The Liberation at the Heart of Advent

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The Liberation at the Heart of Advent

Herb Montgomery | Novembrer 28, 2025

If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:

This weekend is the beginning of Advent season and our gospel reading in the Lectionary is from the gospel of Matthew:

But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the ddays of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. 

(Matthew 24:36-44)

Our first gospel passage of Advent this year is deeply rooted in the liberation hopes of Daniel’s “Son of Man” who would bring liberation for the oppressed, subjugated, and disenfranchised.

As I watched in the night visions,

I saw one like the Son of Man [a human being] 

coming with the clouds of heaven.

And he came to the Ancient One 

and was presented before him.

To him was given dominion

and glory and kingship,

that all peoples, nations, and languages

should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion

that shall not pass away,

and his kingship is one

that shall never be destroyed. (Dan 7:13)

In Daniel 7, the oppressive, unjust, and violent world empires of that time are represented by violent, fantastical beasts that are brought to judgement and replaced with the just reign of the Son of Man. It’s a transition away from predatory beasts to a world where our humanity, both oppressed and oppressor, has been reclaimed, thus represented by a “human being” or the “son of man.” By rooting the passage in Matthew in the imagery of Daniel 7, Matthew’s author is reminding readers that Jesus’ God is the God of the oppressed. As Mev Puleo wrote, “There’s an immediate relationship between God, oppression, liberation: God is in the poor who cry out. And God is the one who listens to the cry and liberates, so that the poor no longer need to cry out.” (Mev Puleo in Hune Margulies’ Will and Grace: Meditations on the Dialogical Philosophy of Martin Buber, p. 303.)

The imagery in Matthews of two groups with only one remaining reminds me of Matthew’s other parable where the sheep and the goats are separated, the goats are taken away, and the sheep remain. The condition in the parable that allows them to remain is the King’s statement “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).

That condition is empathy. The kind of liberation Jesus envisioned is a liberation rooted in empathy and embracing our neighbor as ourselves. The Christmas season follows Advent. One of my all-time favorite Christmas stories is Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol. I have loved its macabre challenge of classism and the economic exploitation of children, the poor, and laboring classes since I was young. In the scene where Scrooge is confronted by ignorance and want, we read:

“’Spirit! are they yours?’ Scrooge could say no more.
‘They are Man’s,’ said the Spirit, looking down upon them. ‘And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree; but most of all beware this boy [Ignorance], for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!’ cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. ‘Slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse! And bide the end!’”  – The Ghost of Christmas Present 

Liberation rooted in empathy is the path away from the crisis coming as we continue to strain the sustainability of our present system. The masses make less and less while the cost of living becomes more and more expensive. Jesus’ ministry stood in the long lineage of the Hebrew prophetic justice tradition, and those prophets from long ago cried out in ways that resonate with what we witness daily here in the U.S.: 

“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.” (Isaiah 10:1-2). 

People’s SNAP benefits were arbitrarily made a condition of the recent Government shutdown struggle while both Medicare and the Affordable Care Act, which puts healthcare in the reach of so many, are threatened. Standing in that prophetic justice tradition, Luke’s Jesus echoes the words of the prophet Isaiah when he states, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).

Advent is our annual reminder of what James H. Cone wrote decades ago: “There can be no Christian theology that is not identified unreservedly with those who are humiliated and abused. In fact, theology ceases to be a theology of the gospel when it fails to arise out of the community of the oppressed. For it is impossible to speak of the God of Israelite history, who is the God revealed in Jesus Christ, without recognizing that God is the God of and for those who labor and are overladen” (James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation, p. 18).

Cone repeats this theme years later in his career in God of the Oppressed, expanding what it means in our context today:

“There can be no Christian theology that is not social and political. If theology is to speak about the God of Jesus who is revealed in the struggle of the oppressed for freedom, then theology must also become political, speaking for the God of the poor and the oppressed.” (James H. Cone; God of the Oppressed, p. 75)

Jesus is too often only envisioned as a peacemaker who accepted everybody. But this fails to take in the story in its entirety. Peacemakers who accept everybody don’t end up on Roman crosses. Jesus’ teachings and actions were rooted in his alternative social vision for his society. Jesus did not preach personal piety that left the status quo unchallenged, uncritiqued, or unchanged. He called his followers to a social vision that included the distributive justice found in Torah that many of those in his society had either forgotten or were choosing to ignore. He called this vision the kingdom, proclaimed it had come near (Advent), and invited his listeners to follow him in being a part of it. 

Today, too many Christians want to claim Jesus so they can go to heaven but leave Jesus’ politics alone because it threatens their privilege, their power, or their social standing. Advent reminds us that Christianity’s gospel is rooted in a Jesus who proclaimed the advent of liberation for the oppressed and the beginning of a whole new world where injustice, violence and oppression are replaced by loving one’s neighbor as oneself and relating our neighbor as we would like our neighbor to relate to us.  Anything less is a failure to grasp Jesus in his entirety. 

I’ll close with one more quotation from Dr. Cone that it would be life-giving for us, this Advent season, to meditate on.  

After all, are we not all oppressed, especially those who think that their freedom is found in social, political, and economic domination of others? Although these questions point to an essential truth of the gospel of liberation, they have been used by oppressors for untruth. The untruth of these questions lies in the subjective and often undisclosed intention of the people who ask them. While pretending to be concerned about the universal character of the human condition, oppressors are in fact concerned to justify their own particular status in society. They want to be oppressors and Christians at the same time. Since the oppressed are the only true Christians, oppressors claim to be victims, not for the purpose of being liberated but for their own social interests in retaining a ‘Christian’ identity while being against Jesus Christ. This is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer in another context called ‘cheap grace.’ I call it hypocrisy and blasphemy. (James H. Cone, God of the Oppressed, p. 136)

What does it mean this Advent season for us, together, to be a part of the advent of justice for the marginalized, oppressed, and disenfranchised?

Discussion Group Questions

1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.

2. What is Advent calling you to remember this season? Share and discuss with your group.

3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone? 

Thanks for checking in with us, today.

I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate. 

My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.

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Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.

I love each of you dearly,

I’ll see you next week.

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New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast

A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice. 

This week:

Season 2 Episode 48: The Liberation at the Heart of Advent

Matthew 24:36-44

“Today, too many Christians want to claim Jesus so they can go to heaven but leave Jesus’ politics alone because it threatens their privilege, their power, or their social standing. Advent reminds us that Christianity’s gospel is rooted in a Jesus who proclaimed the advent of liberation for the oppressed and the beginning of a whole new world where injustice, violence and oppression are replaced by loving one’s neighbor as oneself and relating to our neighbor as we would like our neighbor to relate to us.  Anything less is a failure to grasp Jesus in his entirety.”

Available on all major podcast carriers and at:

https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/the-liberation-at-the-heart-of-advent

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Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.

 

by Herb Montgomery

Available now on Amazon!

In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.

Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.

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