Pastor Nathan Bickel Passed Away Today

Pastor Nathan Bickel

During the week I learned from his wife Joyce that Pastor Nathan Bickel was receiving home hospice care, after many hospitalizations. Nathan and Joyce participated in the service on Ustream last Sunday.

I mentioned in today's sermon that on a given Sunday, it may be first time someone hears the Gospel - or the last time.

Last Sunday was Nathan's last time at a worship service. He passed into eternal life this morning, at home.

We never met, but we were in touch during his early days of blogging. We had many friendly conversations via email during that time. I often linked his blog and gave him information for his political posts. I did not want to debate politics on this blog because there were so many other outlets for that.

As I have written many times before, streaming video is a great way to send the Means of Grace via the Internet for a very low cost. We pay a monthly fee and members have contributed toward getting the right equipment. I suggested the same to Pastor Paul Rydecki and anyone else who would listen.

Joyce wrote me that she would continue with our services. Others have added their names recently, which is quite gratifying.

In the end, what really matters to us? Eternal qualities matter most, and material things mean so little. God gives us forgiveness through faith in the Savior and blesses us in countless ways.

 Note the current website for Norma A. Boeckler -
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/norma-boeckler.html

The First Sunday in Advent, 20`7. Matthew 21:1-9. The King Arrives To Defeat Satan

 Norma A. Boeckler

The First Sunday in Advent, 2017

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time

The Hymn # 245            God Loved the World  
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual 
The Gospel 
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn # 290      We Have A Sure  



The Hymn #306                  Lord Jesus Christ
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #68            The Advent of Our King 

KJV Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

KJV Matthew 21:1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. 4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. 6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. 8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.


First Sunday in Advent - From the Collects of Veit Dietrich
Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank Thee, we bless and praise Thee forever, that Thou didst send Thy Son to rule over us poor sinners, who for our transgressions did justly deserve to remain in the bondage of sin and Satan, and didst give us in Him a meek and righteous King, who by His death became our Savior from sin and eternal death: We beseech Thee so to enlighten, govern and direct us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may ever remain faithful to this righteous King and Savior, and not, after the manner of the world, be offended with His humble form and despised word, but, firmly believing in Him, obtain eternal salvation; through the same, Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

The King Arrives To Defeat Satan

KJV Matthew 21:1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,

The final journey to Jerusalem is so important that each Gospel devotes roughly 25% of its content to this time. Therefore, everything before can be considered an introduction to the death and resurrection of Christ.

Decades ago, one member said to me, "I never heard this before." She was referring to the information that the raising of Lazarus was the fuse that lit the Passion narrative. 

1. The event took place near Jerusalem.
2. Lazarus was a wealthy and well connected man.
3. Lazarus came with Jesus and was also targeted to be killed.

These details are revealed in the Fourth Gospel, with this statement by Jesus, that He had completed His mission by raising Lazarus. In other words, that was the final step in the Passion of Christ, The response was inevitable.

Jesus and the disciples knew that the powers in Jerusalem were utterly hostile and violent, yet He made arrangements to enter that situation and make clear His role as the Messiah.

As Luther said in his introduction to this sermon, a large part of the world has a superficial faith where they only know the basic details but do not apply this information to themselves. Thus it is not genuine faith at all. Genuine faith in Christ means not only that Jesus was born of a Virgin, died on the cross, and rose from the dead, but also that "He died for my sins, taking them all on Himself, so that I may be forgiven through faith, saved, and given eternal life with Him."

If we turn a gimlet eye at Christmas celebrations, we can detect the superficial view as the norm. Some use the decorations themselves to mock the Incarnation. Some may a point of enjoying the season without naming it. I always get broad smiles in my classes by asking -

1. "Does anyone get winter presents?
2. Does anyone say Merry Winter?
3. Does anyone celebrate winter?
4. Therefore, it is the Christmas break and not anything else. I refused to print or say Winter Break until the above happens."

The mainline denominations - which include the synodical Lutherans - encourage a superficial faith as a cover for no faith at all. So we must always emphasize God creating faith in us through the Gospel and sustaining it through the invisible and visible Word of preaching, teaching, and the Sacraments.

A sincere faith recognizes and confesses, "Jesus died for my sins, took them completely away, and made me a member of His family, His dear Father as my Father, Jesus as my loving brother."

Details All Planned and Executed
The superficial will find fault with all kinds of unusual details of Jesus' arrival, but they are revealed to us to show how this was all planned and predicted centuries in advance, so that everyone in Judaism and those attracted to Judaism would know that salvation had arrived precisely as God promised it would.

Some background is simply so impressive that we can hardly imagine how this could be anything but God's plan. Alexander the Great conquered the world 300 years before Christ. Before that, all the world was divided by languages. Alexander united those countries and tribes with the Greek language, which he made the language of commerce and educated people. Thus the translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek made it a Book for the world, not just for the Jews. So Jesus spoke Greek to the masses and the apostles communicated in Greek, the universal language. 

We think of Palestine as ruled by the Romans during the ministry of Jesus, and it was, but first it was ruled by the Greek general who served under Alexander.

2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.


So this is an important detail to add to the entry to Jerusalem. The people knew the Messianic verses, so the arrival was not ordinary. In fact, Judas Maccabeus made a point of entering Jerusalem the same way, but he could not claim what was not his. He won them independence for a time, but the Maccabean kingdom was short and ended up in Roman rule.

The animals would show people that Jesus, after raising Lazarus from the dead, was divine, a miracle worker unlike anyone else, and the promised Messiah.  

The Old and New Testaments support each other so much that the Old Testament does not make much sense without giving due credit to the Messianic Promises. Necessarily, the non-believers dismiss them and disconnect the Promises from the fulfillment in the New Testament. That has even been done among the Lutherans, where one LCMS commentary denied the Messianic Psalms. And the indifferent buy books for their congregations from ELCA, a sect that denies everything.

We should think of the Exodus in terms of Jesus' divinity, because it begins with the I AM in the Burning Bush. Many centuries later, Jesus said, "Before Abraham was, I AM." In other words, He is the Voice in the Burning Burning saying that the Name of God is - I AM.

Every aspect of the Exodus speaks to coming of the Messiah - the blood sparing them them from the Angel of Death, the spotless lamb, the water from the rock (baptism), and the bread from heaven (communion). Most importantly, the strange serpent raised up is a hint at Jesus being raised up and John 3:16. Thus that particular episode makes little sense until the Atonement. That is why so many conversions took place immediately after the Resurrection of Christ, from the preaching of the apostles.

Each details builds our individual faith because we see how much God did over the centuries to teach us every detail of the Gospel of Christ.

4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.

As Lenski noted, that Old Testament was fulfilled the moment the animals were obtained, most likely from someone Jesus knew well. "The Lord" was enough to get the animals for Jesus. Jesus sat on them because they went together, mother and child, and belonged together in the prophecy. 

The Old Testament Christians were those who believed in the Messiah before the Incarnation - beginning with Abraham. We can hardly picture the excited - and antagonism - caused by Jesus fulfilling the Old Testament after showing His divine power over death.

But He came in meekness, which was on display as He let the events of the Passion take place, even warning the villains what He could do if He wished. The antagonists hated Him all the more and sought to silence Him forever. They would show their power over Him, which meant He showed His power over them by rising from the dead.

The quality of Jesus here - meekness - is what He also taught His followers - "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

So He did not triumph with earthly power and might, but with meekness and lowliness. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly. And you will find rest for your souls."

Matthew 11:29King James Version (KJV)Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

The qualities of Jesus are the ones we should aspire to have, though faith. That is what gives us comfort and peace, because no human can ever exact revenge with true justice. And yet God does this without our help.

Thus peace of mind is the greatest gift God can give us, and that peace comes from forgiveness through faith in Him.

We were laughing about how the Bank of Evil accepted a debit from a card that was expired, when the account was very low. So they said, "Oh you owe us for that charge and for going in the red" (which they caused). And then they said, "Oh you have not paid that debt, so we are charging you another $30." If they had not stopped I would be in the news for equaling the national debt from a $25 debit against a $10 balance.

Thus people look at the debts accumulating - their sins - and growing no matter what they do. Just the opposite is true. The Holy Spirit forgives us our debts - completely - each and every day. Those who neglect the Gospel forget this, take it for granted, grow cold and eventually hostile against the Gospel they once appreciated. But hearing the Gospel builds faith and repairs the wounds of the day. The Gospel teaches us to be meek and lowly and to suppress the Old Adam.

And every time the Old Adam makes a startling re-appearance, we see how great it is to be forgiven through Christ, to understand how much He did to gather us and keep us in His flock.

6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.

So the disciples fulfilled the arrangements for this triumph as surely as any presidential motorcade. Warriors rode horses into a city. Jesus came in meekness. Those who knew about the raising of Lazarus came out of the city to meet Jesus and Lazarus, who came along. Those who saw the miracle followed Jesus from Bethany. (Lenski is especially good at noting the meaning of this miracle.)

We use this text or something similar for Palm Sunday, but it is also worthwhile in considering for Christmas. The birth of Jesus is just as meek and lowly - completely unthreatening, always appealing to all ages, especially children.

Parents have observed that a toddler barely old enough speak will say, "Look, a beebee." And they are delighted by the tiny one, who is so helpless and dependent. The toddler is already strong enough to toddle away and say no or play deaf. So a baby is a striking contrast to their grown up status, even when they still ear pull-up diapers.

So the entrance to Jerusalem is a recapitulation of the Birth of Jesus in certain ways. Some see exactly what it means. To others, it is one more bothersome commotion, if they even take note of it.

8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

This was a royal welcome, and it included the children, whose faith was expressed by their own shouts and exclamations. The rationalists say Jesus did not consider Himself the Messiah, so why did He enter precisely as promised? Don't bother me with the facts, they say. They troop off to find another problem.

The moment David was designated the future king, coming from Bethlehem, the path was set, about 1000 years before Christ. And that was preceded by Abraham believing God's Promise of an everlasting and growing Kingdom, centuries before that. And it started with the Promise of a Savior when Adam and Eve fell into sin.

As Luther taught from the Scriptures, it begins with faith. God gives us that faith when He commands, and this faith produces the fruits of the Spirit, because it is God's energy, the Gospel energy in the fruits of the Spirit.

Norma A. Boeckler