John the Baptizer declared that the Kingdom of Heaven is “at hand,” which is another way of saying: IT’S HERE NOW!  The season of Advent is not actually about preparing for Christmas.  It is about preparing for the 2nd Coming of Jesus, sometimes called the Apocalypse (Greek for “revelation”) or the “parousia” (Greek for “presence, coming, advent, arrival”).  

However, Jesus actually has three “advents.”  1st was his arrival in the manger.  2nd is his arrival in Word and Sacrament every time we gather in worship.  3rd is his arrival in glory to “judge the living and the dead.”  

John “prepared the way of the Lord” by preaching!  He said that God was fulfilling His promises made all throughout the Old Testament.  God was actually doing what God had promised to do!  This is what Paul meant in our reading from Romans 15:

• 8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written…

Then Paul goes on to quote several promises that God made through Old Testament prophets.  God showed up!  God has begun the “invasion” of His kingdom into this world.  As Jesus said, the kingdom of God is “not of this world” (John 18:36).  

Right here and right now, Jesus breaks down your cold, hard heart of sin and raises you up to the new life of faith, giving you His own warm, living heart of love, mercy, grace and forgiveness.  Through faith in Jesus you become a “child of Abraham,” which means that you are a child of righteous faith! (See Gal. 3:1-14; John 1:9-13).