In our Gospel lesson on Sunday, we heard Jesus respond to John the Baptist’s doubt over whether Jesus was the Messiah by saying, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.”
This statement includes phrases from both Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 61, two passages that describe the restoration of Israel. Both passages envision Israel returning from exile over a magnificent highway in the wilderness, rebuilding ruined towns and cities in joy, and living in peace and security in the presence of the Lord.
When we read these passages (read them this week as a part of your devotions!), it is natural to assume that they have not yet come true. They seem to describe what things will look like in the end, when Jesus returns and all is healed and made right. They are simply too good and beautiful to be true at this point in salvation history, so they must be about the future. And yet, on more than one occasion, Jesus quoted these passages and claimed that they were coming true during his earthly ministry. He treated them as coming true in the present.
For those of us who feel that there is still a lot of work to do before “the ransomed of the Lord…come to Zion with singing…and sorrow and sighing…flee away” (Is. 35:10), it can be easy to forget that the restoration pictured in these passages is both present and future. Neither reality negates the other. There is real restoration to come; yet that restoration has already begun.
Advent is the right time to remember this dual reality. Jesus Christ has brought restoration to us—we do not have to wait! And yet, there is something to come that is worth waiting for! Let the reminder of what he has begun and the hope of what he still will do strengthen your heart this season.
Steven+
Scripture Reflections
There is an element to John the Baptist’s message in Matthew 3 that doesn’t resonate with our normal Advent/Christmas vibes. (Admittedly, I barely touched it during the sermon on Sunday…)
It’s wrath! Wrath doesn't have a place in our Christmas traditions; the closest we get to “wrath” is Home Alone or Santa’s naughty list, and even the worst kids always seem to get presents anyway. But John the Baptist, in all his curmudgeonly “it’s-Advent-not-Christmas” glory, won’t let us look past this point: the same Jesus who was born in the manger in Bethlehem will come with wrath.
We talk about Advent and Christmas as times of hope, reminding us that “everything sad [is] going to come untrue” when Christ returns to make all things new. It may sound surprising, but this hope is inseparable from the wrath that John warned of. Jesus’ coming would bring judgment against the failures of Israel’s religious leaders (see the destruction of the temple in AD 70), and that judgment itself was a sign directing our attention toward Jesus’ return. Jesus will come back with a wrath that is aimed at the evil and wickedness that are destroying his creation and poisoning our hearts. This isn’t the fly-off-the-handle kind of anger that we are subject to; it’s love, directed against the very things that most threaten the creatures that he cares for. The powers of sin and death won’t be destroyed if he doesn’t come with wrath. Violence, disease, betrayal, deception, oppression, loneliness, and anxiety will last forever if he doesn’t come with wrath. If he doesn’t come with wrath, those things won’t be handled.
That makes this wrath sound like good news! So why would the Pharisees and Sadducees need to flee from it? It’s because they have the same heart-level tendency that we have—to cling in their hearts to the same evil and wickedness that Jesus is bent on destroying. That’s why John’s warning is tied to this call to repent. In a way, repentance is our refusal to close ourselves against Jesus’ coming. It is instead an opening of our hearts to Jesus’ arrival, even to the wrath that he brings, because we know that even his wrath will re-shape us for our good.
If you have a repentant heart that is open to his coming, then that wrath isn’t something to fear. You are sheltered and safe in Jesus; the fire won’t destroy you, it will only make you clean. That may be the best news of all–he has promised to purge us of all the things in our hearts that rob us of joy and satisfaction in him. The same Spirit that he has sent is doing that in us, even now. And by that Spirit, the Jesus that we are waiting for is present in our hearts now, too. So pray for a repentant heart that is open to his coming, willing to let go of every other thing that we might cling to for hope. Pray for a heart that is softened to his presence and willing to be cleansed by his healing fire. You can place your hope firmly in the Jesus we see pictured in all his glory in Rev. 19:11-16; he has come, and he is coming soon. When he does, all will be well.
Justin+
What does it mean to wait in faithfulness?
Advent is a season of waiting. We wait to celebrate Christmas, which is supposed to teach us to wait for the second coming of Christ. The season is a wake-up call, because we naturally wait for everything but the return of Christ. We wait for our paycheck, the fun evening planned for Friday, a vacation, a good night of rest, a chance to get ahead at work—we are constantly longing and preparing for things in front of us, some good and some bad. But Advent reminds us of the ultimate thing worth waiting for, the thing that dwarfs everything else—the return of Christ.
Our waiting for Christ’s return is meant to be marked by hope and by faithfulness. It should be marked by hope because it is a sure thing. Just as Christ came once, he will come again. But whenever Jesus spoke of his return, he also called us to wait in faithfulness as well. He wants to return to people who are living faithfully to him.
How do we wait in faithfulness? Generally, this does not mean huge, extravagant actions. (Every now and then, we are called to monumental deeds, but not often!) Instead, it means engaging in the ordinary parts of life openly in the presence of God, according to his desires. This is what John called “walking in the light.” That fun Friday evening you are waiting for? Enjoy it in the presence of God, in the way Jesus would enjoy it—he loved meals with friends that were full of truth, love, and joy. That paycheck you are waiting for? Use it in the presence of God, according to the desires of Jesus—he loved to share what he had with those who were hungry and weary.
Waiting in faithfulness doesn’t mean a separate set of things; instead, it means doing the things we are given in God’s presence, according to his desires. When Jesus returns, those whom he will find waiting like this will be called “blessed” and “faithful,” and he will call them into the joy of the Father, giving them more and more opportunity and strength in the kingdom of heaven!
Steven+