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Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.(Romans 13:8–14)
The fruit on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was pleasing to Eve's eye. She coveted it and so she took it. She gratified the desires of the eye by eating the forbidden fruit. Then, she gave some to her husband, and he also ate.
They broke the first commandment by not listening to their Creator. They committed adultery by allowing Satan — a third party — to come between them and their Creator. They stole what did not belong to them. Adam failed to love his wife. He failed to protect her from false doctrine.
When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they cast off the armor of light, and they put on the works of darkness. They cast off the image of God, and they put on a sinful nature. They cast off a life of righteousness, and they put on fig leaves. They did not walk in the light, but they walked among the shadows of the trees in the garden. Physical death will someday come to them.
They did not pray, “Come, Lord and rescue us from the threatening perils of our sins.” They did not pray, “Come, Lord and save us by Your mighty deliverance.” Instead, they were afraid of God, and they hid from Him.
Unfortunately, we are living the life of Adam and Eve. The idols we worship are a third party. They come between us and our Creator. We don't listen to God's Word. Evil thoughts and bad words from our mouth kill one another. We've stolen that which does not belong to us. We want and desire what other people own. We've failed to help a family member, a friend, or a brother or a sister in the faith. Furthermore, physical death will someday come to us.
Advent is a time of repentance. Advent sounds the alarm: Wake up. Do not walk in the night of unbelief, but walk in the light of Christ. Cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Confess your sin and trust in the forgiveness of sins. Do not live — as Saint Paul says in our Epistle lesson — a life of orgies, drunkenness, sexual immorality, sensuality, quarreling, or jealousy. These are sins of the world. Don't hide from God like Adam and Eve did, but confess your sin and walk in the light of God's forgiveness.
If there was to be any reconciliation between Adam and His Creator, God must make the first move. God must take the initiative and go to Adam and Eve. If Advent means “to come” or “to come toward”, then this is exactly what God did. He came toward Adam and Eve calling them to repentance, but He also came bringing news of forgiveness through a coming Savior.
Adam and Eve learned that a Savior will be born of a woman. This Savior will crush the head of Satan. This Savior will rescue Adam and Eve from the threatening perils of their sins. This Savior will save Adam and Eve by a mighty deliverance. This was good news to the ears of Adam and Eve. They were forgiven through faith in the coming Savior.
So, the people in the Old Testament era, waited. They waited and waited for the coming Savior. The prophet Zechariah reassured the people saying, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).
The Advent King — the promised Messiah — is coming. But, when will He come? We celebrate Advent for four Sundays, and we can count down the days until Christmas, but the people in the Old Testament era did not know when the Savior would be born.
Their Advent cry must have gone something like this: “Savior of the nations, come” and “Come, Thou precious Ransom, come” and “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Come and rescue us from the threatening perils of our sins. Come and save us by a mighty deliverance.
Well, God finally fulfilled His promise. “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those under the law” (Galatians 4:4–5). The Savior came as a child born of the virgin Mary. The promise of the coming Savior was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. This is what Christmas is all about.
Why was Jesus born? He came to rescue us from the threatening perils of our sins. He came to save us by a mighty deliverance. He came to die upon the cross. He came to deliver us from sin, death, and the devil. An Advent hymn puts it this way: “Jesus came, the heav'ns adoring, came with peace from realms on high; Jesus came to win redemption, Lowly came on earth to die” (Lutheran Service Book #353, Stanza 1).
Our opening hymn for today says it this way:
Love caused Your incarnation; Love brought You down to me.
Your thirst for my salvation; Procured my liberty.
Oh, love beyond all telling, That led You to embrace
In love, all love excelling, Our lost and fallen race.(Lutheran Service Book #334, Stanza 4)
Zechariah once said, “Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly and sitting on a donkey”. This is exactly what happened on “Palm Sunday”. Talking of casting off and putting on — the disciples cast off their cloaks and put them on the donkey. As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the people cast off their cloaks and put them on the road in honor of Jesus. They cut off palm branches and put them on the road. The people cried out saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest.”
Good Friday is closer and closer. The day is at hand and just around the corner. We cast off the works of darkness, and we put them on Jesus. We cast off our sins, and we put them on Jesus. He is the armor of light — the light of the world — but He is dressed in the darkness of our sin. A famous Advent hymn says it this way:
Once He came in blessing, All our sins redressing;
Came in likeness lowly, Son of God most holy;
Bore the cross to save us; Hope and freedom gave us(Lutheran Service Book #333, Stanza 1)
Adam and Eve coveted the forbidden fruit, but Jesus desired our salvation. Adam and Eve hid among the shadows of the trees, but Jesus was nailed to the cross in full view of all. Even though it was 3:00 pm in the afternoon, darkness prevailed. Night overcame the day. There, on the cross, Jesus died an atoning sacrifice for your sins, and not only for your sins but for the sins of the whole world.
During Advent the cry goes out: “awake from sleep” and this is exactly what happened on Easter morning. Jesus awoke from the sleep of death and darkness, and He came alive.
Jesus rescued you from the threatening perils of your sins. Jesus saved you by a mighty deliverance. He saved you from death and the devil. There is now the forgiveness of sins. There is now life and salvation in Christ.
Dearly beloved, your king came to you in the waters of Holy Baptism. There, the works of darkness were cast off, and the Lord Jesus Christ was put on you. The fig leaves were cast off, and your are now clothed in the Lamb. You are now clothed in His righteousness.
He came to you in your baptism, but He comes to you now. Paul Gerhardt, in our opening hymn, asked the question, “O Lord, how shall I meet You, How welcome You aright?” We meet Him with repentant hearts casting off the works of darkness. We meet Him awake in repentance and not asleep in unbelief.
Lift up your heads, Ye mighty gates, your Advent King comes to you now. Hark the glad sound, your Savior comes. He comes to you in the word of Absolution forgiving you all your sin. He comes to you in the Gospel preached, putting words of comfort and peace into your ear. He comes to you, not in the lowly means of a donkey, but in the lowly means of bread and wine, giving you His body and blood. Therefore, hosanna to the Son of David. He comes, and you are blessed — blessed with His salvation and His light. We will even sing during the Sanctus today the words of “Hosanna” asking Him to come and save us by means of this meal.
Our Advent King takes the initiative and comes to us, giving us His precious Gospel of life. He washes us clean from all our sin. He gives us His life–giving Word. He feeds us at His table. He fills us with His light.
But there will be a day when Christ will come again. He will come to condemn unbelief and to receive the righteous into eternal life in both body and soul.
Saint Paul says in our Epistle lesson “for salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.” Our full salvation into eternal life is near, but we don't know when Christ will come again.
While we remain here on earth, we are awake, waiting for the second coming of our Lord. We do not live in the darkness of the world but in the light of Christ. We do not gratify the desires of the flesh, but we walk properly as in the day.
Our Advent cry is “Come, Lord Jesus, come.” Come now by means of your precious Gospel. Come and recceive us unto yourself. Amen.
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