Gospel Reflection on Matthew 11:2-11

December 14, 2025

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is he who takes no offense at me.”

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken by the wind? Why then did you go out? To see a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, those who wear soft raiment are in kings’ houses. Why then did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written,

‘Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,

who shall prepare thy way before thee.’

Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

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Today, we're invited to reflect on what kind of God have we placed our hope. The Baptist expects it a Messiah who would focus on our failings, who would publicly point them out and then put things in order. And secretly in our hearts, this is also what we want God to do, to set things right, to punish the wicked.

No wonder John sends his disciples to ask 'Jesus, are you really the Messiah?' John had been living a life of prayer and penance. His message was that people must change their behavior and live righteously. Perhaps John was disconcerted to find that Jesus was doing things in a different way. Maybe he had begun to wonder if Jesus was really the Christ after all. And Jesus responds to the question in a surprising way.

He tells John's disciples to go and tell him what they have seen: the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame begin to walk, lepers are clenched. These are not the works the Baptist expected.

The fact is salvation is always different from what we expect.

To truly understand what's unfolding, we need to see that the salvation that Christ brings

is about us. We are the object of His mission. We are crippled, blind, and deaf on a basic human level.

What is truly wonderful is that our frailty doesn't exempt us from God's love.

God does not first look at how blind we are to the needs of others, that we're deaf to the cries of the poor, that we are often lame when it comes to putting the needs of others before our own.

God first accepts us as we are and then operates in us to bring about change. Christ enters and touches our condition, transforming us, revealing salvation through us so that we become a sign of His Kingdom.

Each one of us is crippled in different ways. Each one suffers interior blindness and deafness. Like lepers, we're isolated from others in our own self-centeredness.

This is where the Messiah enters our lives. He comes for the sick, not the healthy.

He doesn't come for the perfect. He comes for the poorest of the poor.

In the new creation that's unfolding, each one of us through the grace of Christ bears

the divine nature, making us greater than John the Baptist himself. And this is what is so difficult for us to accept.

The Christians in that first century who heard the Gospel of Matthew, were asked

to consider themselves greater than any of the prophets. Imagine that.

And we are also invited to consider the greatness of our dignity. The smallest in the Kingdom is greater than John, because we have the dignity of being saved by Christ.

Stop pretending to be perfect. No matter how wonderful we may appear in ourselves, it's nothing to what we are when we allow the Lord to operate through us.

When we accept Christ as our Messiah, mercy and truth begin to encounter each other.

The amazing gift we celebrate on this rejoicing joy-filled Sunday is that in our flesh we have

become an announcement of the coming of the Kingdom of heaven.