First Monday of Advent

Gospel: Mt 8:5-11

The end of today’s Gospel reading cuts Jesus off at verse eleven, but if you read the full statement, Jesus says, “I tell you, many will come from east and west and will take their places at the banquet with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Mt 8:11-12)

As Jesus so often does, he is issuing a warning that the kingdom of heaven will not be reflective of the hierarchies and privileges that we experience in the world. The first will be last, those who mourn will rejoice, the meek will inherit the earth. Those who assume they are heirs to the kingdom may not be welcome. His words are a warning not to presume that we are entitled to the kingdom, but also a promise to those who have been taught to believe that we don’t deserve it. I think most people belong to both groups at different times or in different ways. Most people’s lives are far too complicated to allow neat divisions into the privileged and the unprivileged no matter how tempting such divisions may seem. 

Perhaps a dual effect of comfort and awe is what Jesus intended. His words fill me with both hope and fear, because I have been both first and last. The centurion seems like an appropriate symbol for this. On the one hand, he is privileged -- a citizen of the empire oppressing the Jews. On the other hand, he is also an outsider -- a pagan, a gentile, without much reason to think that Jesus would be willing to help him. Like the centurion, I’ve been privileged in some ways and not in others. I have been first, and I have been last. 

Advent is a time of hope and a time of preparation. Maybe there’s one you need more than the other right now. That’s okay; that’s why we revisit these stories over and over again. Maybe today you need to hear hope and encouragement but next time you’ll need to be humbled. Let us pray for the grace to hold both these messages in our hearts, to remain in humility without presumption or entitlement but always with hope in God’s love for us.

Theo Swinford is a 2024 Re/Gen Cohort member.