Many Christians observe the four Sundays before Christmas as the season of Advent. But what you might not realize is that there are two Advents. The first Advent rejoices in the events surrounding the Savior’s birth. The second Advent remembers that this is not the end of our salvation story. Jesus has come. Even more, He is coming again! Every time the church celebrates the Lord’s Supper, it remembers both Advents (see 1 Cor. 11:26).

Two facts may surprise those of us who look forward to the Christmas season. First, Advent was a rather late addition to the traditional church calendar, appearing sometime between the fourth and sixth centuries. Second, Advent was initially a time of fasting rather than celebration. Advent was a kind of Christmas Lenten season.

The New Testament church did not celebrate Advent. They lived through it, seeing the promises of Christ’s first coming fulfilled before their eyes. After the resurrection of Jesus, they realized that many promises remained unfulfilled. Their burning question is expressed in verse six: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus’ answer was essentially a no. Instead of telling them when that time would come, He told them how to live during the time in between His First and Second Coming.

Rather than speculate about “times or dates,” which the Father has already set, the church has been called to bear witness to Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit (vv. 7–8). We are called to fulfill this mission in anticipation of a new advent when “this same Jesus” will come back and take us to Himself. The church exercises a kind of double vision as it lives between Christ’s first and second Advents.

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