Advent begins the fourth Sunday before Christmas. Most Christians celebrate Christmas on December 25, although we don’t know what the exact day of Jesus’ birth was. Very early, the church felt it was of value to commemorate a day each year to remember this, for if Jesus had not been born as a human baby, he could not have died thirty-some years later as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
“Advent” is from a Latin word. The ad- part is the preposition that means “to” and the –vent part is from the Latin verb that means “to come.” An advent is a “coming to [a place]” or an arrival. In the season of Advent, Christians anticipate the arrival of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, who was born in Bethlehem.
The coming of the Messiah did not arise in a vacuum. Many Jewish people of the day were expecting the Lord to send a deliverer for their nation. This was based on the reading of their Scriptures, what we designate at the Old Testament in our Bibles. It is with this in mind that I offer these Advent meditations to you for the next four Sundays.
Our approach will be guided by seeking to answer these primary questions:
- Does the Old Testament look forward to a Messiah, an anointed servant of the Lord?
- If so, what kind of Messiah do we see in the Old Testament?
Let us prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of Jesus.
This is He whom heav’n-taught singers sang of old with one accord,
whom the Scriptures of the prophets promised in their faithful word;
now He shines, the long-expected; let creation praise its Lord,
evermore and evermore!
Mark S. Krause
Wildewood Christian Church
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