Our reading this first weekend of Advent this year is from the gospel of Luke:
“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
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He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:25-26)
Advent is about the arrival of a looked-for event or person. Our reading this week is traditionally interpreted as looking forward to the two-millennia old hope of Jesus’ someday return. I believe the passage in our reading from the gospels this first Advent weekend can offer us some hope for our context as well.
First, this passage was written after the Romans had destroyed Jerusalem’s temple in their backlash to the liberation movement of the Jewish-Roman war of 66-69 C.E. While the preceding verses speak directly of the destruction of Jerusalem, the verses in our reading refer to a passage from the Hebrew scriptures that encouraged the Jewish people then undergoing persecution and predicted the earthly oppressors would be replaced by the eternal kingdom of God. That ancient passage was intended to offer a vision for the advent of liberation, to inspire hope when the people had very little to hope for.
We’ll unpack what this might offer to us at this moment, next.
(Read Part 2)
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