We’re well into the Advent season, the period of time leading up to the Christmas celebration. But isn’t there something odd about commemorating Advent (which means “coming”) thousands of years after the event it leads up to? If Advent is meant to lead up to Christ’s birth, and Christ has already arrived… does that make Advent a simple exercise in nostalgia?

Betsy Childs writes about the strange season of Advent at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries:

Is this a flaw in the whole concept of the Advent season? Not at all. In Advent, we don’t simply look back and pretend that we are waiting, imagining what it would have been like to wait for the Messiah prior to the Incarnation. We are also meant to truly and sincerely look forward to Christ’s second coming.

We don’t celebrate Advent just to commemorate an ancient event. Rather, it challenges us to look forward to Christ’s second coming the same way that early believers looked forward to his initial coming. Read Childs’ essay for more.

By: Andy. This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 9:00 am and is filed under Advent. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.