Isaiah 62 vs 11
That the LORD is announcing to all the earth: “Tell the people of Jerusalem That the LORD is coming to save you, Bringing with him the people he has rescued.”
The word Advent comes from the Latin word “adventus” which means arrival or coming into place.
This season before Christmas is a time to look forward to the coming of Jesus and it is very likely that the first arrival of Jesus that enters your mind is that of the Son of God coming in flesh as that baby born in Bethlehem. This is what Christmas is all about. The second coming is on the Last Day; the Day of Judgment. And there is a third coming, the present coming, the one that is happening even now as Jesus comes to you in His Word and Sacraments.
These are the three main categories of Jesus coming into place that form your meditations during Advent, but in scripture there are many other instances of God coming to be with His people.
Very early in history, when the universe was only six days old, it is a joy when God reveals Himself to His creation. God creates Adam and Eve, and God dwelling with them is a joyful thing.
But then something happens. God’s arrival is no longer a time of celebration. Genesis 3:8 (ESV) 8 [Adam and Eve] heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
It only takes three chapters for mankind to change the coming of God from a time of celebration into a time of hiding and terror. Adam changes the coming of God forever. After this the Bible describes the coming of God with words like “dread,” “darkness,” and “terror.” People react to God’s presence by falling on their faces as dead men. Even when God wants to be with His people in grace, He hides Himself inside the tabernacle and the temple.
The terror of God’s presence is His holiness. As you see His holiness, the true measure of your sin shatters you. Your reaction at the coming of God is to run and hide. The Bible tells us that when Jesus comes to judge on the Last Day, Revelation 6:15-17 (ESV) 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
The coming of God Is terrifying because of sin. Deep down inside of every human being, no matter how much you may deny it, is the knowledge that you must pay for your sin
And yet God wants to be Immanuel, God with us. God wants His coming to be a time of joy as it was in Eden. He wants to share Himself with you and not have you run and hide. That is the great comfort that you find in today’s Gospel. Here is God coming in the flesh of a man; humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Here is Jesus coming into Jerusalem in order to finish His perfect, sinless life with an utterly cruel and terrible death so that God can come to you with joy instead of terror.
God’s plan for coming to you replaces the terror of sin with the joy of righteousness. God does this by removing the punishment of sin and giving you the righteousness of Christ instead. In order to do this, God Himself takes on human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is both God and man. As a human being, just like you, Jesus takes on the terror, the shame, the pain, and the guilt of your sin. As a man, Jesus can die and He does. He dies the shameful death of crucifixion; nailed naked to a few pieces of wood and put on display for all the world to see.
Advent is a time of self-examination to discover in what ways we have turned away from God in our daily lives, and repenting – turning back toward God –and making amends. And so during the season of Advent, we are reminded that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, those that have gone astray, to round them up so to speak in one, one church in Him so that through Him we might attain salvation – salvation here and now and hereafter. In so doing He reconciles Himself with us paving the way for our prospering under His guidance.
Since Jesus is God, God experiences that shameful death. As the holy Son of God, Jesus’ shame takes away your shame and His death takes away your death. There is no longer any terror in your sin because Jesus has taken the terror away. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 (ESV) 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The wonderful thing about His continual coming is that it no longer terrifies you. Even as God lives with you, He still comes to you. He comes to you as you read and hear His word. He continues to come to you in His flesh and blood as you eat and drink the bread and the wine of His table.
God is coming with a reward and there is salvation, behold don’t look at the circumstances you facing, don’t look at yourself and how you feel and conclude.
IN CONCLUSION
Behold the lord, Yahweh, Jehovah who has come to save you!!!
Ponder God and His coming during this Advent. Consider His coming as the baby at Christmas, but don’t limit your consideration just to Christmas. Ponder the love that God shows in His coming in that even while sin causes terror and hatred, He continues to come with His love. Consider how He came to save you with His suffering, death, and resurrection. Consider how He now comes in Word and Sacrament. Consider how He will come on the last day to take His people home with Him. Consider the blessings that He once gave, that He now gives, and that He will give when He comes again. Amen
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