Advent Banners: Christ’s Coming in the Means of Grace
Isaiah 40:1–8
John 6:35, 41–58, 66–69
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In our midweek series so far, we’ve covered the first set of Advent banners (in the back) which depict Christ’s first coming in the flesh, in humility: the manger and the star, the palm branch and the cross. And we’ve covered the final set of banners (in the front) which depict Christ’s final coming in power and glory on the Last Day: the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, the crown of God’s kingdom, and the sheaf of wheat symbolizing the harvest of believers on Judgment Day. And now we come to the middle set of banners which depict Christ’s coming to us now in the Means of Grace. The Means of Grace are the Word and Sacraments, so we see the Bible, and also the chalice and the bread of the Lord’s Supper. I’ve saved these banners for tonight because they give us the rose (or pink) color for the third week in Advent when we light the rose candle on the Advent wreath.
But there’s another reason to save these banners for the end of our series. Advent is really all about the certainty of faith. All three comings of Christ are about certainty. In His first coming, Jesus taught and performed miracles, suffered, died, and rose again for you, so that you know salvation is not your own doing. As for His final coming, He is for sure coming again and the marks of His passion on His glorified body prove that nothing has changed—the Jesus who died and rose for you is the same Jesus who will come again. And in His Means of Grace coming we get that certainty right now, for our present day and our present sins, worries, and troubles.
The Means of Grace are all about certainty. So instead of running in circles and saying, “I know I believe because I believe…” We can say, “I know I believe in Jesus because my head has had water poured on it with the Name of God. People witnessed it. I am a child of God… I know I believe in Jesus because my ears have heard the Word of absolution, forgiveness spoken by the pastor as from God Himself. My sin is covered… I know I believe in Jesus because my lips have tasted the bread and wine given with the Words of Jesus. I ate and drank the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of all my sins. I have the life of God.”
Whenever our sins trouble us, when the devil attacks us, when death frightens us, the Means of Grace give us the certainty of salvation. If we are left to ourselves to keep our faith going on our own steam, we are like hamsters on a wheel, going nowhere fast, and eventually we tire out and give up. We need the objective, external Word, the gift given from outside ourselves. We go to the places where God is giving out His gifts, the Means by which He delivers His grace to us—that’s the Word and the Sacraments.
The Word of the Lord is front and center in the reading from Isaiah. God sends His minister the prophet to comfort His people by speaking to them. He doesn’t comfort them by holding their hands or by “just being there.” He comforts them with a specific message—a declaration of forgiveness and peace. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. And this message will not expire. God will not get tired of being merciful or change His mind about forgiveness. Nothing else in this life lasts. Nothing else in this world can create faith or forgive sins or bring peace to the wounded conscience. Everything we do in this life comes to an end. No matter how good it is it will wither and fade. But the Word of our God will stand forever. There’s certainty for you.
We also heard about the Means of Grace in our reading from John 6. When Jesus fed the crowds in the wilderness, they loved the earthly bread that filled their bellies and they wanted more of it. They wanted it to be like it was for their ancestors in the wilderness with Moses when God gave manna from heaven. But Jesus has something else in mind, something better. Jesus wants to give us the true food that will nourish our spiritual life. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they still died. Here is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.” Jesus Himself is the true and living Manna from Heaven. His Word is our food. His flesh and blood are our meat and drink.
Now, when Jesus talks about eating and drinking His flesh and blood He is not only talking about the Lord’s Supper, but about all the Means of Grace. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life… I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” This eating and drinking is what we do every time we receive Jesus in faith: when we read and hear His Word, when we listen to a sermon or the Absolution, when we trust in our Baptism. We are spiritually eating and drinking Jesus’ flesh and blood. He Himself is supplying our new life.
And this spiritual eating is also what we do even while we do the physical eating of the Lord’s Supper. With our mouths we bodily eat and drink not only bread and wine but also Jesus’ body and blood. And with faith, we receive this food for our spiritual benefit—the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. But eating Jesus’ body and blood with your mouth in the Supper, without faith, does you no good—in fact it is harmful to you because you are despising the body and blood of Christ. That’s why Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” He is talking about faith here, and without faith, you have no life. But, Jesus goes on, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
So, with faith in Jesus, when you hear His Word, when you are absolved, when you eat His body and drink His blood in the Lord’s Supper, then you are receiving His very own life. “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink,” said Jesus, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” Jesus comes to us now in the Means of Grace: in Baptism, in the Bible, in the Absolution, in preaching, in the Lord’s Supper, in Christians sharing His forgiveness. In all of these wonderfully different ways, Jesus is coming to us and feeding us so that we might share in His divine life. As we sang in our theme hymn:
Now He gently leads us;
With Himself He feeds us
Precious food from heaven,
Pledge of peace here given,
Manna that will nourish
Souls that they may flourish (LSB 333:2)
The Means of Grace is how Jesus keeps our faith alive, and how He makes us certain of our salvation, so that we don’t tire, give up, and die, even while we wait for His coming in glory to save us forever. The Means of Grace give us certainty for our faith in Christ’s righteousness, that He covers all our sin and makes us acceptable in God’s sight. They give us the certainty of God’s love for us which then frees us and enables and strengthens us to love others. And the Means of Grace give us sure and certain hope for Christ’s coming again—an expectation that will not be disappointed.
But one last thing about our banners: the Means of Grace are on the rose background. The third week of Advent is a lightening of this more penitential season. The traditional color for Advent is violet, and rose is a lightening of that color—you take all the black and blue out of it. In some churches, on this past Sunday, they even put rose paraments on the altar and rose vestments on the pastor. It symbolizes a lightening of the more somber Advent mood. It’s a little preview of Christmas, and so it’s an occasion for rejoicing, as the Introit bid us do: Rejoice in the Lord always! The Lord is at hand.
The wonderful thing about this third week and this rose candle is that it reminds us there is Joy in Advent, even when we are a little more focused on repenting for our sins. In a similar way, there is always joy in the Means of Grace. Whenever and wherever the Means of Grace are given there is cause for joy. Just as the rose candle brings a little of Christmas’ joy into Advent, so also, the Means of Grace bring joy to every Sunday. Every Sunday is a little Christmas. Every Sunday our Lord Jesus, the Word Incarnate, the Word made Flesh, is heard speaking in the Scripture, in the preaching, and in Absolution, and Jesus, the Word Incarnate, the Word made Flesh, who was once laid into a manger, is also found and adored at the manger that is our altar in the Lord’s Supper.
Christ has come. He will come. And He comes to us now. Happy Advent!
Come quickly + Lord Jesus. Amen.
