{"id":78730,"date":"2024-12-03T06:00:02","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T11:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=78730"},"modified":"2024-11-30T15:36:53","modified_gmt":"2024-11-30T20:36:53","slug":"he-came-he-comes-he-will-come","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/12\/he-came-he-comes-he-will-come\/","title":{"rendered":"He Came, He Comes, He Will Come"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We are now in the season of Advent, a word that derives<\/a> from the Latin ad<\/em>, meaning \u201cto\u201d +\u00a0venire<\/span><\/em>, meaning<\/span> \u201ccome.\u201d\u00a0 So \u201cAdvent\u201d means not only that Jesus comes<\/em>, but that He comes to<\/em> us.<\/p>\n

Advent is more than the lead up to Christmas.\u00a0 Yes, we wait and prepare for the celebration of the time when the Son of God became incarnate in human flesh.\u00a0\u00a0Traditionally, it also had to do with waiting and preparing for the time when, in the words of the Nicene creed, \u201cHe will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

The Scripture readings that the lectionary assigns for Advent include both the Old Testament prophecies about the coming of Christ at Bethlehem and New Testament prophecies about the coming of Christ in the last days.<\/p>\n

The ancient Israelites had an abundance of prophecies about the Messiah, but they found them puzzling and hard to interpret, becoming crystal clear after their fulfillment in Jesus.\u00a0 Similarly, we today have many prophecies about the End Times, but we find them puzzling and hard to interpret.\u00a0 Doubtless, they too will become crystal clear once they are fulfilled.\u00a0 In the meantime, Jesus tells us that our job is to \u201cwatch and pray: for ye know not when the time is\u201d (Mark 13:33 KJV).<\/p>\n

Our pastor, Tyler Arnold, told us that he doesn\u2019t like referring to Jesus\u2019s \u201cSecond Coming.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus doesn\u2019t just come twice.\u00a0 He came in the days of Caesar Augustus, to be sure.\u00a0 And He will come \u201cagain\u201d to raise the dead, to be our judge, and to create the New Heaven and the New Earth.<\/p>\n

But between those times He comes to us also tangibly\u2013in His body and blood\u2013in the sacrament of Holy Communion.<\/p>\n

Said Pastor Arnold, \u201cHe came, He comes, He will come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shortly before His Ascension, when Jesus returned to the right hand of the Father, He explains that in doing so, He is not leaving us.\u00a0 Rather, He promises, \u201cbehold, I am with you always, to the end of the age\u201d (Matthew 28:20).\u00a0 We also learn that \u201cJesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever\u201d (Hebrews 13:8).<\/span>\u00a0 He is always present to save.\u00a0 This is true \u201cyesterday,\u201d when He lived and died and rose again, and it is true \u201ctoday\u201d when He comes to us in Word and Sacrament to create faith in our hearts, and \u201cforever\u201d when He will come to make us part of His eternal kingdom.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Illustration:\u00a0 \u00a0Adoration of the Mystic Lamb<\/a>, by Hubert and Jan van Eyck,\u00a0 Ghent Altarpiece, photo by Sailko, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons<\/em><\/p>\n

[Note that all three senses of Christ\u2019s coming are brought together in this painting:\u00a0 Christ\u2019s historical sacrifice on the Cross, His sacramental presence on the altar, and the climax of the End Times as portrayed in the Book of Revelation.]<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Advent celebrates Christ’s coming, which happened in the past in Bethlehem, will happen in the future in the End Times, and happens now in the Word and Sacraments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":78745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,10,21,8254,47],"tags":[94,15538,12729,755,1031],"class_list":["post-78730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible","category-christ","category-holidays","category-sacraments","category-theology","tag-advent","tag-christs-coming","tag-christs-return","tag-end-times","tag-holy-communion"],"yoast_head":"\nHe Came, He Comes, He Will Come<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Advent celebrates Christ's coming, which happened in the past in Bethlehem, will happen in the future in the End Times, and happens now in the Word and Sacraments.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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