Anticipation and anticipation

I will never forget the answer that my wife Susan gave when I told her that I love her very much and whether she could imagine marrying me. She said yes, but she would have to ask her father's permission first. Fortunately, her father agreed with our decision.

The anticipation is an emotion. She waits longingly for a future, positive event. We too waited with joy for our wedding day and for the time to start our new life together.

We all experience anticipation. A man who has just proposed marriage is eagerly awaiting a positive answer. Married couples are expecting a child. A child is eagerly awaiting what it could receive for Christmas. A student waits with a little nervousness for the grade he will get for his final exam. We look forward to our longed-for vacation with great anticipation.

The Old Testament tells us of great anticipation for the coming of the Messiah. «You arouse loud cheers, you create great joy. Before you one rejoices as one rejoices in the harvest, as one rejoices when one distributes spoil »(Isaiah 9,2).

In the Gospel of Luke we find a pious couple, Zacharias and Elisabeth, who lived righteously, piously and blamelessly before God. They had no child because Elisabeth was sterile and both were very old.

The angel of the Lord came to Zacharias and said: «Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer has been answered and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and delight, and many will rejoice at his birth »(Luke 1,13-14).

Can you imagine the joy that felt in Elizabeth and Zacharias as the child grew in their lap? The angel told them that their son would be filled with the Holy Spirit before he was born.

«He will convert many of the Israelites to the Lord their God. And he will go before him in the spirit and in the power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready to the Lord a people well prepared ”(Luke 1,16-17).

Their son would become known as John the Baptist. His ministry would be to prepare the way for the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. The Messiah came - his name is Jesus, the Lamb who will take away the sins of the world and bring the promised peace. By the power of the Holy Spirit, his ministry continues today as we actively participate in him while awaiting his return.

Jesus came and will come again to fill and create everything anew. As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we may also await the second coming of our perfect Savior, Jesus Christ.

The true hope we have as Christians is what really enables us to live. Everyone who trusts in anticipation of a really better life in God's kingdom will make all earthly problems more bearable.
Dear reader, are you aware that with your open mind you can meet your Savior, Jesus, right now. You are invited to the crib. What emotions of anticipation do you experience? Are you surprised as you ponder the unfolding of the details promised by your Savior as it unfolds before your eyes?

Greg williams