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 one of 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 foundation of hundreds 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 they have been quoted down the centuries. St Bernard spoke of the past coming, the present coming, and the future coming.
1. The First Advent
First, St Bernard spoke of the Advent that has already happened: the first coming of Christ. When most people today use the word Advent, they are thinking of the weeks leading up to Christmas, when churches revisit the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah, the birth of John the Baptist who prepares the way, and then the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. The Gospel accounts of Christ’s birth are found in the opening chapters of Matthew and Luke, and Advent invites Christians to enter these narratives afresh each year.
2. The Second Advent
The Second Advent refers to the future coming of Christ in glory, also called the Second Coming. Christian traditions that especially emphasise this hope are sometimes known as “Adventist” churches, and the theology of Christ’s return is called eschatology. Many have tried to calculate the exact date of the Second Coming and have been proved wrong, so it is wise to remember that, if eschatology seems puzzling, it is not the end of the world.
3. Advent of new life
Third, St Bernard spoke of a “middle coming” of Christ into the life of the believer in the present. We live between the first Advent in Bethlehem and the final Advent in glory, and in this in-between time Christ comes to dwell in the hearts of those who love and trust him.
Jesus promises in John 14:23 that if anyone loves him and keeps his word, “my Father will love them, and my Father and I will come to them and live with them” (GNB), and in Revelation 3:20 he declares that he stands at the door and knocks, ready to enter the life 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 personal response.
