December 9, 2025 // Special

Witnessing to the Works of Christ this Advent

Todays Catholic

“Go and tell John what you hear and see.”

– Matthew 11:4

On the Third Sunday of Advent, the Church invites us to continue pondering the figure of St. John the Baptist. John has changed locations since the last time we saw him, from the desert to a prison cell, and his portrait looks considerably different. Last week, he was the fiery prophet, proclaiming repentance and pointing boldly toward the coming of Christ. This week, he appears to doubt whether Jesus is the Messiah after all.

The place of John the Baptist’s imprisonment and subsequent martyrdom was Machaerus, the royal city of Herod Antipas, located east of the Dead Sea. Though the city was destroyed by the Romans in 71/72 AD, it has been excavated in recent years and is now one of the best-preserved archaeological sites in the Holy Land. The ornate fortress-palace of Machaerus sat upon a hilltop, with panoramic views of both the Dead Sea and the West Bank of the Jordan River. One could even see Jerusalem from its towers, and it was probably built as a protective citadel for that holy city.

St. John the Baptist, however, saw little more than the dank walls of his prison cell. John was imprisoned by Herod Antipas (also known as Herod the Tetrarch) on account of his staunch opposition to Herod’s illicit marriage to Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife (see Mt 14:1-12). We know the grisly end of that story, but we do not often think of John’s time in prison. In Matthew 4:12 we hear that he has been arrested, and he seems to be beheaded about halfway through Jesus’ public ministry (see Mt 14:10). This means that John spent about a year and a half in prison, hearing vaguely of the “works of the Christ,” receiving the occasional visit from his followers and even from Herod himself (see Mk 6:20), but largely he was left to his private thoughts and prayers.

What was John thinking about during this year and a half? Perhaps he thought of examples of prisoners from sacred Scripture, like the patriarch Joseph (see Gn 39–41) or the prophet Jeremiah (see Jer 37–38). Perhaps he echoed the words of the psalmist, crying out to God for deliverance (see Ps 69:34; 79:11; 107:10-16; 142:8; 146:7). Perhaps he recalled the words of Isaiah quoted by Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth – “He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives … to let the oppressed go free” (Lk 4:18; see Is 61:1) – and wondered why they were not being fulfilled, in his case.

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If it is a corporal work of mercy to “visit the imprisoned” (see Mt 25:36), it is because prisoners have significant struggles and needs that are often underserved. A 2024 umbrella review in the Lancet journal presented a comprehensive overview of public health outcomes among incarcerated individuals, noting substantially higher rates of treatable mental disorders and infectious diseases among those in prison. And in 2021, the Prison Policy Initiative identified several troubling mental health risks among prisoners, including family disconnection, loss of autonomy, lack of purpose, unpredictability in routine, and trauma from witnessing violence. Imprisonment is a harrowing experience, both mentally and physically, and these types of trials could be in the background of John’s question to Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”

The Lord knows that such a question cannot be answered with mere words. John has plenty of words; it is all he has left, at this point. And so, he sends John’s disciples back to their master with deeds, with the works that prove His identity as the promised Messiah and Savior. He reminds them of the catalogue of mercies they themselves have observed: “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the Good News proclaimed to them.” Jesus does not answer the Baptist’s disciples directly; He commands them to “go and tell.” He commissions them to become His witnesses, to give testimony to the works of the Christ.

This Advent, we, too, are meant to become Christ’s witnesses, especially to the downtrodden, the hopeless, and those who are suffering. Like John’s disciples, we are meant to become not just message-bearers but conduits of grace so that the Messiah’s saving works might be extended to more and more people. We are each invited to find our own John the Baptist – some person in need of encouragement – and recount to him or her what the Lord Jesus is in fact doing in our lives. And the more we witness to others about Christ, the more we will come to recognize Him for ourselves.

This was likely John’s plan all along: to bring his disciples to Jesus with a probing question so that they might realize more perfectly Jesus is the Christ. The Baptist sends them to learn what he already knows, what he clings to by faith even in the midst of his afflictions. And his greatest joy comes not from the confirming words his disciples report but from the fact that they have now found the Messiah and have become His witnesses. May this become our greatest joy as well, on this Gaudete Sunday.

Father Zane Langenbrunner is parochial vicar at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Fort Wayne.