First Sunday in Advent. Year B 3rd December 2023
Lectionary Readings
Isaiah 64 v1-9 Rip the heavens apart!
1 Corinthians 1 v3-9 Signs of God at work.
Mark 13 v24-27 When the Son of Man appears.
Signs and blessings.
(The third?) Isaiah was writing after the return of the exiles from Babylon, at a time when Jerusalem was still in ruins. The people of Judah are despondent. As a remnant of a once proud independent nation, they now find themselves living in poverty, an insignificant ethnic group, within the Persian Empire. The Persians had taken over from the Babylonians (and the Assyrians before them) as the regional ‘superpower’.
Isaiah calls on God to make himself known. “Rip the heavens apart! Make the mountains tremble” (v1) pleads Isaiah, who wants God to show his power over the universe to those who think that they rule the world.
Isaiah recognizes that “We are nothing but clay, but you (God) are the potter who moulded us”. (v8). “Remember that all of us are your people”. (v9b).
Isaiah is desperate to be given a sign of hope and a word of blessing to relay to the people of Judah.
(God responds to Isaiah in the next chapter).
At this time of Advent, we too are keen to be given a sign of hope and a word of blessing.
The gospel reading from Mark is both a sign and a blessing.
“Then the Son of Man will be seen coming in the clouds with great power and glory”. (v26).
Mark and his readers are well aware that the ‘Son of Man’ reference is one that Jesus used to describe himself (see Mark 9 v31); and relates to the prophet Daniel’s vision of “one like a son of man” being invited by God to sit on a throne. This chosen one of God is “crowned king and given power and glory so that all people of every nation and race would serve him”. (Dan 7 v13, 14).
Mark is sure that Jesus as Christ the King will rule with true justice and mercy.
The apostle Paul believed that Christ would soon return. He assures the Corinthians that “you are not missing any blessings as you wait for him to return”. (v7).
“God can be trusted”, Paul says, “and he chose you to be partners with his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ”. (v9).
Paul recognized God at work in and through the Corinthians, by their understanding of the gospel, (the good news about Jesus) and their willingness to share the gospel with others. (v5).
What ‘signs’ (of God at work) are you looking for today, in creation, or in the community?
A rainbow in the sky? Acts of kindness, compassion, generosity or hospitality perhaps?
As followers of Jesus, we are encouraged to acknowledge God’s blessing upon us and to be Christ’s partners in passing on that blessing to others. (Philippians 2 v1).
Bible quotations are taken from the Contemporary English Version.