Belmont University Advent GuideExemplo

Advent—the Latin term adventus which means “coming”—is a religious season preparing for the coming of Jesus Christ on the occasion of Christmas. As the Greek term parousia, equivalent to the Latin term adventus, hints at the second coming of Jesus, Advent bring us to the recollection of the past when Jesus was born and the expectation of the future when he will come again.

In the celebration of the coming of Jesus in the past and future, we may raise this simple but ultimate question as to who Jesus is for us indeed. Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, came and will come again as “the King of all the earth” (Psalms 47.7). Read in this light, we are all his people living in the kingdom of God. As a subject of the Kingdom of God as represented by Jesus, I always wonder what kind of kingdom He enacts on this earth, particularly in consideration of marginalized people in a global world. As Psalms 45.6 suggests, there is no doubt that Jesus announces the justice of God’s Kingdom for those oppressed in a dominant society.

This belief in a just world yet to be created by Jesus is one of the reasons I am so excited to wait for his coming. Looking back upon my youth as a pastor’s kid, I still have an unforgettable memory of a tragic story not long before Christmas. As my father worked for a church in the slums in South Korea, I was destined to observe a miserable life lived by those on the periphery. To my shock, my friend passed away due to extreme poverty; simply put, he died because he was too poor to go to the hospital. Not only that, we all know how many people die of hunger even today all over the world.

Ironically, this unjust world makes us all the more enthusiastic about the coming of Jesus and his kingdom of justice for all his people. Let us rejoice in the season of Advent in the expectation that Jesus Christ will open a door of hope for a just world for those fighting the suffering and injustice in the world.

Sung Uk Lim
Lecturer in Religion