The three Christian meanings of Advent​

The great Cistercian monk St Bernard of Clairvaux spoke of Advent in three distinct senses, and Christian writers and sermons have echoed his insight down the centuries. This the story …

St Bernard

St Bernard of Clairvaux was born about 1090 in Dijon in Burgundy. He became a Cistercian abbot who was a theologian and mystic, and probably the most influential churchmen of the Middle Ages.

Bernard died at Clairvaux in 1153 after being abbot for about forty years and having founded or seen the muse of a whole lot of Cistercian houses throughout Europe. He was canonised in 1174.

St Bernard’s Advent sermons were collected as “De Adventu Domini” (“On the Advent of the Lord”) but were published in English as “Sermons for Advent and the Christmas season”, and so they have been quoted down the centuries. St Bernard spoke of the past coming, the current coming, and the long run coming. 

1. The First Advent

First, St Bernard spoke of the Advent that has already happened: the primary coming of Christ. When most individuals today use the word Advent, they’re considering of the weeks leading as much as Christmas, when churches revisit the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah, the birth of John the Baptist who prepares the way in which, after which the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. The Gospel accounts of Christ’s birth are present in the opening chapters of Matthew and Luke, and Advent invites Christians to enter these narratives afresh every year.​

2. The Second Advent 

The Second Advent refers to the long run coming of Christ in glory, also called the Second Coming. Christian traditions that especially emphasise this hope are sometimes often called “Adventist” churches, and the theology of Christ’s return known as eschatology. Many have tried to calculate the precise date of the Second Coming and have been proved flawed, so it is smart to keep in mind that, if eschatology seems puzzling, it just isn’t the top of the world.​

3. Advent of latest life

Third, St Bernard spoke of a “middle coming” of Christ into the lifetime of the believer in the current. We live between the primary Advent in Bethlehem and the ultimate Advent in glory, and on this in-between time Christ involves dwell within the hearts of those that love and trust him.

Jesus guarantees in John 14:23 that if anyone loves him and keeps his word, “my Father will love them, and my Father and I’ll come to them and live with them” (GNB), and in Revelation 3:20 he declares that he stands on the door and knocks, able to enter the lifetime of anyone who hears his voice and opens the door.​

These three “comings” of Christ present Advent as a season of remembrance, a time of expectation, and a call to a private response.​