Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God…He comes you’re your vindication…He has come to save you. These foregoing words from the Lord spoken through the prophet Isaiah are words that men and women long to hear on a daily basis especially when facing challenging times. They are words of hope and encouragement, words that are meant to inspire their hearer to continue holding on and not to give up. They are words that, while not belittling the darkness that characterizes the present, nonetheless afford the hearer a glimpse of a brighter future. To a believer, they are words of promise: promise of a future that will be illuminated by the glory of the Lord in whom he/she has put his/her trust. Simply put, they are words that tell of a future with that has been intervened by the Lord. On this Third Sunday of Advent, these words of the Lord come to us as a special reminder of the events for which the Advent celebrations and liturgies are preparing us.
We hear an echo of the above words of the Lord in Jesus’ response to the disciples of John the Baptist who, as we hear in today’s Gospel passage, had been sent by the master to inquire from Jesus if he was indeed the promised Messiah. Rather than a simple yes or no, Jesus’ response was a summation of his ministry:  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. In essence, Jesus was telling the Baptist to figure it out himself. And Jesus was right. It was not for Jesus (or anybody who claimed to be the Messiah) to go around telling people that he was the Messiah. For Jesus, being the Messiah is all about ACTION on behalf of the Lord’s  anawim, the Lord’s poor and vulnerable. 
The Messiah is a bringer of the good news. He comes not on his own but rather on behalf of the Lord God who sends him. The good news that the Messiah brings is that the Lord himself has come to visit his people. This is not a message that needs not to be proclaimed from the roof-tops. Rather, it is a message that is seen in action. It is a message that needs to be touched and tasted (cf. I John 1:1) since the Lord God never visits a people and then leaves them without effecting a change to their lives (cf. Isaiah 55:11). Whereas the Lord’s visitation is good news for all God’s people, it is the poor and the vulnerable who reaps the most from the visitation. Because of their condition, the poor and vulnerable wait vigilantly for God’s saving visitation even as they cultivate a generosity of heart that is open to the reception of the goodies that the Lord brings with him when he visits. That the Lord’s  anawim are always the first recipients of the good news of the Lord’s saving visitation is clearly seen in the ministry of Jesus. 
God’s promise uttered through the prophet Isaiah (‘ Be strong and fear not! For the Lord your God has come to save you!’), although fulfilled in the lifetime of Isaiah’s community when they were brought back to their land, pointed to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Whenever Jesus healed the sick, fed the poor, forgave sinners, and restored the dignity of those who were being trodden underfoot because of their littleness, he in effect took away any fear that held them hostage even as it prevented them from living their lives to the full. They were now free to courageously take up their places in the presence of the Lord as true sons and daughters of God. By satisfying their material needs, Jesus was in effect making concrete God’s promises to them. No longer were the Lord’s words mere promises or empty words. God’s promise of coming with salvation for his people took flesh in their beings whenever Jesus ministered to them. Truly, the time of their salvation had come and their God had visited them.
As I wait for the coming of the Lord during these days of Advent, have I made myself poor in the Lord’s sight? Am I ready to receive the good things that the Lord will bring along? Or has pride blinded myself so much so that I cannot notice my own poverty?