2ND WEEK OF ADVENT

But wisdom is vindicated by her works. 

Have you ever heard of “negativity bias”? It’s a term that describes the way many of us view the world and the events in our lives. Psychologists have found that we tend to be biased toward a negative rather than a positive outlook. Bad news, for instance, tends to stick with us longer and speak to us more loudly than good news. It’s as if we are wearing dark sunglasses that can make even the most beautiful sunny day look gloomy and overcast.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus calls out the negativity bias of some of his critics. With his parable about children who do nothing but complain, he says that the children of “this generation” are similar (Matthew 11:16). They are trying to dictate how Jesus and John the Baptist should live and what they should look like. Instead of finding joy in the good news both these men were proclaiming, they passed harsh judgment against them because they didn’t fit into the traditional molds. These critics couldn’t take off the dark glasses of their negativity bias and see that God truly was working through Jesus and John.

What was Jesus’ answer to such a negative outlook? His “works” (Matthew 11:19). The works that Jesus was performing should have been enough to show them that the kingdom of God was at hand. All his healings and his miracles revealed that God had come to them in love with the promise of forgiveness, restoration, and freedom. A new era was dawning, and those who looked past their negativity bias could see the “wisdom” behind everything Jesus was saying and doing.

This is what Advent calls us to do: remove the sunglasses of our negativity and look for the beautiful, positive evidence that Jesus, our Redeemer, has come into this world to save us. Just as light dispels darkness, the wisdom of God’s love can lift the clouds of cynicism or pessimism from our eyes.

The signs are all around you. They’re even within your own heart! Today, ask the Holy Spirit to help you see them, embrace the wisdom and hope they bring, and let them move you to rejoice.

“Come, Holy Spirit! Help me see your good works more clearly today.”

Isaiah 48:17-19
Psalm 1:1-4, 6
Matthew 11:16-19