The Advent of the Christ
The Advent Of The Christ, is the creation of artist Alfred James Tulk, of Stamford, Connecticut. It adorns the Sanctuary of Advent Lutheran Church in York, Pennsylvania.
The artist’s conception of The Advent Of The Christ in our day is that, our Lord will come in an Aura of Heavenly Light bringing with him angels; one sounding the trumpet, the call of God; another displaying the scroll, the word of God; the third bearing the empty cross, the suffering love of God and the last holding the anchor, the hope of the Christian’s faith. They come to a world of war and peace.
In the center panel, the Light from Heaven reveals a ruined cathedral, a destroyed place of business, the shambles of a home and the liberating machines of war; also the captive woman bowed down by the weight of poverty and suffering, too weak to look up because of physical weakness and anguish, together with the human liberator giving his pledge of loyalty to the True Deliverer, while the Serpent who is the Devil, the father of lies, hate, slavery, hellish destruction and all evil, flees from the presence of the Lord.
In the right and left panels the Heavenly radiance brings to light the harmony and concord of peace. The church is the institution which preaches and teaches the suffering love of God and shares the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper to young and old. The home with its family signifies stability and is the hope of future generations. The Christian believers and the family welcome the coming of the Christ.
The man in the center panel is the father of the family on the right and the woman belongs to the group on the left.
The man at the extreme lower left with the money bags represents greed and selfishness while the one on the lower right with the pistol, crime and death. They, too, follow the example of the Devil and make a hasty departure from the presence of the Lord of Life, for their end is death.
When the Christ comes into a human life, community or world He brings the call of God, the Word of God, the suffering love of God and the hope of our faith in God. Those who love Him and welcome His coming will adore and worship Him. But the Devil, greed and selfishness, crime and death will flee at the coming of the Lord of Life, our Saviour, Jesus, the Christ.
by Rev. H. Walter Webner, A.B., B.D.
