t necessarily carry on conversations with them, but His look, his actions, his face shone with love, all the time — to them and to us.

John is reiterating the more basic approaches: repent — change your heart. Why is this necessary? Matthew brings out the history of the Jewish nation, telling us about the imminent appearance of the reign of heaven — in other words, the Jewish people's long-awaited eschatological reign of God. This means that there must be a change of heart (metanoia). John the Baptist is the precursor calling for a renewal: The time is now; don’t wait. It carries over to us today: For days, for months, even years, each of us has said, “When I get older … when I’m retired … when I know that the end of my days is coming ... THEN I will start working on being Jesus’ disciple and be a person of love.”  But John is not requiring life change. His message resembles that of the prophets of old, living a life of righteousness, living in accordance with what is just, honorable, and free from guilt or wrong. Being kind, caring, helping, forgiving. We may not know when our end will come, but our Last Day is already written. Do I care? Am I worried? Do I believe it won’t happen to me? What am I afraid of — that God doesn’t love me? He does, but the real question is: How am I loving GOD? — followed by, How am I loving the people in my life now?

GOD helps me. Do I feel I can do it all by myself? Is that a bit too presumptuous? When and how can I develop honesty between me and my God? Help me Lord! Thanks!

So I reflect on:

• My faith is rooted in the faith of those who have gone before me. Now it is nurtured by those who travel with me. How am I learning from my roots — past, present, future?
• As God sees into my heart, what is the one thing that I could prune or chop away in order to make my life “a stronger fruit?” Help me with this Lord … I tend to be too stubborn.

Sacred Space 2025 states:

“Today we find John the Baptist playing a central role in the scene we’re contemplating. He has appeared in the wilderness, and clearly people are beginning both to hear about him and to be very struck by what he has to say. His message today might be summed up in just one of  his sentences: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord.’

“To proclaim and make clear this point, John constantly turned the light away from himself. You might be struck by his selfless behavior and the fact that he wasn’t prepared to sugar-coat what he felt he had been sent to say. He comes straight to the point, and insists on the fact that his followers should look beyond whatever he has to offer and give their allegiance to the Savior rather than to himself.”