An Odd Beginning
This week begins the church year anew, as it is the First Sunday in Advent. The dictionary defines advent as the arrival of a notable person, thing or event. It is also the first festival season in the church year. The text for this week is Luke 21:25-36. Given that Advent is about arrival of Jesus on earth and the preparation for the commemoration of the Feast of the Incarnation, it seems odd to start with this text.
This is clearly a text that discusses the end times or the last days. It is full of foreboding imagery regarding signs among the moon and stars and between the nations. Jesus tells us that when we see these signs to “stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Verse 28). Jesus then offers a parable about a fig tree. He explains that when it sprouts leaves then summer is near. The analogy is that like the signs of a blossoming fig tree, the portents that Jesus discusses in verses 25-28 will indicate the arrival of the Kingdom of God. He advises not to be weighed down by the worries of this world but to simply be ready. As I said, a bit of an odd text to begin preparation for a newborn.
A Complete Circle
Upon reflection, however, all this does make sense. The arrival of Jesus on earth heralds the drawing near of God’s Kingdom. His arrival, even as a newborn, indicates a dramatic new thing that God is doing for His people. This thing is the salvation of humanity by way of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. It is the faith that this event places within us that will carry us all the way to the end times, our own and the world’s.
This gift of grace upon grace that begins with the birth of a baby in a manger gives us the comfort and confidence that we need to prepare for the end of it all. It is our response to this dramatic new thing that God is doing that Jesus is pointing us to. Our faith, and therefore our confidence, leads us to persevere. It leads us to shuck off the weight of this world, and to “Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Verse 36).
It is the celebration of the earthly incarnation of our Lord and Savior that we prepare for during the Advent season. We do this precisely to instill in us the hope of an eternal relationship with our Father in Heaven. Given all that, it makes perfect sense for this text to appear this week, as all that God is doing through Jesus is about the consummation of His creation. So let us prepare our hearts to celebrate Immanuel, God among us, and to do so with the confident hope that this will be all that we need on this day and the last days.
Praise Be to God
