Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we progress ever closer to the time of joy and celebration in Christmas, we are being reminded yet again through the readings from the passages of the Sacred Scriptures of the coming of God’s salvation, and all the assurance of His guidance and Presence in our midst, which He has promised and reassured us with from the very beginning of time. God did not abandon us to the darkness, but He has always patiently and lovingly guided each and every one of us to His path, giving us the assistance necessary to help us and all the patient care and providence for us, even when we have erred and stubbornly refused to follow Him. This time of Advent, each and every one of us as Christians must spend the time to reflect carefully upon this great love of God that has been shown to us, and be appreciative and thankful for all that He has done all these while for our sake.

In our first reading today taken from the Book of Numbers we heard of the prayer and the words of blessings which Balaam the seer spoke for the whole people of Israel when he was paid and told by King Balak, king of Moab to curse the Israelites which at that time had come upon the land and threatened the kingdom of Moab. Balaam was a famous seer and man of great wisdom from Mesopotamia, and his renown made the Moabite king to pay him for his services. But God had a different plan for His people, and instead of a curse that was asked by the king of Moab, the seer Balaam was filled with the Holy Spirit of God and through God’s Wisdom and guidance, he instead proclaimed a great blessing over all the Israelites, blessing them for all of their deeds and works, and for their endeavours and efforts, for the great nation which they shall established.

Of course naturally such a change in action led to a great disappointment and anger from the king of Moab who had employed Balaam to curse the Israelites. To have heard Balaam blessing his enemies instead of cursing them must have incensed the Moabite king. But Balaam spoke truthfully and courageously, saying that he was inspired by God and he could not say what the Lord did not want him to say, and he obeyed God’s words and commandments, and did as he had been told to do, to bless all those people just as He desired it. And not only that, as we have also heard at the end of our first reading passage today, there was also a prophecy mentioned by Balaam, as he witnessed and saw the glimpse of the coming of God’s salvation, a Figure that he was not yet able to perceive, and yet, this Figure, the Star of Jacob, would be the Saviour of all, and He would come into the world.

At that time, the meaning of such a prophecy must have been vague at best, but now we all know that Balaam was truly speaking and prophesying about the coming of Christ, the Saviour of the world, the Star of Jacob, the Star of David, the One Who would bring all of God’s people back to Him and reconcile them with their loving Father and Creator, and the One to redeem all of us from our many sins and wickedness. This is a truly great reminder for us at this juncture of time when we are close to the beginning of Christmas, reminding us all what it is that we are really celebrating this Christmas, and how we ought to prepare ourselves to celebrate the memory of the glorious coming of our Saviour, Lord and King, born in our midst in Bethlehem as a Child, the Child Who would save all of us mankind from the destruction due to our sins.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard about the words from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist in which the Lord Jesus was confronted by some of the chief priests and the Temple authorities, the teachers of the Law and others who questioned Him on the authority and the authenticity of His works and ministry among the people of God, all the teachings He had given to them and the miracles, wonders and signs that He had performed. Those people refused to believe in the Lord, in His signs and miracles, and in His teachings because they hardened their hearts and minds, refusing to accept the fact that they could be mistaken in their own ways and teachings. The Lord Jesus had come into this world to straighten up the Law of God and how it should have been interpreted and understood, against the misinterpretations and the abuses which those religious leaders had done with the Law.

Therefore, the Lord Jesus spoke plainly and told them that His authority truly came from God, and whatever He has done, it was in accordance to the Law, and also in tandem with what His predecessor and Herald, the famous St. John the Baptist had done. The same group of people, those chief priests, Temple authorities and the teachers of the Law, the Pharisees and others had also denigrated and rejected the teachings and works of St. John the Baptist, questioned and doubted him in the same manner that they now questioned the Lord and His works. The Lord Jesus then threw back the question at them, asking if they could provide an explanation and agree whether the works of St. John the Baptist, his teachings and words were merely man-made or whether they came from God and were inspired by Him. This was a question which those leaders could not answer.

That is because no matter how they answered it, then they were at the losing end. If they admitted that St. John the Baptist and his works were merely man-made, that would have enraged the many thousands and more who believed in the saint and that his works were truly Divinely inspired. In the same manner then if they admitted that the works and teachings of St. John the Baptist were Divinely inspired, then what the Lord Jesus had been teaching and performing in His works, were the same and even more than what St. John the Baptist had done, and yet those leaders and elders refused to believe in them, and admitting such things would have been a great embarrassment and loss of face for them all before the people of God, something that they would not want to do, given how much they treasured their prestige and fame above all else.

From what we have heard in this Gospel passage today, we are reminded that we must not allow ourselves to be swayed by the temptations of worldly glory, honour, splendour, fame and all the things that can easily lead us astray and bring us towards our downfall due to sin and evil. Instead, we should always put the Lord our God at the very centre of our lives and existence, and put Him at the core of everything that we say and do in all of our whole lives, in every opportunites and moments we have with us. Otherwise, we may end up like those chief priests, Temple officials, Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who had allowed their ego and ambition, their desires and worldly attachments to fame and vainglory to mislead them down the wrong path, and closed their hearts and minds to the truth of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we continue to progress through this season of Advent ever closer to Christmas, let us all therefore continue to use this moment and time given to us well so that we can truly prepare ourselves wholeheartedly, physically and spiritually to be able to celebrate Christmas worthily and properly, with the right focus, purpose and intention. Let us always remind one another that Christmas is truly about Christ, about the Love of God manifested to us, in His love and desire to bless us all most wonderfully, as He had done through the seer Balaam and many others, so that all of us may truly be reunited with Him, and be worthy to enjoy forever the fullness of His grace, love and compassion. Amen.