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Dearly Beloved in the Lord,
Hearty greetings for another ADVENT season which begins on 27th November this year and stretches up to Epiphany, i.e. 6th January 2012. This season is very blessed because it is for preparing for the Lord’s second coming and also making preparations for commemoration and celebration of His first coming – CHRISTMAS.
Advent season also provides us opportunity to take stock of our life, our blessings, our involvement in the Lord’s works in the past one year. We can prayerfully plan for the future to seek to ensure that our new year would be better than the year gone by and more blessed and fruitful in the sight of the Lord and the world.
On 29th November, this year, the Church of North India will be 41 years old. There will be thanksgiving services & programmes all over the Church. We will have an opportunity to take stock of our “Unity, Witness and Service” during the past year. In the presence of our Lord, we will present a work report to Him about how truly or how superficially we have practised the motto of CNI.
WATCHFUL EXPECTATION
When we expect someone’s coming and the venue, date and time of arrival is not known to us, we are watchful every day, every hour. We are in a state of full preparedness, if we are sure that someone is coming despite the delay and ridicules of the people. That someone has to be very important for us, someone who is a matter of life & death for us. Otherwise we will neither be expectant not watchful. That someone is the Lord Jesus Christ, whose second coming is definite – Mathew 24:27-31, Acts1:11, yet the year, day and time of his arrival is not known and it can not be known by any calculation, permutation or combination, because God has kept it a secret from humans – Mathew 24:36-39.
It is a well kept secret because God the Father wants, as Jesus taught that we should all be ready and expecting him all the time –
“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven nor the Son, but only the Father----------- Therefore, you also must be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” (Mathew 24:36-44, Luke 17:26-30)
ATCHFUL EXPECTATION FOR MESSIAH DURING OLD TESTAMENT TIMES:
The origin of the word ‘Messiah’ in Hebrew and ‘Christos’ in Greek is found in the old Testament in the idea of annointing persons for special tasks, e.g. the king, the Priest and the verb is used in connection with the commissioning of prophets (1Kings 19:16,Isaiah 61:1). The connection of the word for the hoped for king of Israel can be found in passages like Psalm89:38,
I Chroncicle 28:9-10. There are indications of emergence of a belief that a descendant of David would arise to redeem his people and introduce a period of harmony in creation (Isaiah 11& 4:2-3). Belief in the coming of a descendant of David was important component of Messianic expectation. Towards the end of the first century we find that the title Messiah is used with greater consistency to speak of a descendant of David who would act as the eschatological agent of God. e.g. in Apocrapha (II Esdras 12:32 Syr. Bar.29:3, 39:7, 40:1)
It was this belief which, under the Roman rule in first century, was very popular and most Jews had ardent expectation of Messiah’s arrival to lead them to freedom from tyranny of the Romans. Messiah was a political figure, a descendant of David with special military and political acumen.
Jesus of Nazareth was not accepted as Messiah for the following reasons –
- He was a descendant of David yet a pauper from Nazareth, the son of a carpenter. He had no means to become a political leader.
- He had no intention/desire to secure Israel’s political freedom. His mission on earth was very different. It was not for freedom struggle.
- His mission statement – Luke 4:16-21 did say that he was the annointed one, yet it sounded like a statement of a prophet or social reformer.
- He did not believe in the traditional religious thought and praxis. His theology was blasfamous and unlike the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes & Rabbis.
- Instead of supporting the Jewish council (Sanhydrin), and the temple cultus and economy, he openly opposed it and said that they had made His Father’s house a den of robbers.
The Servant Messiah:
The Jews could not recognize in Jesus the “Servant Messiah” portrayed by Isaiah in chapter 40 to 55. The servant is God’s annointed (Messiah) 42:1, excercies the royal functions of judgement – 42:1,3-4 and dominion 53:12, displays prominently the marks of a prophet (49:1-2, 50:4), extends a ministry to gentiles (42:1,4, 49:6b) and to Israel (49:5-6b), he is the agent in a worldwide revelation & salvation (49:6) and above all he voluntarily submits to a death interpreted in the substitutionary terms of the livitical sacrifices (53:4-6, 8, 10-12).
The Jews did not accept Jesus as the expected Messiah because he did not fit into their expectations. How about us and our understanding of the eagerly expected Messiah? Do we also, like Jews project our picture/vision of the Messiah or we are willing to accept God’s providence in the “annointed one.” God provided Messiah to redeem us not from political slavery but from slavery of sin and eternal destruction. For our complete renewal and to give us a new birth. To offer a new covenant to the new humanity which would include all human races (Jews and Gentiles).
WATCHFUL EXPECTATION IN NEW TESTAMENT
In the Gospel of John and also synoptic Gospels (John 1:20, 25, 41, 4:25, 29, 7:26,
Mark 8:29, 14:61, Luke 2:11, 26, 3:15, 4:41) “Christos” usually denotes the expected deliverer in a general sense. Such usage conveys the impression of a widespread and eager expectation, without implying any specific figure or theme of O.T. hope. While there were many strands of Messianic expectation in 1st century Palestine, the dominant popular hope was of a king like David, with a role of political liberation & conquest. For this reason Jesus did not use the title ‘Messiah’ for himself very often. Whenever he used it, he qualified it with new interpretation of Messiahship. To John the Baptist’s query Jesus replied by proclaiming literal fulfilment of Isaiah 35:55 & 61. See Mathew 11:2-6 to capture Jesus’ interpretation of ‘Messiah’. When Peter acclaimed him as the Messiah, Jesus swore his disciples to secrecy, and went on to teach that his role was to suffer and be rejected. This Peter found quite incompatible with his idea of Messiahship – see Mark 8:29-33.
To the Samaritan woman, Jesus claimed that he was the :Messiah”- John 4:25-26 who proclaims & teaches all things from God, and gives water of life to those who would ask for it. Also see Mathew 23:10 – Jesus said, there is only one instructor- the Messiah.
To the High Priest who asked him on oath, whether he was the Messiah, Jesus answered, “I am; and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” (Mark 14:61-62 and Mathew 26:63-64). Here again we see a new interpretation of the Messiah – the ultimate eternal judge sitting on right hand of God and coming on clouds.
To Pontius Pilate who asked him whether he was the king of the Jews, Jesus answered that he was a king but not of this world –
“My kingdom is not from this world----- you say that I am a king ----. I came into the world to testify to the truth-----.” (John 18:33-37)
Here we see a new understanding of the word Messiah - “A heavenly king who was born as a man to testify to the Truth.”
ACTS AND EPISTLES
The book of Acts begins with the declaration by two men dressed in white robes, at the time of Jesus’ascension Acts 1:11.
“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Jesus’ teachings in Gospel about his second coming and the above declaration at his ascension formed the basis of Christian hope and expectation of his second coming as Messiah & Judge. At the centre of the earliest Christian preaching was the declaration that Jesus, rejected and crucified by Jewish leaders, was in fact the Messiah – “Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.”Acts 2:36.
Their message was not only that Jesus had been Messiah while on earth, but that now exalted to the right hand of God, he was enthroned as Messianic king – Psalm 110:1.
Jesus’ followers were known as “People of the way of Jesus – Acts 9:2 by non-believers. But at Antioch the believers gave themselves the name “CHRISTIANS’ for the first time and not Jesusites/Jesuits. Such was the importance of the word Christos/Messiah that they were called “Christianoi” meaning Christians. (Acts 11:26)
In Pauline epistles the word Messiah is used about 400 times although most of them were written to Gentile Churches. In other N.T. epistles, the issue of whether Jesus was the Messiah/Christos was still alive, albeit as a defence against Gnosticism as also the Jewish rejection of Jesus.(Romans 9:5, I John 2:22 & 5:1, 1Peter 1:11 etc.
HOW TO UTILIZE THE ADVENT SEASON
The season calls for watchful expectation of coming of Christ for the second time. Since he will come as a Judge, the main preparation of all people should be centred around “Repentance”. Advent is a time for taking stock of our works for the Lord in the past one year. Our lifestyle, our priorities, our demeanour, our choices and investments etc., should all be under the scanner of the Messiah’s teachings because he will judge us according to his principles of values of life. He is the creator of Life.
We must remember that Jesus will come at an unexpected hour, therefore he wants that we should be ready for his coming everyday. This is called watchful expectation. See Mark 13:24-26, 32-33.
“But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory ---------- But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.”
What does it mean to be prepared all the time to appear before our Lord when he comes? If we go on reading Jesus’ teaching about this, we will find that he wants all of us to be involved always in the work/responsibility he has given us – Mathew 24:45-46, Mark 13:34-35, Luke 21:34-36. He says – blessed is the slave whom his master finds doing what he has been assigned, when the master comes at an unexpected hour. Therefore, our preparedness means being whole heartedly involved in our stewardship at personal level, Church level and also at the societal level. No matter when our Messiah comes, he will find us acceptable & prepared to join Him in His kingdom.
How should we celebrate Christmas
Christmas is celebration and commemoration of the Messiah’s first coming as a human child. It is the declaration of the glad tidings of God’s self-giving to the humankind.
“God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” John 3:16
That was the first Advent of our Lord, the joy and comfort of which must be shared with all people. Therefore, special worship services, carol singing, cantatas, nativity plays, Christmas Milans, Christmas fetes, and offering gifts to the needy and the orphans etc must be organised.
At Christmas, we proclaim the advent of “Servant Messiah”, we must remember that he declared in Mark 10:45 “Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Similarly, those who proclaim & celebrate his first advent, must start new programmes of Diakonia (Service) to the poor, the needy & the marginalized. Already running programmes/projects of Diakonia must be continued. So that if he comes again during this Advent season, he may find us at work spreading the good work of his kingdom on earth.
NEW YEAR
We have, as a united Church, completed one more year on 29th November, 2011. CNI is 41 years old now. Very soon, we will also come to the end of another calendar year. This is the time for our united thanksgiving and celebration of all our blessings. We must count our blessings and give thanks to God and also we must count our failures and short comings in order to repent and reorganise our life, our plans & programmes for the new year.
May you all have a very blessed, joyful and busy Christmas. May the Messiah rejoice at your celebrations & acts of service at Christmas. May your families & friends be blessed with joy, peace and love at Christmas. May you also have a blessed new year with new prospects, opportunities and new achievements.
Yours in His Service.
(The Rt. Revd. S. R. Cutting)
Bishop of Agra. |
