Advent 1

Introduction

Good evening,

We are now in the run up to Christmas, in what many people might call the Christmas season, and so we are now following the readings that the whole church are following as we approach Christmas, and I wonder if that reading feels slightly jarring … anyone find it jarring?

We’re now in the season of Advent, and the word ‘advent’ means arrival … so it makes sense that it feels jarring when we are thinking back to the arrival of Jesus … surely we need a reading about his birth?

But Advent, as I’ve probably said before, is this season of two layers … on one level we are remembering the arrival of the baby Jesus … Jesus born in Bethlehem as foretold by the prophets and as anticipated by the people of Israel … the one who came to be our saviour … but on another level, because Jesus has already come … he was born 2000 years ago, lived on earth, and we have the record here of his birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension and sending of the Spirit … because Jesus has come and we now live in the time of the church … what we are longing for is Jesus to come back again.

So in this season, we remember Jesus’ first arrival … his first Advent, at the same time as looking ahead to his second Advent. And I guess we can empathise with God’s people 2000 years and more ago who were longing for God to send his saviour … this person who was filled with God’s Spirit, empowered to be King and who would come to make everything right … we can empathise because in our world today, we are aware of the brokenness in the world in ourselves and we need God to make things right

Background

The passage that we read from Matthew 24

Prophecy in Matthew 24 … Read it / look at it …

Unpack it a little bit …

Prophecy on multiple levels …

Jesus own coming, his death and resurrection … huge, world shifting events

The destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in AD70

Sense that it can also be applied to the time that we live in now …

Passage

Matthew 24:36–44 ““But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

Only the Father knows the timing … it’s all in his timing …

The days of Noah … Noah listened to God, he trusted him and he followed his commands, even when those around him thought he was foolish … and the people around him carried on as normal … living their lives as normal …

3 levels … people living at the time of Jesus … people living in the AD60s after Jesus … people living now

One will be taken, the other left … some people have thought that this refers to some people in the End Times being spiritually taken away whereas others will be left behind … but this passage is apocalyptic - it is prophetic and it has an end times sense … so it can’t be read literally …

If you had an invading army, some people would been killed or carried away but others would be left behind … it could happen at random

Jesus’ coming was not in an obvious way as we often talk about at Christmas … he was born into poverty rather than riches … so Jesus, the Son of Man, was already there

Also, if an invasion was going to come, that could happen at any time, and the people needed to stay alert and keep watch

Similarly, when Jesus comes again, we will not know that he is coming

Take-Away

How do we live in the light of Jesus birth, life, death, resurrection, asenscion and sending of the Spirit … and knowing that he is coming back again?

… Discuss …

Live with expectancy … keep watch

Live with hope …

Live ready …

Song … Hosanna …