Advent Reflection: The Wait for a Savior

“The Wait for a Savior”

By Jeff Weber

How long can you wait patiently before you start getting a little anxious? One minute? Before you start to chomp at the bit … one day? Before you literally feel like you want to give up … one year?

For me, it obviously depends on the situation, but like most people, I’m not always the most patient person. I don’t like to wait, especially when it’s for something expectant and exciting.

So, imagine what it must have been like for the Israelites near the end of the Old Testament. For generations, they had been told to wait patiently for their Savior. In fact, as we learned last week, that declaration had been proclaimed to them approximately 300 times throughout the first half of the Bible. That’s a lot of prophecy and a lot of waiting.

Now imagine what it was like for those same Israelites to have just returned home from captivity in Babylon, back in their promised land to await what must have seemed at the time as the imminent coming of Christ. All the expectancy, all the waiting – over at last. Or was it?

Not even close, it turns out. It would be another 400 years from that point until Jesus’ coming – four centuries of rule and conquest attempts by outside nations and entities such as Persia, Medeo, Alexander the Great, and eventually the Roman Empire. Four centuries of pagan idol worship and further turning from God. And worst of all, to them, four centuries of utter, total silence.

Not one time during those 400 years did God speak through the giving of prophecy. His people simply had to wait and trust that the First Coming of Christ would indeed arrive at some point in their future, near or distant. However, in those centuries of silence, some faltered - becoming distant from God - while some stayed true to God and His ways. So how, exactly, did those who were obedient remain that way? Through clinging to the unerring Word of God.

In Isaiah 30:18, it says, “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore, he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”

Similarly, in Lamentations 3:24-26, the author – likely the prophet Jeremiah – writes, “The Lord is my portion; therefore, I will wait for him. The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

It’s those same passages – and many, many others – that can give us comfort, peace and strength today as we experience all sorts of waiting during our own journeys. They can provide aid when we’re dealing with difficult family during this Christmas season. They can dole out advice when we’re struggling with navigating unexpected loss, financial hardship and the rigors of daily life in a fallen world. 

And most importantly, they can continue to point us toward the thing that should matter most to us – Christ Himself. We may be waiting for Christmas to arrive in a few short weeks. We, too, are waiting for the Second Coming of Christ someday.

But what we don’t have to wait one minute for is the opportunity to be with the Lord through His Word. It’s there for us every minute of every day. And in this season of gift giving, that is the greatest gift of all.