The Trauma of Advent

The pain that accompanied Jesus' birth is a perfect type for the heralds of the arrival of God's kingdom. In the Christmas season we pass quickly over the stigmatization that Mary experienced as an unwed mother (Matthew 1:19-25); the slaughter of the innocents (Matt. 2:16-18); the nomadic life of Joseph and Mary as they left home, not to return for some number of years, their first stop as homeless people borrowing a barn for Mary to give birth (Matt 2:13-15, Luke 2:1-7); and Simeon's  warning to Mary of more pain to come. (Luke 2:34-35)

There are three dimensions of resistance to the coming of God's kingdom: the world, the flesh, and the devil. Each is overcome through striving and pain.

If the world made Joseph and Mary homeless, it is that we learn through struggle that God is our source and He will provide. No doubt the gifts of the Magi (Matt 2:11) helped fund the young couple through their sojourn in Egypt. Nothing is recorded of the daily providences that must have been their experience, as for many of the modern-day homeless. Provision in God's kingdom is of divine origin, but it does make us uncomfortable, if not painful, to be destitute and completely dependent on God, even though that is our true condition in the spiritual realm. Jesus later reflected on His divine homelessness. (Matt 8:20)

In our natural state, the comforts of food, shelter, family, society, go beyond mere provision. Simeon's prophecy to Mary of the emotional pain she would later endure goes beyond the stigma she had already experienced as an unwed mother. In that day, the penalty for sex outside of marriage could have been stoning, and certainly was social ostracism, unlike the present day. Mary's pregnancy outside of wedlock would have been considered irrefutable evidence, since even Joseph needed an angel to convince him of the virgin birth. The Bible only hints at Mary's pain when she stood beneath the cross watching her firstborn Son die. (John 19:25-27) Crucifixion was deliberately the most painful, drawn-out death by torture that the Roman Empire could devise, and even Jesus dreaded it. (Luke 22:42-44) But He also knew that it was the only way to redeem us from our sin. Paul later reflected on the state of fully reckoning the value of the knowledge of Christ to be the loss of all earthly things (Philippians 3:8-11).

The devil's opposition to the advent of Christ into the world (Matt 2:16-18) was foreshadowed by his effort to prevent Moses from rising to lead Israel out of Egypt. (Exodus 1:16, 22) The final arrival of Christ's kingdom on earth will come at great cost, in terms of the slaughter of believers, (Revelation 6:9) This apocalyptic bloodbath will evidently be greater than that recorded in church history from the time of Christ to the accession of Constantine to be Emperor. Not that persecution of Christians ended in the third century; the voice of martyrs continues to this day, perhaps in greater numbers than ever, as the devil attempts to suppress the fulfillment of the Great Commission.

Most of us do not experience pain of this magnitude in our daily lives, yet God deals with all His children fairly. There are a couple of common principles exhibited. Firstly, perhaps less important, is that the government is not God and cannot take God's place, and is vulnerable to being an instrument of the devil. Having godly men and women in government can perhaps deter the latter risk, but the government can never provide the daily, individual attention that we all need. But the second, more important principle is that God deals with us as sons, and therefore we must be taught to take on His nature. (Hebrews 12:1-13) The advent of God's kingdom into our individual lives is going to bring pain.

At Christmas, we often celebrate peace on earth, good will to men (Luke 2:14). Henry Wadsworth Longfellow reflected on this tension in his 1863 poem about the bells of Christmas Day. In the seventh stanza he records God's response to his despair over the consequences of man's rejection of God's advent and provision. In the midst the of the civil war in the no-longer-United States, he wrote that the bells pealed "God is not dead nor doth He sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail." The coming of Christ into the world is God's answer, painful though it may be.

I am indebted to my dear friend, Bill S., whose discussion questions suggested the theme of this blog.