How Could It Take So Long To Come?

Some years ago. there was a cartoon in the funny papers in which Priscilla complained, “Christmas time has come and gone. It’s over, done with, past. How could it take so long to come and yet go by so fast!? Evidently, Priscilla did not excel in waiting.

When I was a boy, Christmas Eve was a long day for me. I wanted it to hurry by, so I could open my presents. Dad often had some activity for me to do. One Christmas Eve, we drove from town to the ranch to check on the sheep and the sheepherder. Another time, we went to the hills to go rabbit hunting. Another time we hauled hay to feed my uncle’s cattle at his ranch. Doing something helped the time pass faster.

Children anticipate Christmas with eagerness. There is the promise of a break from school, special activities, and presents. Sometimes, it is hard to wait. My oldest sister, Judy, didn’t. sometime during the Christmas season, perhaps when no one else was at home or we all were sleeping, she would slip into the living room and carefully cut the tape that held the wrapping paper around the presents. Then she opened the boxes and examined the contents. Afterwards, she would re-wrap the presents and place some Scotch tape exactly over the tape she had cut. 

Later, when we all opened our presents, she would pretend to be surprised when she opened hers. However, she often spoiled the delightful surprise of opening gifts for my other sister, by telling her what they had gotten.

Waiting is a part of life. God promised David that a Descendant of his would set up an everlasting kingdom (1 Chronicles 17:11-15). That promise was a millennium before Jesus was born. Two millennia later we are still waiting, anticipating that time when the promise will be fulfilled and Jesus will set up His kingdom here on earth.

Waiting is a part of Christmas. Six hundred and fifty years before Jesus was born, Isaiah prophesied that a virgin would bear a Son Who would be called Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14). In the same time frame, Micah prophesied that he would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Four centuries before Jesus was born, Malachi spoke of two messengers: the messenger (John the Baptist) who would prepare the way for the Messenger (Jesus) of the covenant (Malachi 3:1-6). The people of Israel waited a long time for their Messiah to be born.

But when Jesus was born in time (approximately 6 B.C.), on time (Galatians 4:4), and when He comes to set up His kingdom it will be for all time (Luke 1:33). Waiting may be hard for us, but we will not be disappointed when He comes. With the Thessalonians we are “to wait for His Son from heaven, Whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, Who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).