First Week in Advent
Behold, Your King Is Coming to You
Just a few weeks ago, scores of people from all over gathered and cheered around Rockefeller Plaza to witness the lighting of a huge Christmas tree as countless others walked down the streets lit with decorations that glisten and glow in the dark sky. As we light the first candle on the Advent wreath, the wheel of time reminds us how we prepare ourselves for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the light of the world. We celebrate that He came, that He comes in Word and Sacraments, and that He is coming again at the end of time to save us.
The prophet Zechariah writes,
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you…(Zechariah 9:9 ESV)
Behold, your king is coming to you . These were the words people heard long ago. “This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:12 ESV). This was fulfilled when our Lord came to us as a child two thousand years ago. Allowing Himself to be found wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger, He made it clear how the shepherds were to behold him. He came so that we may have love through His love, peace through His working of peace, joy through His bringing joy, life through His being The Life. Jesus came to die on the cross for our sins and to rise from the dead so that peace, joy, life, and love could be ours eternally through Him. He ruled from His cross and now lives and reigns to all eternity, coming back on the Last Day as King of kings and Lord of lords. King Jesus came so that we may have life.
Behold, your king is coming to you. These words show us how Jesus continues to come to us in the Word and Sacraments today. As we sing in the Divine Service, “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory hosanna, hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest” The King comes to us with His Body and His Blood to bring us forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. No matter how sad we may be, how gloomy things may look, and how dour life can seem, our King comes to us in the Divine Service. His Word is true: “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31 ESV). King Jesus comes that we may have life today.
Behold, your king is coming to you-. These words apply to us so that we look to the future. “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen (Revelation 1:7 ESV). The return of Christ gives us reason to rejoice since He will deliver us from this vale of tears and bring us to Himself, raising the dead and renewing all creation. We look to the new day of creation with hope, anticipating the joy that is before us and the deliverance that is ours through Christ the Lord. King Jesus will come again so that we may have life forever.
On this Advent journey, we give thanks for the Word of God that applied years ago, applies to the present, and applies to our future:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you…
Although there might not have been hundreds of people gathered and cheering at the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, or gathered weekly at a local congregation for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist today, a host that no one can count will be cheering on the Last Day when Jesus returns in glory. That will make the Rockefeller Plaza tree lighting ceremony seem like a small gathering! We pray earnestly that, as we light the Advent wreath each week, we respond to our Lord’s coming by bringing the light to those in our lives, our homes, and our neighborhoods, so that all would see that Jesus the Light of the world came, continues to come, and will come again. Rejoice! King Jesus–The Life–comes to us!
Deaconess Raquel A. Rojas
LWML Atlantic District President
Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church, The Bronx
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