Read Luke 3:1-22
Advent is a time of preparation. We remember the centuries Israel waited for her Messiah to come and we remember how we are waiting for that same Messiah to come again. As we reflect on the prophecies and promises God gave his people, we see that God sent a forerunner to prepare his people for what was to come. After four hundred years of silence, God spoke first to Zechariah and then to Mary (see Luke 1).
Why does John the Baptist figure so prominently in the earlier days of Advent? There are three reasons. First, Advent deals not only with Jesus’s first coming as the babe of Bethlehem in the middle of salvation history but also with his Second Coming at the end of salvation history. Second, John the Baptist is the last of the old covenant prophets. Third, John the Baptist is Jesus’s forerunner in birth, message, and death.
Advent means “coming.” Reflecting on John the Baptist and his ministry reminds us to prepare for Christ’s Second Coming. The Gospel texts about John the Baptist paint him as a fiery prophet convinced, Jesus, would usher in the kingdom of God. Advent is meant to help us get our spiritual lives tuned up so that we’re ready when he comes back for good, and he really will, to conquer sin, death, hell, and the devil once and for all.
As adults, John and Jesus preach the same message: Jesus brings the kingdom of God near. All diseases will be cured, all demons and the devil banished, all the prisoners released and the oppressors given the judgment they deserve, and all death conquered as believers are raised to eternal life.
It is thus no accident that John and Jesus suffer the same fate. John is beheaded and Jesus crucified. The religious and political leaders don’t have a box for their message of repentance. They find it more expedient to kill these rabble rousers than to risk their own power, prestige, and position.
Advent prepares us not merely to welcome and worship little baby Jesus, but to accept Jesus’s call to us to take up our cross and follow him. Our lives may be filled with challenges and difficulty; suffering and hardship, but ultimately, Jesus came and is coming again! Our salvation and future hope are certain!
How are you preparing your heart for Christ’s coming? How is Jesus inviting you to follow him this Advent and Christmas season?
Advent readings this week:
- Monday – Psalm 124:1-8; Genesis 8:1-19; Romans 6:1-11
- Tuesday – Genesis 9:1-17; Hebrews 11:32-40
- Wednesday – Isiah 54:1-10; Matthew 24:23-35
- Thursday – Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Isaiah 4:2-6; Acts 1:12-26
- Friday – Isaiah 30:19-26; Acts 13:16-25
- Saturday – Isaiah 40:1-11; John 1:19-28
- Sunday – Isaiah 11:1-10; Matthew 3:1-12