ADVENT AND THE VICTORY
OF GOD
The Rev. Harold Shepherd, CD, M.A., S.T.M., LL.B., LL.M.,
Ph.D.
Sermon from November 23, 2003
Then you will see ‘the Son of
Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.
Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and
raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing
near.” Luke 21:27-28
I saw in the
night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there
came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of
Days and was presented before him. And to him was given
dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations,
and languages should serve him; his dominion is an
everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his
kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. Daniel 7:13-14
The season
of Advent is a time of preparation- a time to call us to
prepare the way for the Lord. As John the Baptist had done
by the Jordan River, so are we challenged to amend our
lives in anticipation of the arrival of the Messiah.
Today’s Gospel reading looks to the advent of the Son
of Man as a turning point in the life of Israel. The
heavens and earth will be shaken, leading to confusion and
distress among the nations. Afterwards, the Son of Man will
come in a cloud with power and great glory. According to
Luke 21:32, “Truly I tell you, this generation will
not pass away until all things have taken place.”
This passage has led to a considerable amount of debate
with respect to its interpretation. If Jesus was referring
to the future arrival of the Messiah, then he was wrong
that this would take place during his generation. Some
argue that the word “generation” (genea in
Greek) should not be taken to refer to Jesus’
contemporaries, but rather to Israel. Strong’s Greek
Dictionary defines the noun in the following way:
“genea/ genea/ ghen-eh-ah'/ from (a presumed
derivative of) genoV - genos; a generation; by implication,
an age (the period or the persons):--age, generation,
nation, time.” One possible interpretation is that
Jesus was saying that Israel will not pass away before the
advent of the Messiah. A third possibility is one that was
suggested to a New Testament class at McGill University in
which I was working in as a teaching assistant by my Ph.D.
thesis supervisor, Tom Wright (now Bishop of Durham). Dr.
Wright is of the view that this passage can be taken in the
ordinary sense of the term- the events described would take
place during the lifetime of Jesus’ contemporaries.
At first look, this seems to be a rather strange conclusion
to reach. After all, the events as described have not yet
taken place. Or, have they? In order to answer this
question, one must begin by looking at the literary genre
of the text- apocalyptic literature. A well-known example
of this can be found in the Book of Daniel. Historical
events associated with major world empires, including the
desecration of the Temple by the Syrian king Antiochus IV
Epiphanes, were outlined in symbolic form and written in
the second century B.C. as having been written before they
occurred. A notable feature of this style is to represent
people in the form of animals or horns. Luke 21:27 is, in
fact, based on Daniel 7:13-14.
Despite the apparent victory of forces opposed to God that
are oppressing his people, God will bring their empires to
an end. The hitherto persecuted people of God will be
vindicated, delivered and entrusted with God’s
kingdom. This is symbolised by the figure of one who looks
like a son of man (i.e. a human being) who is taken before
God, the Ancient of Days, and given dominion on earth. The
interpretation is given in Daniel 7:27: “And the
kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms
under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the
saints of the Most High; their kingdom shall be an
everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey
them.' “ For Daniel, the “son of man”
represents the nation of Israel through which God will
establish his reign on earth. For Luke, Jesus is the
“Son of Man” who will come in a cloud with
power and great glory to establish the reign of God. It is
through Jesus that the people of God are entrusted with the
Kingdom. How did this happen? According to Matthew
27:51-54, when Jesus died the curtain of the Temple was
torn in two, the earth shook, rocks were split and tombs
were opened. Luke 23:44 records that darkness covered the
whole land when Jesus was on the cross. In other words,
there were signs in the heavens and on earth when Jesus
died. According to Dr. Wright, Luke 21:25-32 uses symbolic
apocalyptic imagery to refer to Jesus’ crucifixion.
The cataclysmic events of Good Friday led to Jesus, the Son
of Man, to be vindicated by God as Israel had been in the
days of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Through his resurrection
and ascension, Jesus’ generation saw him returning
from the dead with power and great glory with a cloud of
witnesses. Dominion was given to the Son of Man at that
time. His generation did not pass away without seeing all
this. In Christ, we can now participate in the reign of
God. During this Advent season, we are called to fully
enter Christ’s reign by preparing our hearts to
receive him. Let us take stock of our lives and renew our
resolve to welcome him as Lord, particularly as we prepare
to celebrate Christmas.