Advent: It’s Not Just for Christmas Anymore

If we think about Advent at all, most of us we think of Advent as that time of year when we remember the birth of tender Jesus, meek and mild.  Joy to the world, pass the eggnog.  But there is a terrible beauty to the coming of Christ, like an approaching storm.

It should at once comfort and challenge us to the core of our being.  

 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven."

Mark 13:24-27

Ho ho ho.  

The apocalypse… for Christmas?  Where’s baby Jesus?  Where are the cute kids and the manger scene?  Where's Santa, dammit? 

Here are four features of Advent and one, "So what?"

First: "Advent" 
The word Advent is Latin; it means “the coming” or “the arrival.”  Jesus’ birth, that is, his first coming signals two events.  

• It reminds us there will be a second coming when the Kingdom will come in its fullness. 
• His birth inaugurated that period of time when the Kingdom of God is here, now, in time-space reality.  We’re living in the tension of the “already / not yet” period when the Kingdom is already here (no, really!) but not yet consummated, not yet fully realized.  

Advent, done right, is a time of reflection, of fresh resolve, of repentance, and preparation.  It will evoke:

• Awe, as we grapple with the unfathomable reality that God became human, and
• Compassionate action (now more than ever), toward each other and our planet, remembering all creation's longing for renovation, for renewal, for redemption (including our own), and
• Anticipation, as we affirm (thank God, now more than ever) the Second Coming of Christ

Second: Jesus gets prophetic 
The gospel of Mark was probably the first gospel written, most likely before 62 AD. Mark, chapter 13, is called the Olivet Discourse, AKA the “Little Apocalypse.”  Toward the end of his life, Jesus went up onto the Mount of Olives and talked about the future.  He described three events covering three areas: the holy place, the holy people, and the holy One.  Notice the "already" and the "not yet."  

1. The place: the destruction of the Jerusalem temple (vv. 1-4) -- already (63AD)
2. The people: future persecutions for God's people (vv. 5-25) -- ongoing 
3. The One: the coming of the “Son of Man” (26-37) -- not yet 

The context here is one of warning and of caution, certainly, but remarkably, not one of fear.  Jesus is warning the disciples that life will not be rosy for the ones who follow Him.  Faith in Christ is not a "get out of trouble free" card.  Advent for us looks back at his first coming, the nativity, while it looks forward to his second coming, the Day of the Lord.  There is an already realized, not yet fulfilled quality to the Kingdom of God.  Heady stuff.  

Third: The “Son of Man”

You will find the phrase “son of man” a lot in the Old Testament, and it usually refers very simply to a man, a human being.  But Daniel, Ezekiel – and Jesus in the New Testament – add an apocalyptic twist to it.  It becomes a title.  Here are two examples from the OT book of Daniel. 

"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven.  He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.

Daniel 7:13

As he came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate.  "Son of man," he said to me, "understand that the vision concerns the time of the end."

Daniel 8:17

Now look at this. Jesus refers to himself as Son of Man literally eighty times in the gospels.  Eighty times!  And he uses the same imagery Daniel does.  He is the Anointed One of biblical proportions, who, when the time is fulfilled, is going to return.  

Fourth: Jesus' OT Roots 
Four phrases in the New Testament gospel of Mark 13 (above) reflect Jesus’ roots in Old Testament apocalyptic imagery.   

“In those days”

This is a common Old Testament introduction to talk about the end times.  These days we seem to be calling it the Anthropocene era, or the Sixth Extinction.  Peter uses the same apocalyptic, "in those days" language when he quotes the book of Joel in Acts chapter two. 

“the sun will be darkened”

Again, here is a phrase that usually refers to God’s final judgment.  However, Peter quotes the Old Testament prophet Joel at Pentecost using this language.  It can refer to an event so momentous (like the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost) that things would never again be the same. 

“coming in clouds”

We saw the presence of clouds in the quote from Daniel, above. 

“from the four winds” 

Here is a poetic way to refer to the four corners of the earth – the whole world. 

The plain sense of the New Testament is that Jesus will come again, in power, in judgment, and as the Lord, the Divine Judge. 

Finally: So what?  

When I navigate the terrain of life I often feel like I am stumbling through the fog of postmodern ideologically infused nihilism.  But when I work with the scriptures, it is as if I am coming up against rock hard truth.  It feels secure, but it's definitely not always comfortable.  With Jesus comes the Day of the Lord, and that should both comfort us and shake us to our core.  

Advent is a time of reflection, of fresh resolve, of yes, repentance, and of preparation. Reflect: see the big picture.  Don't sweat the small stuff (and it's all small stuff).  Repent: that is, a fundamental reorientation of your life in which the Lord Jesus is, well, the lord.  The king.  He's first.  Look to him, depend upon him.  And be thankful that Someone bigger than us actually has got this.  

There is a terrible beauty to the coming of Christ.  Do not fear.