The Story of Advent
December 20, 2022
The story of Advent is the story of the appearance of the Messiah, the anointed one. How you tell the story of his coming depends on where you want to start. The evangelist Mark, for example, begins the story in the Judean countryside with John the Baptist calling his hearers to repentance, promising them forgiveness. The Baptist also pointed toward One to come, more powerful than himself, who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. In this telling, Advent has a prophetic nature: it is both summons and promise.
The evangelists Matthew and Luke begin the story of Advent further back, each with a genealogy of Jesus’ forebears and an account of his birth. Matthew reaches back through King David to the patriarch Abraham, while Luke reaches back to Adam himself. In these tellings, Advent is historical, the unfolding of a human drama stretching back through the generations, heralded by dreams, heavenly signs, oracles, and angels’ songs, culminating in the appearances of John and Jesus. For Matthew and Luke, Advent is a time of fulfillment and new life; it is a human story, grounded in the faithfulness and power of God.
John’s Gospel trumps all these Advent stories by taking us back to the very beginning of the cosmos, when God spoke the worlds into being through the Word, creating light and life. More importantly, in this Gospel, creation issues forth in the incarnation, when the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. In this telling, Advent is revelation: light dispelling darkness, word becoming flesh, new birth through faith.
In any telling, the story of Advent is good news. The Messiah has appeared, bringing salvation near. It’s a story that needs to be told, over and over, no matter where one begins.
- Charles Swadley