Fourth Sunday in Advent—The Three Advents of Our Lord in John’s Preaching
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
On the First Sunday in Advent, we heard the Gospel account of Christ’s triumphal entry, like we do every year. And that marks the beginning of the season of Advent and the beginning of the Church Year.
It is a time of focusing on Jesus returning in glory—His final arrival, which is what Advent means—where He is going to raise all the dead, and He is going to bring us believers in Christ to Himself in everlasting bliss and His Kingdom.
With that beginning of the Church Year, we are focusing on the same thing: First Sunday in Advent, first Sunday in the Church Year.
And in this Gospel reading, we see how the Scriptures hit us differently—and hit people in time differently—using the same words.
So with the triumphal entry, you have people there. And we think of this in Advent—that first Advent—Jesus comes to us in lowliness. He comes mounted on a donkey, lowly, to come save His people.
He also comes as their King who is going to be glorified on the cross, suffer for them, and save them from their sins.
But that is how He comes to them in that time.
He also comes to us in His second Advent in the Means of Grace—still in lowliness, but under bread and wine and water and words—but as our King to save us from our sins.
And in that triumphal entry Gospel account, they are holding palm branches and greeting the Lord, their Savior.
This is going to happen in Christ’s final Advent in the resurrection, which we hear about in Revelation 7, when John sees in the resurrection us and all God’s people who have been raised and brought into that eternal Kingdom—from every tongue, nation, and tribe—singing the hymn to the Lamb on His throne with palm branches in their hands (cf. Revelation 7:9–10).
These are the three Advents: that He came in lowliness to save us from our sins; that He comes to us now to give us saving faith and to keep us in that faith through the Means of Grace—in lowliness still; and then He will come again in final Advent and glory, where we will sing hymns to Him on His throne with palm branches in our hands.
Again, the same Gospel account—a real historical account—hits us in different ways.
These are the three Advents of our Lord.
These three Advents of our Lord can be pondered throughout the story of Christ’s triumphal entry. They can also be pondered with His birth, which we are getting ready to celebrate—how He comes lowly as a baby, laid in a feeding trough, the One who is going to be the Bread that gives life to the world (cf. John 6:35).
He is laid in a manger, a feeding trough for animals, in great lowliness to save us in human flesh and blood, but as almighty God from eternity (cf. John 1:14).
And we also think about Him coming in glory.
This historical account—the triumphal entry—through which God teaches us the ways that He brings salvation to us in lowliness and humility as our King.
In the same way, the preaching of John the Baptist has several applications. The words of John the Baptist’s preaching hit us differently.
“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.”’ Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
“Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.” For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire’” (Matthew 3:1–12).
So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?”
He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”
Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.”
Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?”
So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages” (Luke 3:10–14).
Now, as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire” (Luke 3:15–17).
This is John the Baptist preaching.
And if you are imagining, like, a Life of Jesus movie in your head, when we hear John the Baptist preaching like this at the River Jordan, we know just moments later Jesus is going to walk in on the scene, and then He is going to ask to be baptized by John the Baptist.
It is just right there—about to happen.
That is how it feels when you are reading this in the Gospel story.
And so these words do hit us differently if we ponder on them, depending on where we are in history—like the Pharisees who were sent to ask him these questions in history then—but even now, as we hear these words.
John the Baptist is preparing the people for the coming of their Messiah, preaching to them about repentance, about the forgiveness of sins, about the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), but also about that coming judgment of fire—unquenchable fire—for those who do not bear fruit in keeping with repentance, who meet their Messiah in unbelief and unrepentance.
That is his preaching.
And we are about to witness the birth of our Lord—or His arrival as an adult, as John the Baptist is about to have happen to him when Jesus comes to be baptized by John.
We could also hear these words as those who are about to encounter the Lord in their midst right now—through preaching and in the Blessed Sacrament.
You could hear John the Baptist’s words as if we were standing right there at our own Jordan River, and Jesus is about to come onto the scene.
He is already there in your midst. He is already speaking to you. You have already heard His Word, and you are hearing His Word.
And we could hear these words as those who are about to see the Lord in great glory, coming as a thief in the night (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:2).
John the Baptist’s preaching could be heard as if he were saying: the Kingdom has drawn near right now. There is One coming who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire right now.
His winnowing fan is in His hand right now, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, gather the wheat into His barn, bring the saints into His eternal Kingdom—but the chaff, the unbelieving, He will burn with unquenchable fire.
We can hear those words the same way whether the Messiah is coming in time to be baptized by John and has not died yet, or as He comes to give us the Means of Grace now, or as we wait for Him to come again.
Even this very moment, He could come with that winnowing fan.
We come to Baptism and Holy Absolution, confessing our sins along with everybody who was coming to the Jordan, confessing their sins and receiving a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (cf. Acts 2:38).
We do the same thing as we prepare to celebrate again the saving birth of our blood Brother, Jesus of Nazareth, who bore our sins in His human body on the tree (cf. 1 Peter 2:24).
Or we can hear those words and come to Baptism and Confession and Absolution as we prepare to receive Him now in lowliness in the Blessed Sacrament.
And as we hear Him now speak words to us, we can come confessing our sins, being baptized, receiving absolution, as those preparing to see Him call all the dead out of their graves and execute that final judgment (cf. John 5:28–29).
We can hear these words John the Baptist preached to the Pharisees and the Sadducees—and to the Herodians—as words that warn us to avoid presumption, as if because we have come this many times, or because our parents are Christians, or because we are on the rolls, that we do not need to repent.
We can hear John the Baptist’s words saying, “God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones” (Matthew 3:9).
Do not presume for yourselves that you are children of God by these outward things—by your outward works—because it is a matter of the heart.
We can hear his words that way now and plead for grace, that God would grant us repentance as we prepare for these wonderful mysteries of our salvation.
Hearing again how He came to bear our sins as a little baby in Bethlehem, receiving the Means of Grace now, and being ready for the final judgment in the end.
And we can hear his words now and bear fruit in keeping with repentance according to our various callings in life as we prepare for those same gifts: His Nativity, His Means of Grace, and His glorious return.
And we await with great joy that Day that Scripture says is burning like an oven, and that unquenchable fire that is coming (cf. Malachi 4:1).
We can look to it with hope and joy, when all the mighty in the eyes of the world will be made stubble, and the entire creation will melt away, as the scoffers of this age seek refuge from the wrath of God and find none (cf. 2 Peter 3:10–13).
That sounds foreboding and scary to the unbelieving, but to us who are being saved we look to that with great joy and hope and expectation.
“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
He has done it in your Baptism here in time. But when He raises you up in a glorified body, all the chaff in yourself will be burned away.
No more sinful desire or lust. No sinful flesh left—raised up in a glorified body.
If we meet Him face to face on that Day and we are not dead yet, then in the twinkling of an eye that will happen to us (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:51–52).
The Holy Spirit and fire will finally purge everything—all sin and all cause of sin—out of our own flesh, and so we can look to that Day with joy.
Not just in the world will He separate the unbelieving from the believing, but in our own bodies, when He raises us up or changes us, He is going to separate that sin that has caused us such grief in this life and burn it away in unquenchable fire so that it cannot hurt or harm us anymore.
And we await that Day with hope and joy, because we know and trust in God who says this—who said it through the prophet Isaiah:
“But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel:
‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.
For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior’”
(Isaiah 43:1–3).
“And behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3–4).
He who testifies of these things—our Lord Jesus—says, “Surely I am coming quickly. My Advent is at hand. The Kingdom has drawn near” (cf. Revelation 22:20).
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Amen.
Let us pray. Lord Jesus, we recognize You as our true and only King of grace. You who daily knock upon our door with Your mighty Word and Holy Spirit, we await Your joyful return. Therefore show us, Your dear little sheep, grace, so that we may well prepare Your way within us, to receive You with longing hearts and living faith. Anything in us that is unclean and contrary to Your Name, sweep away by the power of Your Holy Spirit within us, that we may be and remain Your dear temple and tools of Your grace. For You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen.
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