In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee… (Lk 3:1).
This may be an odd verse to focus on in Advent, or anytime when sharing a reflection, but there is a point to this historical tidbit of information offered by Luke. Jesus, the Son of God, born of the virgin Mary, was born in time, and in a place. The gospels are not myths, they are not fairy tales, nor are they works of historical fiction. Luke’s account would fall better into the genre of Greco-Roman history, although, the gospels have their own unique expression as a genre. The gospel writers were interested in the historical Jesus, but they were more than mere biographies. Their primary focus was to present theological insights that help us to understand who Jesus is and his teachings that we can put into practice, but not that, but to also come to know him in our time and place, and be transformed by him and his love for us.
The Son of God was obedient to his Father and was willing to be sent to become a human being conceived in the womb of Mary. This truth has relevance to us because it means that Jesus experienced what we experience as human beings. From the moment of his conception and moving forward, through his birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and continuing today, he experienced and experiences what we experience as humans, even temptation although he never sinned.
In Luke’s presentation and setting the stage for Jesus’ birth, he shared a shady cast of characters: Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Annas, and Caiaphas to name a few. Although lost on most of us today, these political and religious leaders were not known for their virtuous living. Yet those in the time of Luke’s writing would have recognized that they were examples of human depravity. Jesus was born in a time and a place of darkness. He was and continues to be the Light of God who has come into the darkness of the fallen human condition.
To prepare the people for this coming, Luke presents the preaching of John the Baptist. Though the son of the priest, Zechariah, John rejected the political and religious status quo. He did not preach in Jerusalem nor the Temple, but in the wilderness. His message to “Prepare the way of the Lord” was a call in unison with Baruch from our first reading.
Baruch, the secretary of the prophet Jeremiah, shared God’s promise in which Jerusalem was invited to, “stand upon the heights; look to the east and see your children gathered from the east and the west at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that they are remembered by God” (Baruch 5:5). The children who are to rejoice were those scattered children of Israel. The northern ten tribes of Israel who were first exiled by the army of Assyria in 722 BC, and the greater majority who never would return. Also, in 587 BC, the remaining tribes of Judah and Benjamin were defeated and their majority exiled to Babylon. Jerusalem and the Temple was destroyed. Baruch’s promise offered hope for that time when the twelve tribes that were exiled and scattered would be reunited and return from the east and the west.
John the Baptist came to announce that time. The messiah was at hand. The ancestors of those who returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile, were waiting for the coming of the fulfillment of the promise of the prophets, and John the Baptist was telling them that this long awaited time was upon them. John was telling them to get ready, to “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Jesus is coming.
This is the first coming of Jesus we prepare to celebrate at Christmas. Each Advent is a time for us to prepare not only to celebrate Christmas, to remember Emmanuel, God with us, but to prepare for his second coming or our personal judgment when our time on this earth this side of heaven is coming to an end. Whichever comes first, either reality is time, not for sorrow, but instead for joy.
This is the joy that St. Paul encourages the Philippians to experience and we can as well. “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete if until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6). May we rest in the same confidence, that as we repent, trust in God, and put into practice his teachings that we will be ready to experience Jesus coming into our lives each day and he will work through us to bring about our salvation and those he calls us to serve.
Luke invites us to look back on this time when a world in darkness waited with bated breath for the Light to come to set things right. To bring proper order back to the political and religious state of affairs. Luke offers us, through the words of John the opportunity to ponder the meaning of what it means for us to “Prepare the way of the Lord”. We make a way for the Lord, when we open our minds and hearts to him, so that we might believe more and more each day, not only that Jesus came to us as our savior, but that he is with us and we can receive his love with each breath we take, and we will be prepared for when he comes again, each day, at the end of time, and when it is our time to go home.
As the earth turned again one more time on its axis last night, and the shadows began to fall, night slowly crept over each part of our planet. Our sacred text, our sacred word, is not only written in the Bible, but the finger of God has traced his word across all of the earth, the galaxy, the universe, the whole of the created order. For God continues to write his love song. The ground, foundation, and source of creation and our very being is the outpouring of the Trinitarian Love eternally and ongoingly expressed between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
As the sun appeared to set, and night gently made its way across our minuscule earth in this part of the Milky Way, the vigil began and so also the beginning of the new liturgical year and the season of Advent. We heard or will hear again today the words of Jesus to his disciples in today’s Gospel for the first Sunday of Advent: “Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man” (Lk 21:36).
Advent comes from the latin, Adventus, which comes from the Greek, Parousia, and which we translate in English to mean coming. In our first reading, Jeremiah picks up on the prophecy of Isaiah in which “a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:1) by stating that God “will raise up for David a just shoot” (Jeremiah 33:15). Both Isaiah and Jeremiah are pointing to the coming of the messiah. Faithful Jews would continue to watch and pray for the coming of the messiah to set the world aright.
Zedekiah was the king of Judah during the time of Jeremiah. He, as well as much of the leadership and chosen people of God would not listen to the guidance of the prophet and Jerusalem and the Temple fell at the hands of the Babylonians. From that time forward, from 587 BC, those exiled and even when they returned and rebuilt the Temple again, began the long, expected wait for the messiah. As Christians, we believe that Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Mary, is the promised messiah.
Our season of Advent not only is the opening of the new year, the new liturgical calendar. Advent is the season we wait, the season we prepare to remember the first coming of Jesus into the world as a baby.
The Gospel reading from Luke picks up on the momentum that we listened to during last week’s celebration of Christ the King. We also in Advent, prepare for the second coming of Jesus at the end of time. Jesus himself quotes from Daniel 7:13-14 by calling himself by a title he uses often, the “Son of Man” (Luke 21:27). This second coming will be different than his first coming. He will not come under the cover of darkness in the humble means of sleeping vulnerably in an animal’s trough in a cave wrapped in swaddling clothes. Jesus when he comes again to judge, will come “in a cloud with power and great glory” and when that time comes our “redemption” will be “at hand” (Luke 21:28).
During Advent then we are to prepare for celebrating again of the first coming of Jesus, while at the same time, we prepare for his second coming, the time or the hour only the Father knows. In the midst of these two, there is also a preparation for a third coming, which will help us to prepare better for Christmas and for our Lord’s second coming.
This Advent, this coming, is Jesus’ coming to us in the present moment. This is why the psalmist guides us to sing, “To you, O Lord, I lift my soul” (Psalm 25:1). Turning our hearts and minds, our very souls to God is one way we can watch and pray for Jesus who is already with us in each present moment, waiting for us to slow down, to breathe, to be still, so that we might hear his word and be aware of his presence at hand. In doing so, we recognize how close Jesus is to us. He reminds us who and whose we are, God’s beloved daughters and sons.
Advent is a season in which we are invited to slow down to receive, rest, and experience in the love that God wants to share with us. We are invited to resist the temptations of the stress and strain, the anxiety and angst that seek to divert and distract us. We will resist better when we allow ourselves to meditate upon the words and invitation of St. Paul: “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love” (1 Thessalonians 3:12).
As we make time to be still, to breathe and receive God’s love, his love in us will increase. Our experience of peace will replace the stress and anxiety that can arise because of our busyness and expectations. May we be vigilant and watch for the first signs of a snow ball of anxiety beginning to roll, stop, breathe, and turn to God. From a posture of watching and praying, may this season be one freer of the hustle and bustle going on all around us. Instead, may we rest with Jesus so to be the eye, the calm, in the midst of the storm.
This Advent, let us put into practice such spiritual exercises as breathing, praying, and being vigilant to root out any influences not of God and renounce them. Choosing to spend more time in God’s word, and focusing on the real meaning of why we are doing what we are doing – to grow in our relationship with Jesus, his Father, will help us to better experience the love of the Holy Spirit.
As we are vigilant at all times and pray, and increase our spiritual disciplines, we will grow in our spiritual strength, in our relationship with Jesus, and we will be better prepared to celebrate Christmas. We will more easily be able to surrender to his reign and help to support the coming of his kingdom, so to be ready when he comes again at the end of the age, or when our time on this earth comes to an end and we face our personal judgment.
We have been created by Love to love, to experience the closeness of Jesus. As gently as the night gave way to the morning rays of the sun this morning, may we live and move more gently upon this earth. May our thoughts, actions, and words be filled with kindness, compassion, understanding, thanksgiving, forgiveness, and love to overflowing in our relations with one another during this Advent.
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Photo: Advent sky back at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, a year ago September. If ever you feel a bit down this Advent, head outside and look up. God has something to share!
Spiritual Stepping Stones 