Advent begins with a shock

“People will die of fright,” says this Sunday’s Gospel, “in anticipation of what is coming upon the world” (Lk 21:25-26). These are some strange words from Scripture to begin the church’s Advent reflection. What are the readings trying to communicate as this season of hope begins? “There will be signs,” is all that Jesus says.

Early in Luke’s Gospel, the crowds felt a hopeful buzz that times might be shifting. “Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah” (Lk 3:15). To this expectation, John the Baptist is forced to remind the people that another is coming, someone mightier, who will baptize the people with fire. As the reader reaches the end of Luke’s Gospel narrative, however, Luke tells us that “people will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming.”  Luke’s ambivalence raises the question: Is the coming of the Messiah good news or bad news?

Part of Luke’s task was to respond to the questions his community of faith was asking, especially among the Jewish and Gentile peoples of the first century. Luke expanded on an end-times prophecy that he found in Mark 13:3-27. Whereas Mark and his community expected Jesus to return soon and settle accounts in a final judgment, Luke addresses the reality that Jesus’s return was taking much longer than anyone had predicted. Rather than condemn his community’s lack of patience, Luke encourages a hopeful rededication to faith in Christ’s return by holding vigil.

“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy,” says Jesus, “from the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap” (Lk 21:34). The theme is reinforced in this Sunday’s first reading. The days are coming, says the prophet, and the Lord will be our justice (Jer 33:14-16). The readings for Advent begin with a dual acknowledgement: The messiah is coming without delay but this does not mean what many expect. No community of faith at any time holds the road map or predictive key for a final and definitive judgment on humanity. As the Gospel states it, no one, not even the community of faith, will be spared from an approaching day of judgment. This moment refers to that day in Scripture, and it belongs entirely to God. In fact, each person must pray for the grace to stand before the Son of Man. “Be vigilant at all times,” says Jesus, “and pray that you have the strength” (Lk 21:36).

As Advent begins, the readings deliver a shock. Be vigilant! Christ is indeed delayed in relation to early Christian hopes, but perhaps the working out of that redemption occurs both in the present and the future. This is how Luke interprets the present moment. Advent is not just an invitation to prepare for the joys of Christmas. It is a time for rededication through renewed anticipation. This is a time of preparation for the moment of arrival, a reenactment of the incarnation and the renewal of expectation. We are invited to arrive there by first practicing hopeful anticipation. “Stand erect,” Jesus reminds the disciples, “and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand” (Lk 21:28).