First Saturday of Advent: Heralds of the Coming King

Advent is not just about waiting in hope for Christ to come and being personally ready for this; it is about going out ahead of him with zeal, and actively working so that others may be ready for his coming. In short, Advent is a special opportunity to understand and participate in the work of evangelisation, especially the proclamation of the coming of Christ.

The word Advent means ‘coming’. It refers particularly to the coming of an important person or event. In the ancient world kings and emperors sent heralds ahead of themselves to announce that they were coming. They might come to actually take possession of their kingdom and as such to be recognised properly as king by their subjects, or to share with the people the spoils of their victories over their enemies, or both these things. In both cases, the people had to know he was coming and be ready to accept his rule and receive his blessings. It was the role of heralds to do this by their work of proclamation. 

All this is applicable to the ministry of Jesus as well – and is made plain in today’s gospel. Jesus both announced the coming of the Kingdom of God and also brought it in in person. He proclaimed it by word and by sharing its fruit, in the mighty deeds of healing (9:35). He then sent out his disciples to do the same things, as heralds. They were to proclaim that the kingdom of God was coming, and to ‘cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out devils’ (10:6-8). 

It became clear that Jesus himself is the King whose coming was to be proclaimed, as the visitation of God in human form to save his people. First the apostles, and now each of us, are sent out as his heralds to announce that he has won the definitive victory over sin, the devil and death; and to announce that he makes the first fruits of that victory available to us now and to be actual channels of these graces to others; and to announce with conviction that he is coming again to make the victory completely manifest and establish his kingdom over all for ever. 

Heralds had to be sure of their own role and of the actual coming of their king. Are we? They also had to have a sure sense of the authority and power possessed by the king, and of the authority and power given to them from the king as his heralds. Do we? They then had to be zealous in undertaking their role, pointing to the king, not themselves, happy that they will himself receive a share in the kingdom for doing his task properly. Are we? Advent is an opportunity for us to be renewed as preachers and proclaimers of the gospel.