Friday after Ad te levavi, the First Sunday in Advent
Posted on December 4, 2020 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 17:20-25 (NKJV)
17:20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
22 Then He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. 24 For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
Devotion
Satan has many tools to draw men away from the Truth of the Gospel. He does not always use bodily persecution and violence; sometimes he uses distraction. False prophets tell us to look for the second Advent of the Christ in this or that sign, calculation, or leader. For his part, the devil does not care what we focus on, as long it is not the Christ and His Word.
So, the Lord says, “They will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them.” The kingdom of God is a matter of faith; it is found wherever true believers are gathered in the name of the Triune God—this is what it means when He says, “the kingdom of God is within you.” As for His coming, there will be no secret sign or calculation, for the Christ will appear as lightning, which is seen even by those who did not look for it.
Christ’s first Advent was thus visible to all—His birth was heralded by angels; at His death the dead rose and the temple curtain was torn in two; from His resurrection and ascension His Gospel spread to every corner of the world. Likewise, at His second and final Advent, all will see Him—even those who did not look for Him. This Advent season the Church remains focused on the Christ, who suffered, died, and rose for her salvation.
Prayer: Stir up, we beseech Thee, Thy power, O Lord, and come, that by Thy protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Thy mighty deliverance; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
