“Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down…” The first half of the first verse of our Old Testament reading summarizes the entire Advent season just like that. This is the cry of God’s people during the Advent season.

This is not first of a hope that God might do something in the future, it is a wish that He had done something already long ago.  This is often the prayer of people who have suffered and find themselves in a bad situation.  Why hasn’t God done something already? Why hasn’t He answered my prayers?

Isaiah makes it clear that the problem isn’t with God, it is with the persistent sinning of God’s people and our inability to do anything about it.  Isaiah 64:6, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.”  No matter our good works, no matter our intentions, we cannot save ourselves. We cannot rend the heavens open and ascend to God.

But we are not left hopeless, only hopeless in ourselves. For our calls to the Lord have been heard.  Our prayers to God have been answered.  This is the believer’s heart, one that does not deny the grief and pain and even the anger, yet waits the Lord to rend the heavens and come down to do something about it. And He has. And He does. And He will again.  . 

For He did awesome things that the world did not look for. He has throughout history. He walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  He called Abraham to be the father of many nations.  He spoke to Moses from the burning bush. He guided the children of Israel through the Exodus by a cloud and a pillar of fire.  He continued to speak to His people through the prophets of old.

Then in the fullness of time, God rent the heavens and came down for our salvation in the person of Jesus.  He did once at Christmas, not with earth shaking effect, but in a lowly way.  He did again at the Baptism of Jesus, as the heavens were opened and God proclaimed Jesus to be His beloved Son, with whom he is well pleased. He did again at the Transfiguration, as the glory of Christ shown through in just a glimpse to three of His disciples.  He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, shortly before going to the cross and being raised from the dead.  At His ascension He rent the heavens opened, ascending to the right hand of the Father.  Through Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection, God the Father is acting on our behalf, not counting our sins against us.

He rends the heaven wide in the Divine Service, speaking to His people through His Word declaring them justified for the sake of Christ, sins forgiven, and life bestowed; snatching people out of the snares of the devil and into His kingdom through the waters of Baptism; becoming present with us through His body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar. 

And we wait for His return on the Last Day, rending the heavens wide to descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. For behold, your King is coming to you, righteous and having salvation.

Advent serves as a season of preparation. Preparation for our Lord to come into the world, to rend the heavens wide.  It serves as preparation for the Christmas season, but more than that. It is a time of preparation for Christ coming to His people, in the past, in the present through His Word and Sacrament, and in His future advent.

This preparation looks like repentance. It is a time to reflect upon ourselves and our need for Christ.  That’s why the original color for Advent was purple, just like Lent.  For two generations now it has been blue, symbolizing the hope and anticipation that we have for Christ to come. All good, right, and salutary.  We wait for the one who works righteousness, who remembers not our iniquity forever, who looks at His people for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ.

And so we call out with the crowds on Palm Sunday, Hosanna! O Lord, save us! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, Jesus the Christ. And may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds on Christ Jesus, the Lord. Amen.