One of the signs

This Sunday is the Fourth Sunday in Advent and this week’s Gospel reading tells us much about the character of the Son of God. On the one hand, he is forthright in carrying out his ministry to preach the Gospel, heal the sick, and feed the hungry. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor…” (see Isaiah 61:1-5). Here is the mission of the Servant of God to Israel, and it compels Jesus to carry it out in feeding a multitude, the fourth of the seven signs in John pointing to Jesus as the perfect fulfillment of all the law and the prophets.