Seeing Christ with the Eyes of St. Lucy – Monday of Third Week of Advent

In the Gospel Reading of Friday of Second Week of Advent (Matthew 11:16-19), Jesus reproached those who did not listen to him and his forerunner, John the Baptist. They did not listen to Jesus and John the Baptist because they did not see the authorities of Jesus and of John the Baptist, respectively. Obviously, they were blind to recognize Jesus as the Christ prophesied for his coming (Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:1; Malachi 3:20) and John the Baptist as the returning Elijah to prepare for the coming of Christ (Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1-5, 23-24).

Reflecting on whether or not recognizing Jesus and his precursor, John the Baptist, correctly and their authorities, as a part of our Advent preparation, is to make sure that we see Christ, who is on his way, as his arrival draws nearer with the advancement of Advent Season. Because he has not yet arrived and appeared to us, Christ is not visible to our physical eyes – yet. However, as he has already been incarnated (Luke 1:31, 35; cf. John 1:1, 14), Christ has been physically present and coming nearer to us. Right now, the incarnated Christ’s physical presence is hidden in Mary’s womb. So, we cannot see him in our physical eyes. However, through our faith, in our spiritual vision, we must be able to see Christ and his nearness to us at this point of Advent Season. We are now on Third Week of Advent. In less than two weeks, we will see him at his arrival as baby Jesus – but not place in a manger but in our hearts. We no longer find the incarnated Christ in the manger because we make a room for him – not like the time of his historical arrival through a human birth (i.e. Luke 2:7).

So, once again, we ask ourselves if we recognize Christ, who has been present – though not visible to our physical eyes yet, through the Gospel Reading of Monday of Third Week of Advent (Matthew 21:23-27).

This Gospel Reading is the chief priests and the elders in the Temple area not recognizing the divine authority in Jesus but saw him a disturbing figure acting as if having the authority. They questioned Jesus about his authority to make a great disturbance in the Temple and challenging them (Matthew 21:12-17). So they asked Jesus by what authority he cleansed the Temple and who gave him the authority (Matthew 21:23) to trap and kill him for blasphemy. According to Matthew, the religious authorities had wanted to kill Jesus for violating the Law ever since he cured a man with a withered hand on a Sabbath day (Matthew 12:14). Jesus was already in Jerusalem and brought a destructive disturbance to the Temple and challenged them in light of the Scriptures (Matthew 21:13-16; cf. Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11; cf. 2 Samuel 5:8; cf. Psalm 8:2; Wisdom 10:21).

In response to such actions of Jesus in the Temple area, the chief priests and the elders were furious and wanted to find a way to kill him with justification. So, they asked Jesus, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” (Matthew 21:23).

To this challenge, Jesus did not respond in the way they would have expected. Rather he responded to their inquiry on his authority with his question to them on the condition that he would answer their question about his authority if they could answer his question to them on John the Baptist:

Where was John’s baptism from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin? (Matthew 21:25a).

Because they did not believe John the Baptist as the prophesized forerunner to Christ (Malachi 3:1-5; cf. Isaiah 40:3), they could not answer that John the Baptist was with heavenly origin. At the same time, they were worried how those who believed in John as a prophet, the returned Elijah (Malachi 3:23-24), would react unfavorably to their “authority”. So, they were not able to answer, and Jesus did not have to answer their question about his authority, either (Matthew 21:25b-27).

The chief priests and the elders who wanted to trap Jesus with the authority question were obviously the kind of people that Jesus was criticizing in Matthew 11:16-19), as reflected on Friday of Second Week of Advent. And their inability to see Jesus as the Christ, whose coming was prophesized (Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:1; Malachi 3:20) and whose presence in Jerusalem was also prophesized (Zechariah 9:9), were like those who tried to kill Jesus for their inability to understand the Father of Jesus the Christ, confused with Abraham (John 8:21-59) and the Pharisees who were blind to Jesus’ power and authority om his sixth miraculous sign, healing a man born blind (John 9:1-41).

The scene of the Gospel Reading of Monday of Third Week of Advent (Matthew 21:23-27) took place in Jerusalem during Jesus’ last 5 days to be crucified to torn open what separated God from us, the curtain of holy of holies in the Temple (Matthew 27:51) and open unbelievers’ eyes to the truth in Jesus (Matthew 27:54).

Jesus was about to reveal his glory through his crucifixion. But, the chief priests and the elders, who asked him about his authority remained blind.

Now we are on third week of Advent, advancing nearer and nearer to the glory of Christ’s appearance in the human flesh of baby Jesus, in less than two weeks. Do you see Christ’s presence now – though he cannot yet be seen in our physical eyes? And do you see him with his heavenly divine authority to save and redeem us?

In the First Reading (Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17), we see even Balaam’s eyes were opened to God – though he was at first to curse the people of God advancing nearer to their Promised Land on Exodus, as commissioned by Balak, king of Moab. But, we must remember, Balaam later turned his eyes against God’s people, namely, against God (Numbers 25:1;31:16; 2 Peter 2:15; Jude 1:11). And Christ condemns him and those who are like him and follow him (Revelation 2:14) – though he was able to see God in his seer’s eyes, as reflected in Numbers 22:1-24:25).

This year, 2021, Monday of Third Week of Advent is also Memorial Feast of Saint Lucy of Syracuse, Virgin and Martyr (December 13). And St. Lucy defended her virginity against the forces to marry to a pagan man. Her defense of virginity was rooted in her uncompromising and steadfast faith in Christ. For this, Lucia’s eyes were gorged out by those who pressed her to marry the pagan man. A legend says that she was still able to see. Because of this, her sacred patronage includes eye sight. As a matter of fact, her name, Lucy, Lucia in Latin, is etymological derived from the Latin word for light, lux.

In reflecting the Gospel Readings of Monday of Third Week of Advent (Matthew 21:23-27) in connection to the Gospel Reading of Friday of Second Week of Advent (Matthew 11:16-19), in terms of seeing the Christological truth in the one whose coming that we have been preparing with vigilance and diligence during Advent Season, especially as his arrival draws nearer, we shall be like St. Lucy – not just seeing what our physical eyes enables us to see but to see even without physical eyes or when these eyes cannot let us see. Seeing the Christological truth, including the authority of Jesus, given by the Father (John 5:27, 43; 8:42; 12:49; cf. John 5:22; cf. John 10:18). And let us not lose our sight in the Christological truth in the one whose arrival that we have been preparing, as Balaam lost his sight in God and therefore condemned.

Through our faith, we can see, as St. Lucy does, the Christological truth in Jesus the incarnated Christ, even he is still hidden in the womb of his mother, Blessed Virgin Mary – while we continue with our Advent preparation for his theophany to our spiritual eyes and his arrival in our hearts, with vigilance and diligence.