He is coming
Jeremiah 33:14-16
1 Advent C
by Pastor Jim Kreft
What is Advent? First, Advent’s a word. It means “coming” or “arrival.” During Advent we wait for Jesus’ coming at Christmas.
Second, Advent is also a name given to the Church Season before Christmas. Maybe you noticed a change in our church decorations when you entered this morning. The color blue should clue you in that we’re in different season of the Church Year—Advent.
Third, Advent is a time of watching, waiting, of anticipating. It’s four weeks in which we remember how God’s people had waited for such a long time with hopeful anticipation for the promised Messiah to come.
I remember many years ago when I was a little boy waiting for Christmas to come. Together with my sister and brother, we’d count down the days until Christmas—and presents. We’d impatiently wait for it finally to arrive. And the wait was sure worth it!
So, what exactly are you watching for? For what are you waiting? What are you anticipating at Christmas? Today’s text tells us exactly what the future has to hold.
“Now the time is coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will fulfill the good thing that I promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days and at that time, I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and He will do what is just and right on the earth. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live securely, and this is what the city will be named: The-LORD-Our-Righteousness.”
They tell us what this word, this season, this time of Advent is all about.
These words look forward to the time when God would act. Jeremiah wrote these words before Christmas even existed. It’s from that time when God’s people were still waiting for God to act as promised. This text tells us that He is coming. The time is surely drawing near for God to act in grace and in mercy.
Notice how God will act. He will fulfill the promise He made to His people. He made a promise to Israel and the house of Judah. The promise to Israel refers to the covenant God made with Abraham and his descendants that they would be a blessing to the nations. How?
The promise of the house of Judah makes it clear. When David decided to build a temple for God the prophet Nathan told David that he wasn’t to build it. No, God would make a “house” (dynasty) of David.
And your throne and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever; your throne shall be established for ever.
God promised an eternal dynasty through David’s line.
These promises were yet to be fulfilled. Jeremiah points to the time and place in which they would be fulfilled.
Next, notice what is coming. Jeremiah wrote that a righteous Branch is about to sprout. The LORD shall cause this righteous Shoot to come forth as the fulfillment of those promises God made.
This Person is to be like God since He is to be a righteous Branch. That means to be holy and without sin, to be as God is, since this is the way righteous is used in the Old Testament.
When this Shoot would appear He would bring justice and righteousness. This new promised ruler would not be like those in days past. Even King David or Solomon, Israel’s “best” kings, were not wholly just and righteous in their reigns. Yet here God promises the imminent entrance of a righteous King—one who is right in God’s eyes. This king will be just and righteous in His actions. The only One always to do justice and righteousness is God Himself.
Yes, He is coming. His Name is “The-Lord-Our-Righteousness.” The word used for LORD is God’s personal name YHWH. Names were important to the Old Testament people because they described the person. Here the name’s emphasis is that it’s only through the Lord that we can be righteous. There’s nothing in and of ourselves that can make us right with God. God makes us right through the Righteous Branch that He will send.
In our time today we know He has come. There can be only one Person in whom we can see this prophecy fulfilled. It is the Messiah, whose coming we again await in this Advent season, who fulfills this prophecy. Jesus is truthfully the only One who can wear the title of Righteous Branch — since only He is righteous and without sin. How appropriate that He bears the name, “The-Lord-our-righteousness.” This is a case where the name really fits the person!
Indeed, the LORD, Jesus Christ, is our Righteousness. Our righteousness comes only through Him. Can you really stand on your own before God? Can you see yourself as righteous? Are you always holy and without sin? No, just like everyone else you have fallen far short of God’s standard of perfection.
Jesus is our Righteousness. He came to earth as a human being. He suffered and died to pay the debt of our sin. He rose again, showing that He has power over all evil. Because of all that, we can be righteous. We can be right before God through His grace given us in Jesus. We receive His grace through faith in Jesus. That results in our bearing the name, The-Lord-our-righteousness as well.
Yet it’s to more than just a name we bear; it’s a confession we make. We’re not righteous by ourselves – only through the LORD our God. That’s the only way we can stand before God. It’s faith in Christ as our Savior that gives us the strength. It’s through the person of Christ that our hearts become blameless before our God.
Do you remember this ketchup commercial from TV? In it an obviously-hungry little boy opened a new bottle of ketchup. He turned it over and waited for its rich thickness to pour out on his steaming hamburger. Then the singer began to sing her song. “Anticipation,” it began. The little boy waited and waited and waited for the ketchup finally to begin to come out of the bottle. Then plop! It came suddenly, without warning.
That’s what Advent is about. We look forward to that time when Christ first suddenly appeared, almost without warning. The people in Jeremiah’s time were like the little boy. They were waiting for the Promised One to come. So are we. We await Christ’s coming – in 25 days on Christmas. We remember that He had to come to make us righteous in God’s sight.
Savior of the nations, come;
Show Yourself the virgin’s Son.
Marvel, heaven, wonder, earth,
That our God chose such a birth.
Amen.
So may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.
