Please read this passage before reading the homily.
John started is career by proclaiming in the desert the need for repentance. He was arrested because the authorities did not like his message. He had baptized Jesus in the course of his teaching, and Jesus had started out giving the same message as John had.
John was like a fire, ripping through kindling wood. John feasted on locusts and wild honey and wore camel skin for everyday ear. He was not afraid to call hypocrites broods of vipers. He was tough.
Jesus, however, had turned out differently. He accepted dinner invitations even from rich people. He healed people and preached God’s mercy.
John in prison, heard about Jesus’ dings and sayings. Could John’s old protegee, who had turned out so much different from John, be the one who was to come. John needed to know. He had staked his life out proclaiming a hard gospel. Had he come in vain? He sent disciples to Jesus to find out.
Jesus’ answer is concise and, perhaps, ambiguous. The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise, and the poor have the good news preached to them. Is this not the vision of Isaiah in chapter 35?
Let us not fault John for his doubting. He had lived on the of change. The old was giving way to the new. John was the great leader of the kingdoms’ beginnings, but he had to give way to the one who would bring the new to completion. John and his disciples had to give way to Jesus and his disciples and followers.
Jesus validates the ministry and work of John. At the same time Jesus also validates the life and ministry of each one of us.
We are invited to ponder how the blind, deaf, crippled and dead have been brought to life and wholeness because the Lord had worked his wonders through us.