Christians: What Is Advent?

What is Advent?
For many Christians unfamiliar with the liturgical

year, there may be some confusion surrounding the
meaning of the Advent season. Some people may
know that the Advent season focuses on
expectation and think that it serves as an
anticipation of Christ’s birth in the season leading
up to Christmas. This is part of the story, but
there’s more to Advent.
The History of Advent
The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin
word adventus, meaning “coming,” which is a
translation of the Greek word parousia. Scholars
th th
believe that during the 4 and 5 centuries in
Spain and Gaul, Advent was a season of preparation
for the baptism of new Christians at the January
feast of Epiphany, the celebration of God’s
incarnation represented by the visit of the Magi to
the baby Jesus (Matthew 2:1), his baptism in the
Jordan River by John the Baptist (John 1:29), and
his first miracle at Cana (John 2:1). During this
season of preparation, Christians would spend 40
days in penance, prayer, and fasting to prepare for
this celebration; originally, there was little
connection between Advent and Christmas.
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By the 6 century, however, Roman Christians had
tied Advent to the coming of Christ. But the
“coming” they had in mind was not Christ’s first
coming in the manger in Bethlehem, but his second
coming in the clouds as the judge of the world. It
was not until the Middle Ages that the Advent
season was explicitly linked to Christ’s first coming
at Christmas.
Advent Today

Today, the Advent season lasts for four Sundays

leading up to Christmas. At that time, the new
Christian year begins with the twelve-day
celebration of Christmastide, which lasts from
Christmas Eve until Epiphany on January 6.
(Advent begins on the Sunday that falls between
November 27th and December 3rd each year.)
Advent symbolizes the present situation of the
church in these “last days” (Acts 2:17, Hebrews
1:2), as God’s people wait for the return of Christ
in glory to consummate his eternal kingdom. The
church is in a similar situation to Israel at the end
of the Old Testament: in exile, waiting and hoping
in prayerful expectation for the coming of the
Messiah. Israel looked back to God’s past gracious
actions on their behalf in leading them out of
Egypt in the Exodus, and on this basis they called
for God once again to act for them. In the same
way, the church, during Advent, looks back upon
Christ’s coming in celebration while at the same
time looking forward in eager anticipation to the
coming of Christ’s kingdom when he returns for his
people. In this light, the Advent hymn “O Come, O
Come, Emmanuel” perfectly represents the
church’s cry during the Advent season:
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appears.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
While Israel would have sung the song in
expectation of Christ’s first coming, the church
now sings the song in commemoration of that first
coming and in expectation of the second coming in
the future.
Advent Liturgy and Practice
To balance the two elements of remembrance and
anticipation, the first two Sundays in Advent
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(through December 16 ) look forward to Christ’s
second coming, and the last two Sundays
th th
(December 17 – 24 ) look backward to remember
Christ’s first coming. Over the course of the four
weeks, Scripture readings move from passages
about Christ’s return in judgment, to Old
Testament passages about the expectation of the
coming Messiah, to New Testament passages about
the announcements of Christ’s arrival by John the
Baptist and the Angels.
While it is difficult to keep in mind in the midst of
holiday celebrations, shopping, lights and
decorations, and joyful carols, Advent is intended
to be a season of fasting, much like Lent, and
there are a variety of ways that this time of
mourning works itself out in the season. Reflection
on the violence and evil in the world cause us to cry
out to God to make things right—to put death’s
dark shadows to flight. Our exile in the present
makes us look forward to our future Exodus. And
our own sinfulness and need for grace leads us to
pray for the Holy Spirit to renew his work in
conforming us into the image of Christ.
One catechism describes Advent spirituality
beautifully: “When the Church celebrates the
liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present
this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by
sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s
first coming, the faithful renew their ardent
desire for his second coming. By celebrating the
precursor’s birth and martyrdom, the Church
unites herself to his desire: ‘He must increase, but
I must decrease.’”
Advent and the Christian Life

While Advent is certainly a time of celebration and
anticipation of Christ’s birth, it is more than that.
It is only in the shadow of Advent that the miracle
of Christmas can be fully understood and
appreciated; and it is only in the light of Christmas
that the Christian life makes any sense. It is
between the fulfilled promise of Christ’s first
coming and the yet-to-be-fulfilled promise of his
second coming that Karl Barth penned these
words: “Unfulfilled and fulfilled promise are
related to each other, as are dawn and sunrise.
Both are promise and in fact the same promise. If
anywhere at all, then it is precisely in the light of
the coming of Christ that faith has become Advent
faith, the expectation of future revelation. But
faith knows for whom and for what it is waiting. It
is fulfilled faith because it lays hold on the
fulfilled promise.”
The promise for Israel and the promise for the
church is Jesus Christ; he has come, and he will
come again. This is the essence of Advent.

Christians: What Is Advent?

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Christians: What Is Advent?

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What is Advent?

For many Christians unfamiliar with the liturgical

Today, the Advent season lasts for four Sundays

Advent and the Christian Life

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