First Sunday of Advent; 3 December 2023; Advent 1B (RCL); Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37.
Always on the First Sunday of Advent, we have readings suggestive of ‘last days’ or the ‘Second Coming’ of Christ. In the Corinthians passage, Paul expresses his confidence that God will hold the Corinthians blameless until “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In the passage from Mark, Jesus begins with the phrase “in those days, and after that suffering,” and then refers to the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds with great power and glory. And the author if Isaiah prays passionately and eloquently that God would tear open the heavens and come down. What, exactly, are we expecting?
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