ADVENT • 7

How are we to follow and respond to Jesus who has come and will come again?

How are we to follow and respond to Jesus who has come and will come again?

reading for: 8 Dec

Luke 3:7-18

The forerunner of Jesus's coming

  • READ

The passage for today contains the teachings of John the Baptist as recorded by Luke. Who is this John the Baptist? We know that John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus, but more importantly, he is the forerunner of Jesus's first coming. He is the one who prepares the way for Jesus. (See Isaiah 40:3-5, Luke 3:4-6)

What does John the Baptist have to say to us? Why do we even bother to hear what he has to say? These are some of the questions we are asking and need to answer. Let us first begin with what does he have to say.

John the Baptist starts with harsh words, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (V7). We might say to him, "John, why can't you be nice and tell the people to change nicely." Perhaps John was speaking in this kind of tone because he knew that the people that he was speaking to were evil and stubborn. John was calling these evil and stubborn people to repent and bear fruit. (V8) He did not want his listeners who saw themselves as the offspring of Abraham to glory in their pride and fail to hear and respond to the message from God that John was trying to bring. (V8) John had good intentions at heart, and he wanted his listeners to be a tree that bears good fruit, for if not, they will be cut down and thrown in the fire. (V9)

The crowds that heard John then asked him, "What then shall we do?" (V10). They were in effect asking John a question of how to bear fruit? John taught them that they were to share tunics or clothes with those who had no clothes, food with those who had no food. (V11) Then the tax collectors came to him with a similar question, and John taught them not to collect any more than they are told to do so. (V12-13) Tax collectors in those days often collected a lot more than what they were allowed to do, the extra money they collected went into their own pockets. The soldiers then came to him with a similar question, and John taught that they were to be content with their wages and not threaten and extort the people. (V14)

The people were probably amazed at his answers and wondered if he was the Christ. John did not mislead the people but told them, "I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." (V16-17) John was clear that he was not the Christ and was not worthy of being compared with the Christ. The Christ will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.

In summary, John the Baptist exhorts his hearers to repent and bear fruit because Christ has come or is coming. He wants his listeners not to miss the significance of the coming of Christ. The Lord’s coming is justice for all. The poor get to share in the wealth of the rich and in doing so, learn about the goodness and providence of God the Father through others (V10-14). The rich get to repent and make restitution for their sins against their brothers and learn the mercy of God as their hearts are enlarged and made generous, just like God the Father. The good news is that the very character of the Father is revealed through the words and actions of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We may wonder why we bother with what John has to say since his teaching happened two thousand years ago. However, like the hearers of John, we are preparing for the coming of Jesus. Looking at it another way, we are like John the Baptist, who is a forerunner preparing others for the coming of Christ. We are to individually and corporately repent and bear fruit in preparation for the coming of Christ.

  • REFLECT

    The message of John the Baptist remains relevant in the modern world today because we are also preparing for the coming of Christ, his second coming. Will we hear what John has to say? Will we bear fruit in keeping with repentance? Or will we be living in pride? Let us repent and bear the fruits of holiness and righteousness.

    We are also like John the Baptist, a forerunner of the coming of Jesus. Like John the Baptist, let us exhort and challenge those around us to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Let us prepare the way of the Lord.

reading for: 9 Dec

Zephaniah 3:14-20

The coming of Jesus the saviour

  • READ

    Zephaniah 3:14-20 speaks of the joy and restoration of Israel that will happen at the coming of Jesus. Let us unpack what Zephaniah has to say in the closing words of the book of Zephaniah.

    The passage for today starts with a call for the daughter of Zion to sing aloud and the people of Israel to shout. They were to rejoice and praise God with all their hearts. (V14) Verse 15 tells us why they were to rejoice and praise God. "The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. "(V15). They were to rejoice because the Lord has forgiven them and taken away the judgments against them. He has eliminated away all their enemies. (V15) They did not have to fear because the Lord was in their midst. (V16) These words are similar to the words that Jesus used in John 12:15 when he uses the phrase, "Fear not daughter of Zion;"

    Verse 17 to 20 is one of the most moving passages of love in Scripture. It follows after long passages of judgment in much of Zephaniah. It speaks of the Lord that is in their midst, a mighty one who will save. It speaks of the Lord that will rejoice over them with gladness and quiet them by his love. They will be brought back into the Lord, and the Lord will make them renowned and praised among all peoples of the earth.

    Zephaniah is speaking of the coming of Jesus and how the coming of Jesus will be for his people, how he will love them and bring them into him. How he will make them renowned and praised among all peoples of the earth. How the Lord has saved them and cleared away their enemies. The scope and magnitude of the promises of God in Zephaniah 3:14-20 have not been fully fulfilled in the first coming of Jesus, hence we, like the people of Israel, await a time in the future where the promises of God to Israel will be fully fulfilled. Some may wonder that this prophecy was spoken to Zephaniah for the people of Israel, which has nothing to do with us. However, the apostle Paul tells us in Romans 11:11-24 that we as Gentiles have been grafted into God's promises for Israel. The words in Zephaniah 3:14-20 applies to us as much as it applies to the people of Israel. Like the people of Israel, we can hope and pray for the second coming of Jesus that will bring about the fulfilment of the fullness of his promises.

  • REFLECT

    Does the coming of Jesus, our saviour, matter to us? Do we know what is the reason why he is coming? Do we rejoice and hope for his coming? Reflect on these questions and speak to the Lord.

    Pray that we will rejoice and exult in the coming of the Lord. Pray that we will look forward in hope at the second coming of our Lord and move with our Lord as he carries out his work of salvation and love which will be completed when he comes again.

reading for: 10 Dec

Philippians 4:4-7

Preparing for Jesus's coming

  • READ

    Philippians 4:4:7 is the passage that we will be looking at for today, and it comes at the end of Paul's letter to the Church of Philippi. The letter to the Philippians is one of the prison letters, which means that Paul wrote this letter while he was in chains. He was not writing this letter in the comfort of an air-conditioned room if you were but writing this letter in prison.

    Philippians 4:4 is a verse that many use and know today. However, we should not let the popularity of this verse fool us into thinking that we know what it means. Philippians 4:4 is a call to rejoice in the Lord always, whether in the Roman dungeon or mountain top mountains of our lives. It is a call to learn what it means to praise God no matter the circumstances. We need to remember that Philippians is not written to individuals but to the church of Philippi, and hence the call to rejoice in the Lord is not merely an individual call but a call in which the entire church rejoices in the Lord together.

    Verse 5 exhorts us to let their reasonableness be known to everyone. (V5) We need to be reasonable to everyone and not to be harsh to everyone. The Spirit of gentleness is what the apostle Paul wants his hearers to have. Let us remember that this was written in a time of suffering of Paul, and likely his readers would also be undergoing some form of persecution. Just as they were to learn to rejoice in the Lord in the midst of suffering, they were also to learn to be reasonable to everyone. The phrase "The Lord is at hand" at the end of verse 5 is an important reminder that their Lord is coming to make all things new. They were to rejoice and be reasonable in the midst of the current suffering.

    In a time of suffering, it is common for them to be full of anxiety and anxious about everything. Hence the words of Paul in verse 6 and 7 makes much sense. Paul exhorts them not to be anxious about everything but to take everything to the Lord by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. (V6) The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (V7)

    Finally, Paul exhorts his readers to think not of their suffering but to think "whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. "(V8). They were to set their minds on things above, on godly things. They were to practice all they had learnt and received from Paul, and the God of Peace will be them.

  • REFLECT

    The last two years of the pandemic has helped us to understand in some ways what suffering looks like. It is natural for us to be so consumed by fear at the prospect of being infected with the virus or gripped by fear at the prospect of the new omicron variant affecting our freedom. In the midst of this modern suffering, let us heed the words of Paul.

     

    Let us rejoice in the Lord together in the midst of the sufferings of the pandemic, let our reasonableness be known to everyone. Let us not be anxious but pray and take our requests to him with thanksgiving. Let us think and do godly things. The God of Peace will be with us by the Spirit, and he will surely come again. We can do all these things and live this way in the full realization and as a preparation that our Lord will surely come again.

    Share about the family and friends you are inviting for the Christmas outreach on 25th & 26th and pray together for them.

reading for: 11 Dec

Isaiah 12:2-6

The coming of Jesus who is my strength and song

  • READ

    Isaiah 12:2-6 speaks of a day in which the Lord is the strength and song of his people. He has become their salvation. Let us look at this passage a little more.

    The passage starts with Isaiah telling his readers that on that day, they will give thanks to the Lord for the anger of the Lord turn away that he might comfort them. (V1) It is clear that Isaiah was not speaking of his own time, but he was giving a prophecy in which it speaks of a future day of the Lord when he will come again. On that day, the people will see God as their salvation, they will trust and not be afraid. They will see the Lord as their strength and their song. (V2) They will draw water from the wells of salvation. (V3)

    On that day, the people will give thanks to the Lord and call upon his name. They will make known the deeds of the Lord among the peoples and proclaim the exalted name of the Lord. (V4) They will be singing praises to the Lord and shouting for joy. (V5-6)

    It is clear that this prophecy is not speaking of the time of Isaiah but is it a time future for us as well. Like Zephaniah, it is hard to see the words of this prophecy as completely fulfilled in Jesus's first coming. Because in the time of Jesus's first coming, surely the people were not making his deeds known among the peoples and singing praises to the Lord. They were doing the opposite thing of asking him to be crucified. Some parts of the prophecy would have been fulfilled in Jesus's first coming and continues to be fulfilled now, but the final fulfilment of this prophecy is in a time that is future for us as it is for Isaiah.

  • REFLECT

    In the times between the two comings of Christ, we can learn to seek to practice the words of this prophecy. We can begin practising giving thanks to the Lord and singing praises to his name in all times and seasons. We can learn to see the Lord as our strength and song, knowing that our salvation is found in no one else but him. Let us also hope for a time in which he will come again to fulfil the words of this prophecy completely.

Season of AdventCNL