Jesus is talking to his disciples about the sun and the stars, about the earth and the sea. The whole creation, our life and our death are in the hand of God. The same as it was in the beginning we now from the first pages of the Bible.
As well as the candle of Advent stands so should we be standing erect. We raise our heads like the flame of that candle. In order to have a straigth look to the coming Lord. Face to face. We should’nt get perplexed. This is the word of God for us at the beginning of Advent. He is on our side so that we may escape the tribulations.
The Advent means looking forward to Jesus, coming with power and great glory. The picture we heard about is familiar to us: The powers of the heavens were already shaken once when Jesus was judged and rejected. When he died on the cross there were already dark signs in heavens. His diciples almost died of fright, when they went away and hid themselves behind the locked door.
But they escaped the anxiety on the day the Lord came in the new light of resurrection. He was standing in front of them with the words of consolation: Peace be with you. The apostle Thomas fulfilled already the prophecy about standing before the glorious Son of Man. He did with the words: “My Lord and my God” on his lips.
The prophet Jeremiah was looking into the future. The descendatnt of David, the great King, will come. He will bring safety and justice we all hope for. The real justice and safety, which are founded in God. The place, where we humans dwell, will have a new name: “Yahwe, our Lord and God – he is our justice”. This is how the new heavenly Jerusalem we are waiting for is called. Christ, the coming King, the confident judge, knows the suffering we have. He won’t forget the hour we were merciful and peacemakers. That’s way we are calling upon him: Come, Lord Jesus! May you be the light on the candle of our lives in this Advent.
December 3, 2006
