As Christians we must be anticipating the second advent of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote that we should be, “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
There were people looking for the first advent of Christ when He came to earth not in glory, but in great humility. Among those who were waiting was a man named Simeon, and a woman named Anna or Hannah, a prophetess (Luke 2:25-38). Both of these people were privileged to see the infant, Jesus, when His parents in obedience to God brought Him into the temple to do for Him according to the custom of the law. It was not until they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord that they returned to their home in Nazareth (2:39).
Anna, a faithful widow who served God day and night in the temple, gave thanks when she saw Jesus (Luke 2:36-38). And she then spoke of Him to all those in Jerusalem who looked for redemption. To redeem is to set free on the payment of a ransom. The word is sometimes used without reference to the ransom paid; for example, God redeemed or set Israel free from their bondage in Egypt. Anna was probably looking for the Messiah to set free or redeem His people from their enemies which at that time was the Romans. It seems that the disciples on the road to Emmaus were also looking for that kind of redemption (Luke 24:21).
In His first advent, Jesus did not redeem His people from their enemies, but from their sins (Mat 1:21; Eph 1:7; 1Pet 1:18). We who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ are looking for Him to come the second time when our redemption will be complete. Jesus said, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28).