Newsletter December 11th 2022 (3rd Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday)

Could John the Baptist have doubted?

Why did the Baptist send from his prison cell that urgent question to Jesus: “Are you He that is to come?” Hadn’t John recognised our Lord as the Messiah several months previously, at the Jordan, when he proclaimed Him publicly as the Lamb of God?

Did John, faced with almost certain death under Herod, have doubts or second thoughts about Jesus?

Some say no, John only asked the question for the sake of his followers, who needed confirmation of their faith from Christ himself.

But if John did have doubts, it was because of the peaceful way that Jesus behaved, not at all like the violent revolutionary the Jews expected as their Messiah.

The answer to his question came when Jesus told him what God’s messenger would be like: healer of the sick, consoler of the suffering, preacher of freedom and truth to the poor. In this way, John’s faith in Jesus was made strong, giving him courage to protest against Herod, and accept a martyr’s death.