In general, what relates to our Lord Jesus Christ has two aspects. There is a birth from God before the ages, and a birth from a virgin at the fullness of time. There is a hidden coming, like that of rain on fleece, and a coming before all eyes, still in the future.
At the first coming he was wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. At his second coming he will be clothed in light as in a garment. In the first coming he endured the cross, despising the shame; in the second coming he will be in glory, escorted by an army of angels. We look then beyond the first coming and await the second. At the first coming we said: ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ At the second we shall say it again; we shall go out with the angels to meet the Lord and cry out in adoration: ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’
The Saviour will not come to be judged again, but to judge those by whom he was judged. At his own judgement he was silent; then he will address those who committed the outrages against him when they crucified him and will remind them: ‘You did these things, and I was silent.’
His first coming was to fulfil his plan of love, to teach us by gentle persuasion. This time, whether we like it or not, we will be subjects of his kingdom by necessity. Malachi the prophet speaks of the two comings. ‘And the Lord whom you seek will come suddenly to his temple’: that is one coming.
Again he says of another coming: ‘Look, the Lord almighty will come, and who can endure the day of his coming, or who will stand in his sight? Because he comes like a refiner’s fire, a fuller’s soap, and he will sit refining and cleansing.’
These two comings are also referred to by Paul in writing to Titus: ‘The grace of God the Saviour has appeared to all humanity, instructing us to put aside impiety and worldly desires and live temperately, uprightly, and religiously in this present age, waiting for the joyful hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.’ Notice how he speaks of a first coming for which he gives thanks, and a second, the one we still await.
That is why the faith we profess has been handed on to you in these words: ‘He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.’
Our Lord Jesus Christ will therefore come from heaven. He will come at the end of the world, in glory, at the last day. For there will be an end to this world, and the created world will be made new.
alternative reading
A Reading from a sermon of Bernard of Clairvaux
We have come to understand a threefold coming of the Lord. The third coming lies between the other two. Two of the comings are clearly visible, but the third is not. In the first coming the Lord was seen on earth, dwelling among us; and as he himself testified, they saw him and hated him. In his final coming ‘all flesh shall see the salvation of our God,’ and ‘they will look on him whom they pierced.’ The intermediate coming is hidden, in which only his chosen recognise his presence within themselves and their souls are saved. In his first coming our Lord came in our flesh and in our weakness; in the intermediate coming he comes in spirit and in power; in his final coming, he will be seen in glory and majesty.
This intermediate coming is like a road on which we travel from his first coming to his last. In the first, Christ was our redemption; in the last, he will appear as our life; in his intermediate coming, he is our comfort and our rest.
Lest anyone should think that what we are saying about this intermediate coming is our own fancy, listen to what our Lord himself says in the gospel: ‘If any love me, they will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.’ There is also another passage in Scripture which reads: ‘Those who fear the Lord will do good.’ But something more is said about those who love God, and that is that they will keep God’s word. And where are his words to be kept if not in our heart? As the prophet says: ‘I have kept your words in my heart lest I sin against you.’
Think of the word of God in the way you think of your food. When bread is kept in a bin, a thief can steal it, or a mouse can find its way in and gnaw it, and eventually, of course, it goes mouldy. Once you have eaten your bread, you have nothing to fear from thieves, mice or mould! In the same way, treasure the word of God, for those who keep it are blessed. Feed on it, digest it, allow its goodness to pass into your body so that your affections and whole way of behaviour is nourished and transformed. Do not forget to eat your bread and your heart will not wither. Fill your soul with God’s richness and strength.
If you keep the word of God in this way, without doubt it will keep you also. The Son with the Father will come to you. The great prophet who will restore Jerusalem will come to you and make all things new. The effect of his coming will be that just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly, so we shall also bear the likeness of the heavenly. Just as the old Adam used to possess our being and control us, so now let Christ, the second Adam, who created us and redeemed us, take possession of us whole and entire.
alternative reading
A Reading from a poem by Joseph Addison
When rising from the bed of death
When rising from the bed of death,
O’erwhelmed with guilt and fear,
I see my Maker face to face,
O how shall I appear?
If yet, while pardon may be found,
And mercy may be sought,
My heart with inward horror shrinks,
And trembles at the thought;
When thou, O Lord, shalt stand disclosed
In majesty severe,
And sit in judgement on my soul,
O how shall I appear?
But thou hast told the troubled mind,
Who does her sins lament,
The timely tribute of her tears
Shall endless woe prevent.
Then see the sorrows of my heart
Ere yet it be too late;
And hear my Saviour’s dying groans,
To give those sorrows weight.
For never shall my soul despair
Her pardon to procure,
Who knows thine only Son has died
To make her pardon sure.
alternative reading
A Reading from a poem by Rowan Williams
Advent Calendar
He will come like last leaf’s fall.
One night when the November wind
has flayed the trees to bone, and earth
wakes
