Advent Reflection Guide – Week 3

In an age of instant gratification, fast food, and one-day shipping, observing Advent is a counter-cultural activity because at the core of Advent is waiting. Yes, we wait in anticipation for Christmas, but Advent is much more than a calendar countdown: it is an opportunity to pause amidst our waiting. As Christians, we are not to be consumed by the commercialization of Christmas; instead, we are to be focused on the Messiah who is the fulfilment of our deepest longings. Through the lens of the Promises of the Messiah – his past coming in the flesh, his present coming in the Spirit, and his future coming in glory – we seek to wait faithfully while seeking Him urgently.

During the Sundays of Advent, we will be exploring passages in Isaiah that present some powerful images of what the promises of the coming of Jesus looks like. They remind us of the desperate need of the Messiah by the people of Israel. They will also give us glimpses to how the promises of the Messiah spark our imagination for God’s restoration and provide a lens to identify how God’s kingdom is breaking into our own lives today. Lastly, they will stir our hearts to long more deeply for Christ’s second coming – for the day of completion of everything he began during his time on earth.

How to Use This Guide

Throughout the week, please use these guided reflections to prepare yourself in the waiting. Each reflection includes a related Scripture passage, a brief connection to Advent, and prompts that invite you to prayerfully respond. Take your time: read and re-read the passage slowly. Return to the same guided reflection two days in a row if needed. Try to let these reflections lead you to moments of waiting in silence. When you become distracted or anxious to move on to the next item on your to-do list, graciously direct yourself back to waiting in God’s presence.

WEEK 3: The Highway Through the Wilderness

Guided Reflection #1: 

The desert and the parched land will be glad;
    the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;
    it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
    the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord,
    the splendor of our God.

Strengthen the feeble hands,
    steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
    “Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
    he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
    he will come to save you.”

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
    and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer,
    and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
    and streams in the desert.
The burning sand will become a pool,
    the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
    grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

And a highway will be there;
    it will be called the Way of Holiness;
    it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it;
    wicked fools will not go about on it.
No lion will be there,
    nor any ravenous beast;
    they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
     and those the Lord has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
    everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
    and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Isiah 35: 1-10 (NIV)

Throughout Advent, we have been exploring different visions or pictures of the promises of the Messiah. These descriptions of the Messianic reign prompt our longing to experience God’s kingdom in its fullness. To Isaiah’s original audience, the highway through the wilderness would have been a picture of God’s rescue in making a way for his people to return to their land from exile, but the scope of Isaiah’s vision merits more cosmic and eschatological expectations. The highway through the wilderness proclaims good news that God will provide a way to transform and restore his people and his world.

• God must prepare a highway through the wilderness because the wilderness has taken a toll on God’s people: hands and knees are weak and feeble (v. 3), hearts are fearful (v. 4), suffering has stunted flourishing (vv. 5–6). Prayerfully reflect on the aspects of your life that feel like the wilderness. How has it taken a toll on you?
• This passage reminds us that God is the one that makes a way out of the wilderness. God invites us to walk in his way. Spend 5–7 minutes in silence, asking God to restore the wandering of your soul or reflecting on God’s “Way of Holiness”.

Guided Reflection #2:

Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.

He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them—
    he remains faithful forever.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed
    and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
    the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
    the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the foreigner
    and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
    but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

The Lord reigns forever,
    your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord.

Psalm 146: 5-10 (NIV) 

As we reflect on God’s highway through the wilderness, we are reminded of God complete power over creation. Psalm 146 illuminates the unexpected ways God uses his power; he is partial to the suffering and the marginalized. Yet again, we are reminded that God’s kingdom is not like the kingdoms of this world.

• Read through these verses 2–3 times again. Ask God to highlight a specific word, phrase, or line to minister to you. As you re-read, take notice if the same line stands out.
• With this word, phrase, or line in mind, spend 5–7 minutes in silence asking the Lord why he wants you to take special notice. Listen for God’s voice or the impression of the Spirit.

Guided Reflection #3:

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

James 5: 7-11 (NIV)

Though God promises the highway through the wilderness, he does not often reveal when his mission will be completed. Much of the spiritual life is spent in “in-between” time. Advent is an “in-between” time where we remember the long-awaited coming of the Messiah and anticipate his return. Advent invites us to wait well – to wait with patience, focus, and faithfulness.

• James roots our waiting in the promise of Jesus’ return. Prayerfully reflect on where this promise needs to reshape your outlook today – perhaps your fears, hopes, or interpretation of what feels unresolved.
• “The Judge is standing at the door” gives a reason to not grumble against our neighbor in light of our future hope. Spend 5–7 minutes in silence asking the Lord to awaken a fresh expectancy for his coming. How might living in light of Christ’s return transform your posture toward God and others this week?

Guided Reflection #4:

When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces.Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written:

“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
    who will prepare your way before you.’^[c]

Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Matthew 11: 2-11 (NIV)

In Matthew 11, John the Baptist sends messengers to ask Jesus if he truly is the one to come – an echo of the longing and questioning that often fills our “in-between” spaces. Jesus responds by pointing to the very signs Isaiah promised along the highway through the wilderness: the blind see, the lame walk, the poor hear good news. Matthew presents Jesus as the fulfillment of Isaiah 35, yet his mission unfolds in unexpected ways. In Advent, we join John in our questions and Jesus in his assurance that the promised restoration has already begun – and will one day be completed.

• Prayerfully reflect on where you resonate with John’s question, “Are you the one who is to come?” Bring to the Lord any places where you long for clarity of his kingdom breaking into your life.
• Re-read Jesus’ description of his works (vv. 4–5). Spend 5–7 minutes in silence asking the Spirit to help you recognize how the Messiah’s restoring work might be unfolding in and around you even now.