In many churches, Advent is, like Lent, a penitential season. We prepare for the Lord’s coming by self-examination, confession of sin, and repentance. Before the Lord comes, we clean house.

That fits the Gospel account of Jesus’ arrival. John the Baptist calls Israel to repentance and adds: “The axe is already laid at the foot of the tree,” ready to turn “every tree that does not bear fruit” into kindling to fuel an unquenchable fire.

John is alluding to Isaiah 10, where the prophet warns Judah that Assyria is Yahweh’s axe, which will chop and chop until Jesse has no family tree, but only a family stump (Isa 11:1).

“Axe at the root” isn’t a generic image of impending judgment. It speaks of foreign invasion, deforestation both literal and metaphorical, and the devastation of the temple.

In the first-century context, that can mean only one thing. John’s call to repent is urgent because God is about to pick up a new, Roman axe to wield against the forest of Judea and Herod’s temple.

His message is: The only safe thing to do is to repent and bear fruit. Best to get on the right side of the Divine Woodsman before He starts swinging.

This stark warning is part and parcel of our Advent observance. Advent isn’t supposed to soothe us. Enjoy the season, but don’t let it become merely a season of sentimentality and nostalgia.

Spend some time the next month thinking ahead to Jesus’ final advent to judge the living and dead. Take time to put your sins away.

Though a season of repentance, Advent doesn’t teach us to be piously hopeless. It doesn’t teach us to be stoic in the face of the seemingly irreparable damage of the world.

For all the emphasis on judgment, Advent is a season of joy. John and Jesus call Israel to repent because the Creator is beginning to repair the damage of sin. Judgment is the first step of making all things new.

Repentance is a sign God’s renewal has begun – in us. Advent repentance is enveloped in joy, because repentance itself is a sign that the kingdom of God has come.

Blessings,
Pastor Leithart