Advent

1 Advent

Exploring the text
The season of Advent is about waiting, both for the Jesus who came to earth as a baby and for the victorious, risen and ascended Christ who will return to earth as King. One of the challenges of Advent is to keep our vision fixed not only on the more tangible and comprehensible birth of Jesus but also on Jesus’ second coming. Mark’s Gospel naturally focuses our vision on the second coming because, unlike the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, it has no stories of Jesus’ birth. Mark simply begins with the adult Jesus starting his ministry with his baptism in the Jordan. The Gospel does, however, contain a passage – Mark 13 – which has been one of the most significant in discussions about Jesus’ second coming...