The Advent drama of light and darkness around the world
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”
Isaiah 9:2
These words from the prophet Isaiah resonate so much with us during the season of Advent. It is a treasured verse that points to Jesus as our great light who overcomes darkness in its many guises.
I write this in London as our planet wings its way to the winter solstice on 21 December and to our shortest day of light – Advent and the promise of Jesus’s return brings comfort and symbolises a longing and hope within us. We light candles, put up fairy lights, arrange Christmas walking trails – and take in the twinkly wonder of displays adorning trees and buildings and shop windows. In other parts of the world Christmas comes at the height of summer and Advent is bathed in sunshine.
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.” These words were recorded in a time of great turmoil and darkness for the Israelites. They faced both threats from the Assyrians and internal strife. Isaiah foretold that a “great light” would dawn, symbolizing the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who would bring hope, salvation, and guidance to a people lost in spiritual and moral darkness. There would be a new era of light during which the spiritual “shadow of death” would be overcome. 600 years later the prophecy was fulfilled and Christians started celebrating the birth of Jesus under another oppressive Empire, the Roman Empire.
Christmas was formally celebrated on 25 December in Rome from around 336 AD, a date likely chosen to coincide with existing Roman winter festivals, marking the birth of Jesus alongside the pagan “rebirth of the unconquered sun”. Many traditions, like gift-giving, feasting, and bringing evergreens indoors, have roots in these ancient Roman celebrations. The Victorians embraced and elaborated Christmas creating a time of festivities and merriment during deep winter and now the source of many of our current traditions.
The word “advent” comes from the Latin adventus, which is about a coming or an arrival. The Latin translation of the New Testament uses adventus to describe God the Son arriving on Earth, born in Bethlehem. But throughout Church history, Advent has more traditionally referred to Jesus’ future arrival, when he comes to complete his work of restoring all creation in the second coming.
But what of our friends and fellow Christians who celebrate and mark Advent in the southern hemisphere, where the sun is at its peak and the summer solstice with long hot summer days coincides with Jesus’s birthday and the Christmas season?
A pastor in Buenos Aires in Argentina reflects:
“As I consider what I am waiting for this Advent, I think of new life. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, tells his disciples in John 10:10, ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.’ Advent is an active waiting! Both Isaiah and John the Baptist proclaim the Advent of the Messiah by teaching the people to prepare the way, make straight paths, and produce fruit in keeping with repentance. This active waiting implies engaging in the new life that Jesus brings. Yes, we wait in hopeful anticipation for Jesus’ Second Advent, but we also live into and experience the fullness of new life offered today.
“So, the new life of spring and summertime in Buenos Aires will once again be the lenses through which I engage in Advent this year. Our community serves among families living in poverty, including those who live and/or work on the streets. I seek to be an instrument of the Advent themes of hope, peace, joy, and love in the lives of my community by desiring to seek and live this newness of life in Jesus that stands in contrast to the things that steal, kill, and destroy. Advent for me is actively waiting in newness of life!”
And a Christian writer who has moved to New Zealand writes:
“It can be challenging to develop a sense of inwardness, patience and contemplation when the Earth is on its outward breath, where we experience summer in its heat and intensity. The length of the days, and the brightness of the light, speaks to me about the Light who has come into the world in blazing abundance, reflecting the glory and wonder of heaven. And we can view the incarnation as a glimpse of the amazing glory of God, here with us on earth. What if we were able to see into heaven for a few minutes, knowing that in Christ the full glory of God is revealed? What if one of Jesus’ names, the Light of the World was demonstrated to us in blazing, abundant power at Christmas? That’s how I perceive the long days and the beautiful light at Christmas in New Zealand.
“’What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it’ (John 1:3-5.) In the Northern Hemisphere people see this verse represented in candles shining in cozy rooms and candle-lit churches. Here in New Zealand the truth is represented in amazing light that lasts hour after hour, reflecting off water and sending luminous colours onto the hills. This blazing light lifts my heart with its glory and abundance and speaks to me of the overwhelming wonder of God’s glory, brought to us in Jesus.”
Whatever climate or hemisphere we are in during Advent, creation speaks of God. May God feel near this Advent. May the light from candles or the sun remind you that Jesus is the Light of the world. May God give you peace and hope in your hearts because the Light has come into the world in Jesus.
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