A LOOK AT ADVENT THROUGH HISTORY

             Believers in God are marked with expectation and anticipation. Abraham and Sarah waited for God to fulfill His promise to give them a son. David longed for a temple for Jehovah in Jerusalem. The magi followed a star, expecting the celestial sign to take them to the King of the Jews.

            Since the ascension of Jesus Christ, believers have awaited His return. The Greek word parousia means "coming" or "arrival." The New Testament uses the word 17 times to describe the second coming of Christ.

            Today, however, more and more Protestant and Evangelical Christians are recognizing the spiritual significance of Advent, and have begun to revive the spirit of the season through serious reflection, joyful expectation, and even through the observance of some of the traditional Advent customs.

            According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Advent began sometime after the 4th century as a time of preparation for Epiphany, and not in anticipation of Christmas. Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of Christ by remembering the visit of the wise men and, in some traditions, the Baptism of Jesus. At this time, new Christians were baptized and received into the faith, and so the early church instituted a 40-day period of fasting and repentance.

            Later, in the 6th century, St. Gregory the Great was the first to associate this season of Advent with the coming of Christ. Originally it was not the coming of the Christ-child that was anticipated, but the Second Coming of Christ.

            By the Middle Ages, the church had extended the celebration of Advent to include the coming of Christ through his birth in Bethlehem, his future coming at the end of time, and his presence among us through the promised Holy Spirit. Modern-day Advent services include symbolic customs related to all three of these "advents" of Christ.

 --Information from online sources, 2018

                                                               An Advent wreath