Advent 2022: Realized Expectation

Isaiah 40:3-5 CSB

³ A voice of one crying out: Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness;

make a straight highway for our God in the desert. ⁴ Every valley will be lifted up,

and every mountain and hill will be leveled; the uneven ground will become smooth

and the rough places, a plain. ⁵ And the glory of the Lord will appear,

and all humanity together will see it, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Matthew 3:1-3 CSB

¹ In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea ² and saying, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!” ³ For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said:

A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
Prepare the way for the Lord;
make his paths straight!

Revelation 19:7-9 CSB

⁷ Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself.

⁸ She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure. For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.

⁹ Then he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb!” He also said to me, “These words of God are true.”

John 1:29, 35-38 CSB

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁵ The next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this and followed Jesus. ³⁸ When Jesus turned and noticed them following him, he asked them, “What are you looking for?”

Isaiah 53:6-7 CSB

⁶ We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all. ⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth.

1 Peter 1:18-21 CSB

¹⁸ For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb. ²⁰ He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was revealed in these last times for you. ²¹ Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.