First Week of Advent: The Web-Woven Nations

“On this mountain He will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, The web that is woven over all nations; He will destroy death forever.” ~Isaiah 25:7-8a

Spider webs, by God’s design, are created to be sticky. As spiders spin their webs, they wrap onto seemingly inaccessible surfaces. If the light doesn’t strike them just right, you may find yourself walking straight into one. What appears to be flimsy contains surprising durability. If the web touches you, it will be hard to get off.

When sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, death was the outcome. Saint Paul, in his letter to the Romans, explains “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned” (5:12). Like a spider’s web, death spun and spread unchecked until it held captive the entirety of creation.

The First Week of Advent and the Web-Woven Nations

It was no coincidence when Christ died on the cross that the veil, separating the Holy of Holies, was torn in half. God’s plan was made known to His people from the beginning (Genesis 3:15); He would vanquish death by cutting the web which could no longer trap His beloved creation in death. Forevermore, death would be defeated through Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross.

Jesus’s birth, life, death, and resurrection affect an indelible change on all who know of Him. Advent is special because we celebrate the beginning of God’s salvific work through His Son Jesus Christ. This first week of Advent, let the prophetic fulfillment of Jesus’s birth cause you to realize He can reach you where you feel most inaccessible, you don’t encounter Him on accident, His awesome power is unbreakable, and He will always stick with you.

Always improve the present moment.