Adventus is a Latin word meaning arrival or approach (Lexico.com). In Roman times, the population knew what this word meant and the ceremony attached to it. An Adventus was held when a conquering General or Emperor was welcomed into a city during a progress or the end of a military campaign (definitions.net).
Hence, the anglicized word Advent. Advent has been celebrated by the Christian church for about sixteen centuries. It was celebrated in Gaul and Spain during the fourth and fifth centuries as a time when those wishing to be baptized spent forty days in fasting, penance, and prayer. It was not linked to Christmas but to The Feast of the Magi. By the sixth century, Christians celebrating Advent were looking forward to Christ’s Second Coming. Later in the Middle Ages, Advent was linked to Christmas and to the first coming of Jesus (Christianity.com).
In the twenty-first century, many denominational churches still celebrate Advent. It occurs over four Sundays where both Christ’s first and second comings are celebrated. Most people (including myself for many years) do not really know that Advent is not just about remembering Christ’s first coming as a baby in Bethlehem. It is also about looking forward to the time when Christ shall come as a conquering King to the Earth.
Why do I even mention this? Because most of us at Christmas think of Jesus as a baby laying in a manger. There is nothing wrong with this but we must remember a few things about Jesus:
He is no longer laying in a manger in Bethlehem.
He is no longer walking around Israel teaching and performing miracles.
He is no longer on a cross at Calvary being crucified as an atonement for our sins.
He is no longer just risen out of a tomb after being there for three days.
He is no longer ascending into Heaven.
However, He is:
Sitting at the right hand of the Father, waiting for the time when He will return to Earth, His Adventus, and judge the nations. He will reign on the Earth for a thousand years and then judge the living and the dead…some will spend eternity with Him and others will spend it apart from Him in Hell.
Are we ready for the next arrival of Jesus? We can rest assured that it will surely come just as the first one did; according to God’s timetable and in fulfillment of prophecy. Let us prepare our hearts for it, so that we will not be ashamed at His Adventus!
Hey, Valerie. I like this post because I think people (including me) too often think of Jesus as only the “Gospels” version. We forget that he was there when the world was made, creating everything. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the same God that we read about in the Old Testament. And, although he showed meekness and gentleness in the Gospels, we tend to forget that he is also strong, powerful, and will return with might. I want to know ALL of Jesus, not just the baby version from Christmas stories.
May God richly bless you and your family this Advent. I’ve long loved this Advent spiritual reading on the three comings of Jesus, the middle one so intimate, personal, and necessary:
*From a sermon of St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 -1153)*
*The word of the Lord will come to us*
*We know that the coming of the Lord is threefold: the third coming is between the other two and it is not visible in the way they are. At his first coming the Lord was seen on earth and lived among men, who saw him and hated him. At his last coming All flesh shall see the salvation of our God, and They shall look on him whom they have pierced. In the middle, the hidden coming, only the chosen see him, and they see him within themselves; and so their souls are saved. The first coming was in flesh and weakness, the middle coming is in spirit and power, and the final coming will be in glory and majesty.*
* This middle coming is like a road that leads from the first coming to the last. At the first, Christ was our redemption; at the last, he will become manifest as our life; but in this middle way he is our rest and our consolation.*
* If you think that I am inventing what I am saying about the middle coming, listen to the Lord himself: If anyone loves me, he will keep my words, and the Father will love him, and we shall come to him. Elsewhere I have read: Whoever fears the Lord does good things – but I think that what was said about whoever loves him was more important: that whoever loves him will keep his words. Where are these words to be kept? In the heart certainly, as the Prophet says I have hidden your sayings in my heart so that I do not sin against you. Keep the word of God in that way: Blessed are those who keep it. Let it penetrate deep into the core of your soul and then flow out again in your feelings and the way you behave; because if you feed your soul well it will grow and rejoice. Do not forget to eat your bread, or your heart will dry up. Remember, and your soul will grow fat and sleek.*
* If you keep God’s word like this, there is no doubt that it will keep you, for the Son will come to you with the Father: the great Prophet will come, who will renew Jerusalem, and he is the one who makes all things new. For this is what this coming will do: just as we have been shaped in the earthly image, so will we be shaped in the heavenly image. Just as the old Adam was poured into the whole man and took possession of him, so in turn will our whole humanity be taken over by Christ, who created all things, has redeemed all things, and will glorify all things.*
Valerie Cullers 
I didn’t know much of this history. Thank you for sharing it today.
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Our historical tradition is so rich, isn’t it?
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Yes ma’am
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Hey, Valerie. I like this post because I think people (including me) too often think of Jesus as only the “Gospels” version. We forget that he was there when the world was made, creating everything. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the same God that we read about in the Old Testament. And, although he showed meekness and gentleness in the Gospels, we tend to forget that he is also strong, powerful, and will return with might. I want to know ALL of Jesus, not just the baby version from Christmas stories.
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Me too! Thanks for spelling it out for us!!!!!
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I like the Picture Valerie!
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Me too!
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Excellent!! Advent and then Christmas time – it isn’t just one day (a pet peeve of mine)!
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Amen! We have so much to learn, don’t we?
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Lovely and illuminating, Valerie. Thank you.
May God richly bless you and your family this Advent. I’ve long loved this Advent spiritual reading on the three comings of Jesus, the middle one so intimate, personal, and necessary:
*From a sermon of St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 -1153)*
*The word of the Lord will come to us*
*We know that the coming of the Lord is threefold: the third coming is between the other two and it is not visible in the way they are. At his first coming the Lord was seen on earth and lived among men, who saw him and hated him. At his last coming All flesh shall see the salvation of our God, and They shall look on him whom they have pierced. In the middle, the hidden coming, only the chosen see him, and they see him within themselves; and so their souls are saved. The first coming was in flesh and weakness, the middle coming is in spirit and power, and the final coming will be in glory and majesty.*
* This middle coming is like a road that leads from the first coming to the last. At the first, Christ was our redemption; at the last, he will become manifest as our life; but in this middle way he is our rest and our consolation.*
* If you think that I am inventing what I am saying about the middle coming, listen to the Lord himself: If anyone loves me, he will keep my words, and the Father will love him, and we shall come to him. Elsewhere I have read: Whoever fears the Lord does good things – but I think that what was said about whoever loves him was more important: that whoever loves him will keep his words. Where are these words to be kept? In the heart certainly, as the Prophet says I have hidden your sayings in my heart so that I do not sin against you. Keep the word of God in that way: Blessed are those who keep it. Let it penetrate deep into the core of your soul and then flow out again in your feelings and the way you behave; because if you feed your soul well it will grow and rejoice. Do not forget to eat your bread, or your heart will dry up. Remember, and your soul will grow fat and sleek.*
* If you keep God’s word like this, there is no doubt that it will keep you, for the Son will come to you with the Father: the great Prophet will come, who will renew Jerusalem, and he is the one who makes all things new. For this is what this coming will do: just as we have been shaped in the earthly image, so will we be shaped in the heavenly image. Just as the old Adam was poured into the whole man and took possession of him, so in turn will our whole humanity be taken over by Christ, who created all things, has redeemed all things, and will glorify all things.*
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SO LOVE THIS JACK! Thanks so much for sharing this with our readers!
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I didn’t know this. Thankyou
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Me neither!
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I love reading you posts, you make me think outside the box!
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Thanks!
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