Sermon notes

INTRODUCTION

During Advent, Pastor Sumpter and I will be alternating preaching, and we will be preaching on the lectionary, that is, the passages that make up our Scripture readings for Advent.  All these passages are about the Lord’s “coming,” and thus all shed light on the meaning of the incarnation, the Lord’s coming in the flesh.

THE TEXTS

“Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst . . . .” (Zechariah 14:1-11).  “Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone . . . .” (1 Thessalonians 3:1-13).  “Then He said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom . . . .” (Luke 231:10-34).

JERUSALEM DELIVERED

Zechariah’s prophecies during the post-exilic period encouraged the returned Jews to return to the work of rebuilding the temple and city of Jerusalem (Ezra 5:1-5).  He sees a series of visions at night that depict the restoration of the temple and the effect of that restoration (Zechariah 1-6).  In the final chapters, he gives two oracles (9-11; 12-14) that describe the threats to and deliverance of the people of God.  In the final oracle in chapter 14, Gentile armies surround and capture Jerusalem (vv. 1-2).  Yahweh goes out as a warrior to fight for Jerusalem against the nations (v. 3), and when He stands on the Mount of Olives, the mountain splits, making a way of escape like the way through the sea at the Exodus (vv. 4-5).  The escaping citizens of Jerusalem become a river of “living water” that flows continuously to the Gentile seas (v. 8).  The Lord’s coming is the dawn of a new day (vv. 6-7), the day when Yahweh will be King over all the earth (v. 9) and when the nations will scramble to live in Jerusalem.

THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN

Luke 21 also describes a siege of Jerusalem (v. 20), an escape for the faithful (v. 21), and a coming of the Lord (v. 27).      Like Zechariah 14, Jesus prophesies the collapse of a universe (v. 25).  Luke is describing a series of events in the first century (vv. 32-33), the events leading up to and including the destruction of the temple in AD 70.  In the light of Zechariah 14, however, we can look at this incident in a different way.  These are “days of vengeance” (v. 22) against those who attack the disciples of Jesus, but these events are also a new exodus, a deliverance of the future Israel.  When the disciples of Jesus follow His instructions and flee Jerusalem, they become the streams of water flowing to the nations.  The Lord’s coming is a moment of judgment and destruction, but also a moment of deliverance, the beginning of the discipling of the nations.

BLAMELESS AT HIS COMING

Paul sees his ministry in the light of this prophecy.  The Lord is coming, and will judge, and he works to ensure that the people in the churches he founds are “unblameable in holiness” when the Lord comes (1 Thessalonians 3:13).  Paul insists that this blamelessness must be founded in the “heart” (v. 13).  The Thessalonians will be found blameless if they abound in love “for one another and for all men” (v. 12).  For Paul, the Lord comes to examine and judge.  Just so, Advent is a time for glad self-examination, joyous penitence.