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Is Christ to come? Already come? Is Christ One who came and is to come? Such questions pertain to our Gospel today, for the first Sunday of Advent: Luke 21.25-36.
The passage reflects anticipation that Christ would come before the first generation of Christians had died: “I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things have taken place” (v. 32, NLT). Most likely Jesus refers in Luke 21.7ff. to destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 A.D. and by the Roman army, after the Jews rebelled against Roman rule.
Luke was written after that first generation and, likely, after 70 A.D. And, therefore, anticipation of Jesus’ return remains for us, and the passage encourages us always to be ready for the Porousia, or Coming. And, while the Luke passage points to the historical events leading up to and including 70 AD and shows that the early Church’s anticipation of a literal, soon-return of Jesus did not occur, the text includes, many conclude, description of events that will precede the end of the world as we know it.
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