Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the Latin word for “coming.” Advent is a time when we recall the birth of our Savior over two-thousand years ago. More than this, Advent also represents the waiting period for the “Second Coming” or return of Christ in which we now live.
In the Gospel from Matthew (24:37-44) Jesus describes what his second coming will be like. He uses imagery from the Book of Daniel where the Son of Man, the divine representative of God comes at the end of time (Daniel 7). It will be an event which comes unexpectedly and without warning as we go about our daily activities. It will also be a time of judgment when the devout will be welcomed by Jesus into his kingdom, while the unfaithful are left behind.
With his admonition, “Stay awake,” this day will come like a thief in the light, Jesus ominously warns that we be prepared lest this day catch us by surprise.
If we look at the First Reading from Isaiah (2:1-5) we get another picture of the Second Coming which seems less ominous and much more hopeful and reassuring. In this passage Isaiah is writing for the people of Israel who are facing the threat of the powerful enemies poised to conquer them. It is suggested that their dire fate is the result of their apostasy and breach of God’s covenant. They are bound for invasion and exile.
Yet Isaiah also offers words of consolation. He reassures the people that eventually, “one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.” Isaiah foresees a future time of peace, a time when weapons of war, swords and spears, will be turned into plowshares and pruning hooks, implements for the tranquil activity of caring for God’s gift of creation.
Imagine living in a world where there are no more weapons of violence nor threat of war, a time when all will look to the LORD with confidence and hope. A day, according to Isaiah, when “the mountain of the LORD’s house, [Jerusalem] shall be established as the highest mountain… and all nations shall stream toward it.”
It will be a time when all people recognize the sovereignty of the God of Israel brought to the world through the Incarnation of His Son, Jesus. It will be a return to the existence for which the universe was created, the paradise of Eden. This is the Glorious coming of our LORD which we anticipate starting today and every day to come.