Second Coming – The Twelve Days of Advent

Day 10: Mary and Joseph’s Betrothal

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.

Luke 1:26-27

In this passage, Luke mentions an angel sent from God, Joseph’s connection to King David, and twice the virgin state of Mary. The appearance of these miraculous and meritorious contextual elements tends to overshadow a word that is typically foreign to the 21st-century western vocabulary: betrothed (bih-trothd). The angel Gabriel, the Davidic lineage, and the virgin birth mentioned in Luke 1:26-27 all hold their rightful places within the first advent, but the betrothal of Mary and Joseph also points us directly to the second coming of our Savior by providing a vivid picture of our current reality: as Mary waited for the consummation of her marriage, so we presently await the day when Jesus returns in glory for his Bride. A basic understanding of the concept of betrothal, where we find Mary and Joseph in this text, will help us to uncover the theological implications of the word. Perhaps, we will even value the concept of betrothal like the way we value Luke’s mention Gabriel’s message, David’s offspring, and Mary’s chastity.

Before investigating the concept of betrothal, I want to make it clear that I am not attempting to over-spiritualize the text in Luke 1:26-27. However, I am asserting that this is one detail among many in the first advent story that, if understood properly, causes us to think and find hope in the second advent of Christ. My aim is for the listener to never skim over the word “betrothal” in Luke 1:27 and fail to think about the day Christ comes back to be with his Bride.

Describing the Concept of Betrothal

Historically, the Jewish union between one man and one woman consisted of three stages: engagement, betrothal, and marriage.[1] Although not exactly like the Hebrews did, we readily understand the concepts of engagement and marriage through observations in modern culture. Today, one may try to relate the betrothal period to a modern-day engagement (the period between the proposal and wedding ceremony), however, this likening minimizes the significance of a betrothal by disregarding its binding legal demands.

“Betrothal meant the entering into the legal contract of marriage.”[2] Deuteronomy 22:23-27 displays how binding a betrothal was on its participants. This text teaches that infidelity during the betrothal period was tantamount to adultery between a husband and wife.

Another significant difference in a modern-day engagement and the betrothal between Mary and Joseph is what it takes to terminate each one. Today, if a couple decides to call off the wedding ceremony they simply “break up.” When Joseph thought Mary was pregnant by another man and not the Holy Spirit, he “resolved to divorce her quietly” (Matthew 1:19). Today, the word divorce is often only used to discuss the legal termination of government recognized marriages but back then, a betrothal was seen just as binding as a biblically based marriage between one man and one woman is today.

For Joseph to become betrothed to Mary, he most likely paid the “Bridal Price.” This concept is recorded in Genesis 34:12 and 1 Samuel 18:25. This was a payment to the bride’s father, who would save that payment to ensure care for his daughter incase anything unforeseen happened to her future husband or the marital union itself. The Bridal Price also displayed a level of commitment from the young man to the young woman. This concept portrays perfectly the price Jesus paid on the cross to ensure the future security of his Bride (Acts 20:28).[3] Once the price was paid, the betrothal became binding.

How the Concept of Betrothal Applies Today

The timeframe of the betrothal was typically a year or more but could be shorter depending on the specific situation. During this time, the man would go to his father’s house and prepare for his bride. He would usually build on an additional room and work to furnish it throughout the betrothal. In John 14:2-3, Jesus reveals to his disciples that he is going to prepare a place for them in Heaven. Jesus says, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

This language exudes betrothal concepts: Jesus is going to his Father’s house, he is preparing rooms, and he is doing it so that his disciples can live with him forever. These facts further the claim that the concept of betrothal has theological implications on our current reality. Jesus paid the bridal price at Calvary, he has gone to his Father’s house to prepare for his Bride, and he will come again one glorious day so that he may dwell with her for all of eternity. The Church is in the betrothal stage of marriage with her Bridegroom and must prepare herself for his second coming.

In the Jewish culture, while the man went away to prepare a room for his betrothed, the Jewish woman had some work of her own to accomplish. She had to assemble her trousseau, or bridal goods. Depending on the woman’s economic status, some of these items may have included clothes, linens, jewelry, basins, and blankets.[4] The picture we get is that the husband was not the only one preparing to permanently dwell with their future spouse. Today, the church is the Bride of Christ. Like the Ancient Jewish bride, we must prepare every day for the consummation of our marriage with the Bridegroom. For Jesus will not fail to prepare a place for us and we must not fail to prepare ourselves for him. Let’s look at Revelation 19:7-9 as we look forward to the consummation of our covenant vows with our Lord:

Let us rejoice and exult and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure – for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’

In the words of theologian Wayne Grudem, “To ‘be ready’ for Christ’s return is to be faithfully obeying him in the present.”[5] In this season of the celebration of the first advent of our Lord, may you be found faithfully obeying him in anticipation of his second advent.

[1] Ivan G. Marcus, “Engagement, Betrothal, and Marriage,” in The Jewish Life Cycle: Rites of Passage From Biblical to Modern Times (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2004),124-126.

[2] John Barton and John Muddiman, The Oxford Bible Commentary (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2007), 927.

[3] John MacArthur, The Second Coming: Signs of Christ’s Return and the End of the Age (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 1999), 37-38.

[4] Ivan G. Marcus, “Engagement, Betrothal, and Marriage,” in The Jewish Life Cycle: Rites of Passage From Biblical to Modern Times (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2004),142.

[5] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994), 1093.

Day 2: The Second Advent

So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Hebrews 9:28

At Christ’s first coming, his arrival was marked by humility as he was wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. His first coming was primarily to deal with sin. At Christ’s second coming, his arrival will be marked with magnificent power and might as he returns –not to die for sin, but to judge and be with the those whom he died for. Throughout the Old Testament, the Prophets often pointed Israel toward the hope of their Messiah’s first advent. As we will see now, likewise, throughout the New Testament, the Apostles often pointed the Church to the hope of Christ’s second advent.

The Promise of the Second Coming

In Acts 1:9, Luke details the ascension of Jesus into heaven, saying, “And when he had said these things, as they were looking on he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” Those men who were “looking on” when Jesus was “lifted up” were the apostles (Acts 1:2). Luke records that after his resurrection, the Lord “presented himself alive” to these apostles during a period of forty-days (Acts 1:3). Now, here in Acts 1, the apostles stand with Jesus for the last time of their earthly lives, listening to the Lord’s teaching—and rather suddenly—he ascends into heaven. Perhaps a bit dumbfounded, the apostles stand gazing up into the heavens when two men standing nearby, dressed in white, promise the second advent of Jesus, saying, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Here you see that following Christ’s ascension, the apostles were the first people to receive encouragement at the promise of Christ’s second advent. They knew first-hand the hope and encouragement of thinking upon Jesus’ return to earth for a second time and they, along with the Apostle Paul, would go onto to share such hope with the New Testament Church.

The Second Advent

The Christian Advent is, “The season of the ecclesiastical year when the church engages in self-examination in expectation of his second coming in glory to judge the living and the dead.”^[1] Reflecting on the first coming of Christ ought to cause us to think about the second coming of Christ; and as this definition suggests, the second coming of Christ is a summons for self-examination. This is precisely what Peter taught his beloved audience in his second letter. The Apostle Peter, writes pertaining to Christ’s second coming, “Since all these things are being dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace” (2 Peter 3:11-14).

It’s clear here that when Peter taught about the second coming, he called for self-examination. Since Christ is returning, Peter calls God’s people to live lives of holiness, godliness, spotlessness, and peace. But why does Peter think it is important to call for such self-examination in light of Christ’s return? To answer this question, let’s turn to another apostle who stood nearby Peter, and also heard the angels predict Jesus’ second coming back in Acts 1: The Apostle John.

Jesus’ Promises to the Righteous and to the Wicked

In Revelation 21, the Apostle John records Jesus’ words, which are addressed to two audiences: the conquerors and the cowardly. To the latter group, Jesus says, “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8). For those who do not know Jesus as their Savior, his second coming is not good news but is the promise of eternal damnation in the lake of fire; however, for those who do trust Jesus’ death as the payment for their sins against God and rely on his resurrection as the foundation for their justification, the second coming of Jesus is the greatest news one could ever hear. To those conquerors who have been reconciled with God through faith and repentance, Jesus says, “I will be his God and he will be my son” (Revelation 21:7).

So, why does Peter think it is important to call for such self-examination in light of Christ’s second advent? As John has shown us, those who are not prepared for the second coming will spend eternity in hell and those who are prepared will spend eternity in heaven with Jesus; the stakes could not be higher anywhere else in all of life when it comes to where you will spend your eternal life, and so, a thorough self-examination for the presence of salvation and a life that bears the fruit of repentance is most appropriate for all people.

God with Us

Across the evangelical spectrum, there are various theological positions and opinions pertaining to the details of Christ’s second coming. Nonetheless, there is some significant agreement and solidarity among believers regarding many of these eschatological events. One detail that is unanimously agreed upon is found in Revelation 21:3. John writes, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.’” No matter one’s millennial view or eschatological hermeneutic, Christians agree that Christ’s second coming will result in God making his dwelling place with man forever. And in this promise we hear the echoes of the first advent, as Matthew writes, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name ‘Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)” (Matthew 1:23). Both the first advent and the second advent carry a promise that God will be with his people. At the first advent of Christ, the Savior in a manger made his dwelling place among man and so the writer refers to him as God with us. Although Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to indwell the redeemed, at his ascension, he physically left the earth he created; however, at the second advent of Christ, according to the angels in Acts 1, the Savior “will come in the same way” he left – on the clouds in glory. And at the second coming, Jesus will return to physically dwell with his people forever and God will again be with us.This advent season we will reflect on the lives and circumstances surrounding the first advent of Jesus and uncover how they point us to find hope in the second advent of the Savior. As we journey through the story of Christ’s birth from Luke’s perspective, please engage with me “in self-examination in expectation of his second coming in glory to judge the living (that’s you) and the dead.”^[2] If your life does not display the fruit of repentance (Matthew 3:8), confess to the Lord your need for his salvation, ask him for the gifts of faith and repentance (Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 2:25), and seek his healing in your life.

^[1] Walter A Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology Second Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001), 27.

^[2] Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 27.