Scripture for the third Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 61:1–4, 8–11; Psalm 126; 1 Thessalonians 5:16–24; John 1:6–8, 19–28 John the Baptist appears in John’s gospel in a rather more complex manner than in (for example) Mark’s gospel. John is certainly a prophetic figure in some ways, proclaiming a current reality and the consequences of unchanged action. […]