Advent 2
Lk
21:25-36
12/7/25
I was not here last Sunday since I was in Indiana celebrating
Thanksgiving with my parents, and all of the Surburg family. Two weeks have
past since the last time I stood in this pulpit. But it feels like nothing has
changed, and we are doing the same thing all over again.
Two Sundays ago we heard Jesus as he was in Jerusalem during Holy
Week. The disciples commented on how impressive the buildings of the temple
were. But Jesus responded to them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say
to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not
be thrown down.” Our Lord said that the
temple would be destroyed.
When they had crossed over to the Mount of Olives and were looking
at the temple, the disciples asked, “Tell us, when will these things be,
and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Our Lord talked about what would happen when
the temple was destroyed. And then in
our text for the Last Sunday of the Church Year he talked about his return on
the Last Day. We heard the parable about the five wise virgins and five foolish
ones as Jesus taught about the need to be ready for his return. He said at the
conclusion of our text, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor
the hour.”
Now, two weeks later our text may be from the Gospel of Luke
instead of Matthew, but we are in the same place all over again. It is Holy
Week and Jesus has just been speaking about the fall of Jerusalem and the
destruction of the temple. And in our
text he goes on to talk about his return in glory on the Last Day.
However, it is two weeks later, and those two weeks make a difference. Last Sunday we began a new church year as the
season of Advent arrived. The name
“Advent” is derived from a Latin word that means “coming” or “arrival.” During
Advent we prepare to celebrate the first coming of Jesus Christ as he was
conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. We are preparing to
celebrate Christmas.
The lectionary – the assigned Scripture readings – does a wonderful
a job of leading us in reflection on what Advent means. Last Sunday we heard
about Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. We were placed at the
beginning of Holy Week. We began there because that is the reason the Son of
God entered into the world. He came in order to enter into Jerusalem to suffer
and die. Advent will not let us forget that the manger of Christmas leads to
the cross of Good Friday.
Right from the start, Advent focuses our attention on the purpose
of Jesus’ coming in his death on the cross.
But to speak of Jesus’ advent – his coming – immediately calls to mind
the fact that his birth at Christmas was his first coming. The Lord who was crucified and buried did not
stay dead. Instead, on the third day God
raised him up and he was with his disciples for forty days teaching them about
the kingdom of God.
On the fortieth day he ascended into heaven as the risen Lord
withdrew his visible presence. Jesus led
the disciples out to Bethany on the Mount of Olives – the same vantage point
from which he speaks the words in our text.
He was taken into heaven as a cloud hid him from sight. And then
two angels said to them: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?
This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the
same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Jesus ascended at the very place that Jews associated with the
coming of Yahweh. The prophet Zechariah
described God’s end time action with the words, “On that day his feet shall
stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east.”
And a little later he said of Yahweh, “Then the Lord my God will come, and all
the holy ones with him.” The words of
the angels and the location of the event send one message: Jesus will come
again in glory.
Advent prepares us to celebrate the coming of the Lord at
Christmas. It teaches us about why he
came. And it teaches us that for Christians, Christmas causes us to look in
expectation for Christ’s second coming. The Lord is coming – and he will not
arrive in a sleigh pulled by eighth reindeer that land on your roof.
Jesus begins our text by saying, “And there will be signs in
sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in
perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting
with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the
powers of the heavens will be shaken.”
Jesus describes how his arrival will be announced by cosmic
distress. In the Old Testament these are the kinds of things that are described
when Yahweh comes in judgment. Now we
learn that they will occur because Jesus is Yahweh coming to his creation.
St Paul tells us that creation itself had been subject to the
bondage of corruption by our sin. He personifies creation and says that it
longs to be freed as he says, “For we know that the whole
creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”
We learn that at the moment when Christ arrives, the fallen world reacts in the
presence of the Lord.
This reaction by creation is something that everyone will
perceive. Christ’s words remind us that no one will fail to notice
his return. The signs of his arrival
will capture the attention of everyone on the earth. Jesus describes how there
will be nations in distress, and people will faint with fear and foreboding
about what is coming.
Then Daniel
tells us, “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of
heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of
Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and
a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve
him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”
Daniel sees a
figure that looks like a human being – “one like a son of man.” But while he is
human in appearance it immediately becomes clear that he is not merely a man.
He comes with the clouds of heaven – something that in the Old Testament only
God does. And then we learn that all peoples serve him as he has an everlasting
kingdom. This verb “serve” is only used in Daniel to describe how one acts in
relation to the divine.
This One who
appears like a man is God. He is the Son of God, the second person of the
Trinity. At Christmas we celebrate the
incarnation – the fact that the Son of God became man. But the Son has always
existed as God, for God has always been the triune God – Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit.
During his
ministry Jesus referred to himself as the Son of Man. This was not yet a title
in Judaism. Instead, in Aramaic it would have sounded like a rather odd
self-reference: “this man.” But in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
we now understand that Jesus was referring to himself as the Son of Man
– the divine figure present in Daniel’s vision – the Son of God before the
incarnation.
Jesus is the
Son of Man that we meet in Daniel’s vision – God in power and glory. But the
interesting thing – and the thing that is eternally important for you – is that
Jesus uses this reference in two seemingly contradictory ways. He uses Son of
Man like we find it here in our text to describe the how he comes in glory.
Jesus says in chapter nine, “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words,
of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and
the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”
But the other
way that Jesus uses Son of Man is to describe his suffering and death.
Just after this statement in chapter nine he goes on to say, “Let these words
sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands
of men.” Or as Jesus said when he and the disciples were approaching Jerusalem:
““See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written
about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will
be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully
treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and
on the third day he will rise.”
The divine Son
of Man in Daniel chapter 7 is the One who became man to be the sacrifice for
you in fulfillment of God’s Word. He,
the One to whom all peoples must give worship, suffered and died for you. He, the divine Son of Man, is also the
suffering Servant of Isaiah’s prophecy. Jesus said at the Last Supper, “For I
tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was
numbered with the transgressors. ’ For what is written about me has its
fulfillment.” Jesus Christ received
God’s judgment in your place.
But death could
not overcome God’s gift of life. On the
third day God raised Jesus from the dead. Because of Jesus, we know that death
cannot hold on to us. And Christ is now the risen Lord who rules over all
things as he makes full use of his power. In Daniel’s vision we hear how the
Son of given “dominion and glory and a kingdom.” He laid this aside in order to
serve us in suffering and death. But as the risen Lord he told his disciples on
the mountain in Galilee, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to
me. And it is as the almighty Lord that he will return in glory on the Last
Day.
Jesus describes the cosmic signs that will occur, and then how he
will come as the Son of Man in a cloud with power and great glory. These are awesome events, but the Lord says
that for those who have faith in him they are things to be welcomed. He declares,
“Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your
heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Our Lord says that just like we can tell what
time of year it is by the appearance of a tree, so also these things will
signal to us that the consummation of the kingdom of God has arrived.
Last Sunday was the First Sunday in Advent and the start of a new
church year. That means another church year has been completed and has passed
by. We will celebrate Advent and Christmas this year, just as did last year,
and the year before that. Year follows
year and it becomes easy to lose focus on how our Lord will bring God’s reign
on the Last Day. It becomes easy to lose our focus on how the Lord’s reign
continues to come to us today through his Means of Grace as he sustains us in
faith.
In our text Jesus warns, “But watch yourselves lest your
hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this
life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will
come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth.”
Christ identifies two contrasting concerns. Dissipation and
drunkenness describe reveling and partying – “having a good time.” There is the
danger that we will lose our way by focusing on the things of the world as we seek
our own pleasure. Alcohol, drugs, gambling,
and pornography – and of course those last two are now available through the
phone in your and - are just some of the allurements present in the world that
serve as dangerous temptations.
On the other hand, the Lord points to the worries of life. These are all the things the threaten to
overcome our trust in Christ – the health problems, marriage problems, family
problems, and financial problems that grind us down.
Remember, there is no such thing as “once saved always saved.” In
the parable of the sower, the seed that fell among the rocks and the thorns did
grow. But Jesus explains, “And as for what fell among the thorns, they are
those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by
the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not
mature.”
Our Lord calls us to turn away from those vices and sins that harm
our spiritual life. He tells us to trust
in him continually as we face all difficulties.
He is the One who told us to seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness. We do this by reading and hearing his Word. We do this remembering in faith what we have
through our baptism. And we do so by coming to receive his true body and blood
in the Sacrament of the Altar. We
receive the Lord who comes to us at the altar, so that we are ready to receive
him when he comes in glory.
In this season of Advent, we are preparing to celebrate the coming
of the Lord at Christmas. We remember that the Son of God entered our world in
order to suffer and die for us. The divine Son of Man became the suffering
Servant to save us. He passed through suffering and death as God raised him up
on third day. The risen Lord is now the ascended Lord who exercises all power
and authority. And his first coming points toward his second coming in
glory. We livee by faith in eager
expectation of this because Jesus says, “Now when these things begin to take
place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is
drawing near.”
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