Maranatha: Our Lord (Has) Come

Introduction to Advent: The Incarnation, the Parousia, and the Covenants of Israel

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Advent marks the beginning of the church calendar and is a time of expectant hope, both as the season leading up to the celebration of Jesus’ first coming at his birth (the Incarnation) as well as the anticipation of the return of Jesus as King at his second coming (the Parousia). The Messiah’s appearances are sometimes grouped under the Latin term “advent,” meaning to arrive, appear, or begin—a perfect name and theme to launch a new year.

The duel focus of the season—the Incarnation and the Parousia—is perfectly captured in that ancient and mysterious confession of the church, “Maranatha.” This Aramaic phrase is most probably a combination of three smaller units of meaning. “Mar” has a fairly straightforward translation to “Lord,” and the “n” indicates that it is “our” Lord. Though some contest these translations, the main controversy comes from the last section of the word, the verb. Though most scholars agree that “atha” is a form of “to come,” there is a question about properly segmenting the letters. Should it be understood to mean “maran atha” (“Our Lord has come”) or “marana tha” (“Our Lord, Come!”)?¹Dr. Andrew Messmer, in his paper, “Maranatha (1 Corinthians 16:22): Reconstruction and Translation Based on Western Middle Aramaic,” gives an overview of twelve different proposed reconstructions and translations of “maranatha” based on his dissertation on the subject. After analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the various hypotheses and bringing his linguistic expertise to bear, Messmer concludes that the phrase “maranatha” almost certainly means “Our Lord has come.” He does acknowledge that the translation, “Our Lord, come,” with the imperative form of the verb, is the majority position among contemporary scholars. Messmer addresses the context of 1 Corinthians 16:22 in his paper but does not interpret its context as apocalyptic. Since Paul’s appeal for judgment does seem apocalyptic to me in that passage, and I am not departing from a majority consensus of those who know the Aramaic infinitely better than I do, I don’t think that it is a stretch to compare the two proposed meanings, though Messmer makes a convincing argument.

The season of Advent would perhaps answer that both potential maranatha meanings are necessary for a robust understanding of the gospel. The assurance of the gospel of Christ crucified is inseparable from the hope of the gospel of the Kingdom. Jesus came to first-century Israel as a humble man, God incarnate, and bore the sins of many. He will come again in his glorious, resurrected human frame to judge the living and the dead, establish an everlasting reign of righteousness, and end this evil age. This Parousia is what we wait for with patience.²See Hebrews 9:27–28. 

When we communicate the good news of the advents of the Messiah, however, we often overlook this gospel of the Kingdom and focus almost entirely on the first Advent. Without diminishing the impossible-to-exaggerate glory of the Incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, it is crucial not to lose the fullness of the eternal gospel preached by Jesus before his atoning death on the cross.³See Matthew 4:23, 9:35; Mark 1:15; Luke 20:1. During the forty days before his ascension, Jesus focused his teaching on the coming Kingdom.⁴See Acts 1:3–8. John, in the book of Revelation, records the preaching of the eternal gospel by an angel who declares, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” The final judgment overseen by the world’s creator is essential to the eternal gospel.⁵See Revelation 14:6–7.

But even as we fix our eyes on what lies ahead, we must do so with a foundational understanding of salvation history and the deliberate way that God has revealed and implemented his rescue plan throughout the ages. When Stephen, one of the first leaders of the early church, found himself confronted with false accusations that he had blasphemed the “holy place and the law,” ⁶See Acts 6:11–14. he replied with a magnificent survey of God’s covenants with Israel. Starting with Abraham and the covenant of circumcision, then seamlessly moving through the story of Moses, the law, and the Tabernacle, and then on to the covenant with David and the building of the temple, Stephen demonstrated a thorough and orthodox understanding of both the holy place and the law. More than that, the narrative of Stephen’s sermon shows a striking continuity from covenant to covenant and that the “Righteous one” (that is to say, Jesus), rather than abolishing these covenants, actually confirmed them.

Just as we need a holistic view of the eternal gospel, we need a Stephen-like, panoramic view of the everlasting covenant.⁷I was recently struck while reading the prophet Daniel how central an understanding of the covenants is to discernment at the end of the age. The king of the north in Daniel 11 is someone whose heart is “set against the holy covenant” (v. 28), and he later “takes action against the holy covenant” (v. 30) and seduces “those who violate the covenant. But the people who know their God will stand firm and take action.” (v. 32) May we be counted among those who know our God and keep the holy covenant! But which covenant is the everlasting covenant? Is it the covenant with Abraham, cut in the pieces of animals and circumcision? Scripture labels the Abrahamic covenant the everlasting covenant in several passages: Genesis 17:7, 13, 19; 1 Chronicles 16:14–18; and Psalm 105:7–12. The prophet Isaiah seems to call the Mosaic covenant the everlasting covenant in Isaiah 24:5. David calls God’s promise to him the everlasting covenant in 2 Samuel 23:5, and it is confirmed in Isaiah 55:3–5. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel all hint at a glorious new covenant yet to be cut, and they each call it everlasting: Isaiah 61:8; Jeremiah 32:40, 50:5; Ezekiel 16:60, and 37:26. 

How can all these covenants be described as everlasting when they seemingly promise different things on different terms?⁸The covenant with Noah is also described as everlasting in Genesis 9:16. Still, because it predates the covenant with Abraham and is with all humanity, I am leaving it out of this particular series. When I used to teach on the covenants of Israel, I would often spend a great deal of time working through the intricacies of Ancient Near Eastern covenants, on the legal obligations in suzerain treaties as opposed to royal grants, which agreements were conditional, which unconditional, etc. While I think this knowledge is of some value, it wasn’t until I started to view the covenants as a story in which each successive installment advances toward a definite end that I could see how they all connected. 

God called Abraham out and unconditionally promised him children, land, and that his family would bless all the families of the earth. But God warned Abraham that his children would sojourn and suffer for generations before returning to the promised land. Everything happened just as God said, and when the time came for the children of Abraham to leave slavery in Egypt, God raised up a man named Moses to lead them. God entrusted Moses and the Hebrew people with a legal covenant code with blessings for keeping it and curses for breaking it. Before Moses could even present the written commandments to the people, they had already broken the most fundamental clauses of the pact and fallen into idolatry. Moses went to the Lord to beg for mercy and make atonement, and the Lord said that he would bear with this disobedient people but that the terms of the agreement still stood and that the curses would fall on the law-breakers. These curses included barrenness, exile, and death. 

Here is where the dramatic tension is introduced to the story. God promised Abraham unconditionally that he would have children that outnumbered the stars and real estate with precise boundary markers and that his family would be a light to the world. When the people of Israel had hearts uninterested in keeping the law, the covenant with Abraham seemed to be rendered null and void. How could God keep both promises? Would the family of Abraham be caught in the cycle of disobedience-exile-repentance-return over and over throughout eternity? What could fix the hearts of man so they would be inclined to follow the law and live in its blessing, fulfilling God’s promises to Abraham and Moses? 

We have our first glimmer of hope with King David, to whom God promised a descendent that will establish an everlasting kingdom. Perhaps Israel would not be in perpetual disobedience and exile. Later, the prophets built on this by proclaiming a new covenant to reconcile all the covenants, circumcising hearts, and writing the law on them. This internalized law and knowledge of the Lord will fulfill the promises to Abraham, Moses, and David, and God’s word will ultimately be vindicated. 

So rather than the covenants of Israel being discrete and abrogating their predecessors, they form a glorious continuum, where God brilliantly vindicates all his promises, saying to each, “Yes, and Amen!” ⁹See 2 Corinthians 1:20. All are part of the everlasting covenant, essential elements of the eternal gospel. 

In demonstrating his faithfulness to promises past, God graciously assures us of the consummation yet to come. Every building block of the astonishing plan—from the covenants of Israel to the birth of Jesus to the Messianic Kingdom—makes known the manifold wisdom of God to the powers of heaven.

In light of this calling to bear witness before heaven to the manifold wisdom of God and to bring to light for everyone what the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God is,¹⁰See Ephesians 3:9–10. I thought it would be a suitable activity this Advent season to meditate on how God’s covenants with Israel are confirmed by the Incarnation and ultimately kept in the Parousia. I pray that these devotionals bless you as we wait together for the consolation of Israel and the redemption of Jerusalem.¹¹See Luke 2:25, 38.

Thanks for reading this introduction to “Advent: The Incarnation, the Parousia, and the Covenants of Israel.” Please stay tuned for the next installment in the series for the first week of Advent: “Son of Abraham.”

Footnotes

• 1
  Dr. Andrew Messmer, in his paper, “Maranatha (1 Corinthians 16:22): Reconstruction and Translation Based on Western Middle Aramaic,” gives an overview of twelve different proposed reconstructions and translations of “maranatha” based on his dissertation on the subject. After analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the various hypotheses and bringing his linguistic expertise to bear, Messmer concludes that the phrase “maranatha” almost certainly means “Our Lord has come.” He does acknowledge that the translation, “Our Lord, come,” with the imperative form of the verb, is the majority position among contemporary scholars. Messmer addresses the context of 1 Corinthians 16:22 in his paper but does not interpret its context as apocalyptic. Since Paul’s appeal for judgment does seem apocalyptic to me in that passage, and I am not departing from a majority consensus of those who know the Aramaic infinitely better than I do, I don’t think that it is a stretch to compare the two proposed meanings, though Messmer makes a convincing argument.
• 2
  See Hebrews 9:27–28.
• 3
  See Matthew 4:23, 9:35; Mark 1:15; Luke 20:1.
• 4
  See Acts 1:3–8.
• 5
  See Revelation 14:6–7.
• 6
  See Acts 6:11–14.
• 7
  I was recently struck while reading the prophet Daniel how central an understanding of the covenants is to discernment at the end of the age. The king of the north in Daniel 11 is someone whose heart is “set against the holy covenant” (v. 28), and he later “takes action against the holy covenant” (v. 30) and seduces “those who violate the covenant. But the people who know their God will stand firm and take action.” (v. 32) May we be counted among those who know our God and keep the holy covenant!
• 8
  The covenant with Noah is also described as everlasting in Genesis 9:16. Still, because it predates the covenant with Abraham and is with all humanity, I am leaving it out of this particular series.
• 9
  See 2 Corinthians 1:20.
• 10
  See Ephesians 3:9–10.
• 11
  See Luke 2:25, 38.