Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”
When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Hebrews 10:5–10
“Come, for all things are ready.”
The first time I heard this communion invitation was in Dimnent Chapel. Although I am a historian of Christianity and have participated in (and studied) a variety of communion practices, I had never heard this phrase before receiving the bread and wine (or rather, juice) here at Hope College.
It’s become my new favorite phrase. It reminds me of God’s grace that has prepared a way for us in Christ. It reminds me that in the bread and the cup see the saving, reconciling love of God in Christ. And it reminds me of the grace God has given us to live, work, celebrate, and rest according to God’s good will.
All of this is a gift, and one that becomes even more precious during Advent as we prepare to celebrate the Incarnation of Christ – the embodiment of God’s love and salvation.
A body you have prepared for me. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, has a body. And in his body he lived like us, worked like us, rested like us, and suffered for us. This is the joy of Christmas – God is truly human with us!
I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book. The incarnate Christ came in the flesh to fulfill the promises of God made over four hundred years earlier. Jesus said as much himself as he read out the words of Isaiah in the temple: “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me… to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners… ” (Isaiah 61:1–2; Luke 4:17). The will of God, fulfilled in this promise-made-flesh, to liberate, heal, and save through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. This is the good news of Christmas – God has truly come to heal and to save!
Advent is a time of waiting in preparation for the celebration of the fulfilled promise. Thankfully our waiting is only forty days, not Israel’s four centuries. But let’s be honest: we are still waiting to see God’s love and peace reign in our world. This is why we have Advent; this is why we remember the promise and gift of salvation of Christmas; this is why we respond to that communion invitation to receive Christ’s love even as we wait to see him come again.
As we prepare to celebrate God with us this Christmas, let us also prepare for the day
“By prophet bards foretold,
When with the ever-circling years
Comes round the age of gold;
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world give back the song
Which now the angels sing.”
(“It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”)
O come, O come Emmanuel; let all things be ready.
Dr. Katherine Goodwin is an assistant professor of women’s and gender studies at Hope College.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.