Advent
2
Lk
21:25-36
12/10/23
Well, apparently many of you were
wrong. The Cubs did win World Series,
and no, it was not the sign of the Last Day. You know the story well. The Chicago Cubs had not won the World Series
since 1908. For more than a century they
labored in futility and became the object of endless jokes. It was said that the Cubs would never win the
World Series. If they did, it would be
the sign of Last Day – the sign of the end times.
However, in 2016 the improbable
occurred as the Cubs won it all. They
won the World Series. But after seven
years, I think we can safely say that it was not the sign of the Last Day. The
Lord hasn’t returned.
In our Gospel lesson this morning
Jesus talks about his return on the Last Day.
He does so in the context of his discussion about the true sign of the
end times – the destruction of Jerusalem.
In this season of Advent, our Lord’s word teaches us that the Christ who
came in humility as baby will come in might and power.
Just as with last Sunday, our text
takes place during Holy Week. While
Jesus was in Jerusalem some were
speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings. The
temple that had been built by Herod the Great was one of the wonders of the
ancient world. It was an incredibly
impressive structure. It was a source of
pride for the Jews, and was a fitting site for the sacrifices that were offered
there to God.
However Jesus
replied, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there
will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” Our Lord made the shocking announcement that
the temple would be destroyed. The
destruction of the first temple in 587 B.C. had been the most traumatic event
in the history of God’s people. Now,
Jesus was saying that it would happen again.
Those with him
asked, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when
these things are about to take place?”
They wanted to know about the timing of the destruction and what would
indicate this was going to happen.
The destruction of the temple would
occur in 70 A.D. It would be almost forty more years until it happened, so
first Jesus warned his listeners not to be misled. He said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name,
saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. And
when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these
things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.” False Christs would arise and there would be
reports of wars, but this would not the event itself.
Jesus warned that the time before the destruction of the temple would one of persecution. He said, “But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness.” As the book of Acts describes, the Church faced persecution during the period leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.
The listeners had asked for a sign, and Jesus gave them a
very clear one. He said, “But when you see Jerusalem
surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.” When an army was laying siege to Jerusalem,
this would be it. Our Lord gave specific
instructions. When this was about to
happen, people needed to flee the city because its destruction was about to
occur.
Then in our text Jesus says, “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.” Our Lord described cosmic signs of distress that would cause fear.
Next
Christ said, “And then they will
see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Jesus described his return using the language
of Daniel chapter 7. Jesus was the Son
of Man who would come with might and power. There would be no doubt about what
was happening. The Lord would return in glory.
Jesus begins by talking about the destruction of Jerusalem
and the temple, and then shifts to his return in glory. He does so because like the “day of the Lord”
in the Old Testament, God’s act of judgment in history pointed forward to his
final act of power. Israel had rejected
Jesus, the fulfillment of the temple – the One in whom God was now present with
his people. So God would destroy
Jerusalem and the temple. This act was
the sign that pointed forward to the final act of judgment on the Last Day.
Perhaps you did not come to church this morning expecting
to hear about the return of Jesus Christ and the Last Day. After all, the world says that this is the
Christmas season. You are supposed to be
thinking about getting all your Christmas shopping done. You have Christmas parties and events to attend. You need to get your Christmas plans all set.
You are supposed to be getting into “the spirit of the season.”
But this is where the Church and the world are not on the
same page. In the Church, it is not the
Christmas season. It is the season of
Advent. This is a season that prepares us to celebrate the birth of Jesus
Christ. Yet it does so by setting our
attention on what really matters. It
holds before us truths that we must remember if we are to celebrate Christ’s
birth rightly.
We saw this last Sunday as our Gospel lesson placed us at
the beginning of Holy Week. We are
preparing during Advent to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. God sent his Son into the world as he was
conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus entered into this world in humility as
a baby in a manger. His entrance matched
the purpose for which he had come – the purpose of suffering and dying. He came to be numbered with the transgressors
and to take our place. Jesus Christ
received God’s judgment against our sin in order to win us forgiveness.
But God did not abandon Jesus to the grave. On the third day God raised Jesus from the
dead. The risen Lord appeared to his
disciples during the course of forty days.
He showed that in Christ God had defeated death. He had begun the
resurrection of the Last Day in Jesus.
And then God exalted Jesus as he ascended into heaven and was seated at
God’s right hand.
This is the Jesus whose birth we will celebrate. The One who entered the world as a baby in a
manger is now the risen and exalted Lord.
He came once. And Advent reminds us that he will come again. When he came the first time, no one
noticed. He was just a child born in Bethlehem
to parents who couldn’t even find real lodging. Still today, people choose not
to notice him. They ignore and reject him as they refuse to believe.
But it will not be so when he returns. Nobody will be able to ignore or
reject what is happening. Our Lord
describes how cosmic distress will grip creation. He says that people will be fainting with fear and with
foreboding because of what is coming on the world.
Yet for us who know the crucified and
risen Lord this will not be an occasion for fear. Jesus tells us about his return, “Now when these things begin to take
place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is
drawing near.” Jesus’ return will be our
redemption because he will raise and transform our bodies to be like his
own. He will free us from all the ways
that sin afflicts us with physical ailments.
He will transform creation and free it from the slavery of corruption
that was caused by Adam’s sin. He will make
everything “very good” once again.
The risen Lord will return in glory and he will give us
victory. He will vindicate us before the
world. The world mocks and derides those
who believe in Jesus Christ. But when
Christ returns it will be the world that cowers in fear as it faces judgment by
the exalted Lord. We will rejoice
because the truth of the Gospel will be demonstrated to all. Every knee will
bow and every tongue will have to confess that Jesus is Lord.
So how are we supposed to live in the present? Jesus says in our text, “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.”
Our Lord warns
against the ways that life can be a distraction from the things that really
matter. It is particularly ironic that
we hear these words in a time of the year that fills itself with things that
demand our attention. So much that goes
on during “the holiday season” is not truly focused on Jesus Christ. They are
things that do not prepare us to celebrate his first coming. They do not
prepare us to be ready for his second coming.
So how do we
prepare? We prepare by receiving God’s
word and through prayer. The season of
Advent should renew our focus upon the Scriptures. We do this corporately in our mid-week Advent
service as we pause during the week to hear God’s word proclaimed. We do this through our personal reading of
Scripture at home. We do this through
renewed attention to turning to God in prayer – setting aside time in our day
for this purpose.
The life that
is focused on Scripture and prayer is a life that is focused on Christ. This is a life that is ready for Jesus’
return. Earlier in this Gospel Jesus
said, “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be
like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding
feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes
and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master
finds awake when he comes.” We are
awake and ready as we listen to God’s word and as we come to him in prayer.
During Advent
we prepare to celebrate the first coming of Jesus Christ. Our Lord was born in humility and entered
this world to suffer and die for us. He
has freed us from sin and defeated death. Risen from the dead, he has ascended
and is exalted at God’s right hand.
But our Lord’s
work is not completed. His first coming
points us to his second coming in glory on the Last Day. The One who came in humility at Christmas
will come in might and power. No one
will be able to ignore him, and he will vindicate all who have believed and
trusted in him. We pray “Come Lord
Jesus” confident in our Lord’s words: “Now when these
things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads,
because your redemption is drawing near.”
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