Advent

This is the first week of Advent, which is Latin for “the coming”. These are the weeks leading up to Christmas, during which Christians across the world prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. To help you prepare, I (Walker) will be posting daily readings/reflections/prayers for you to use.

The refrain of Advent is, “Come, Lord Jesus, Come.”

In Advent we remember the longing of God’s people as they looked for a Messiah. They longed for the long night to be over, for light to shine through the darkness. They waited for a ruler who would bring peace and justice to our world. They hoped for a savior, someone to rescue them and return them home from exile.

The prophets of Israel all spoke of the coming of Christ, of how a Savior would be born, a king in the line of David. They spoke of how he would rule the world wisely and bless all nations. Read the words written by the prophet Isaiah 700 years before the birth of Jesus:

ISAIAH 35

1 The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. 3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.

5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, 10 and the ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

On Christmas day the Christ of our hope was born. On Good Friday the Christ of our hope died. On Easter day the Christ of our hope rose from the dead. He then ascended into heaven. On the last day, the Christ of our hope will come again to establish his kingdom over all things on earth.

As followers of Christ we await his return. We proclaim that as he came humbly into our world in a manger in Bethlehem, so he is coming again with power to deliver his people.

During a season which is marked, in our culture, by hurriedness and consumerism, let us enter Advent soberly, making preparation in our own hearts, clearing a way in our own lives to make the refrain of Advent our own prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus, Come.”