The First Sunday in Advent, 2018
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Hymn # 245 God Loved the World The Confession of SinsThe AbsolutionThe Introit p. 16The Gloria PatriThe Kyrie p. 17The Gloria in ExcelsisThe Salutation and Collect p. 19The Epistle and Gradual The Gospel Glory be to Thee, O Lord!Praise be to Thee, O Christ!The Nicene Creed p. 22The Sermon Hymn # 290 We Have A Sure Behold Your King!The Hymn #306 Lord Jesus ChristThe Preface p. 24The Sanctus p. 26The Lord's Prayer p. 27The Words of InstitutionThe Agnus Dei p. 28The Nunc Dimittis p. 29The Benediction p. 31The 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 DietrichLord 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.
Background for the Sermon
Luther wrote about the false expectations for the Messiah. As one rabbi told our Sunday School class (when I was a lad) - "We do not believe Jesus was the Messiah because the world is not a perfect place. That is what we expect from the Messiah."
Evidence shows that expectations were materialistic - freedom from the Roman oppression, miraculous abundance, and a kingship like David's. Many kingdoms have had leaders who were warrior priests - the head of their religion and the commander in chief. The Byzantine Emperors lost their credibility if they rode a chariot instead of a charger into battle. A chariot was more like a taxi to them - not heroic.
The Zealot war that broke out 40 years after the resurrection of Christ is an example of expectations. Before Christ, the Maccabean reign had Messianic overtones, too.
A Notre Dame graduate (R. Ruether, The Radical Kingdom) made a good point about Messianic hopes being behind Jewish political and social activism. Marxism is a secular form of Messianic hopes. The Social Gospel that blossomed into the Franklin Roosevelt administration came from liberal rationalists like Walter Rauschenbusch who reinterpreted the Gospel in materialistic terms, so that congregations and church bodies would change society with laws that forced righteousness on people (child labor, pure foods and drugs, protection of labor unions).
Human reason sees all these matters in a materialistic way. Faith does not begin with human reason but with God's Word and miracles. An MD/PhD from Yale laughed at the rationalistic claim,"I cannot accept a miracle unless it can be reproduced in a lab." He said, "Of course a miracle cannot be reproduced in a lab. That is why we call it - a miracle."
Rationalism is revealed when someone says, "I cannot believe it unless it is already true." That means - for him - that forgiveness is only true if he and everyone else in the world is already forgiven. Not surprisingly, that comes from Pietism turning into rationalism. We do not tell God how something becomes true or why it is true - that is His realm alone.
Behold Your King!
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.
Jesus was preparing to enter Jerusalem to announce His reign as the Messiah, but not as the earthly Messiah of many dreams. Cultures have heroes from the past, and they dream of those glorious days being repeated. Israel was a captive nation only recently. Earlier the Maccabeans made Israel independent. Long before that, King David ruled over a united Kingdom. He was the model as a religious leader and warrior.
As we often read in Matthew, this was done to fulfill the Scriptures. Someone could say, "Jesus, like the Maccabean, rode this way to show Himself as the Messiah. He knew what to emulate." But we have to look at all the prophecies together to see how human history was guided toward this event and founded the Christian Church on those Old Testament Promises.
Therefore, it is simply impossible to have all the Promises fulfilled without this being the divine will of God. Thus the Old Testament is just as much a sermon about Jesus as the New Testament is. It began with Genesis 3:15 and God promising the Savior. Eve responded in faith, though mistaken, "Today I have given birth to a son - God." (Genesis 4:1) That is the clear meaning of the Hebrew, though translator like to make that "with the help of God," though "with the help of" is curiously missing from the actual text. Not much later, in the Biblical sense of time, Abraham was justified by faith because he believed the Promise of the Messiah coming from his future son. Genesis 15:6. God promised this Messiah before Abraham had a son, so we can see how far ahead His Promises are made and kept.
Lenski, Matthew, p. 800f.
John materially supplements the accounts of the synoptists which he assumes are well known to his readers. From him we learn that the day is the Sunday before Jesus' death. While Jesus makes ready to ride into Jerusalem, the multitude of festival pilgrims, having heard of his coming, starts out to meet and to receive him
(John 12:12). In v. 9 two multitudes are referred to: one that was with Jesus, and another that went out to meet him. John makes this point clear. From him we also learn that the enthusiasm grew so high because of the raising of Lazarus and that, after spending the Sabbath in Bethany, Jesus started from this village for
his entry into the city.
So the excitement was contagious and overwhelming, giving us a paradox. On the one hand, the raising of Lazarus convinced people of His Messianic status. But on the other hand, that initial faith was easily swept away by the terror of Imperial Rome arresting, torturing, and executing Jesus. Dame Reason said to them, "This cannot be the Son of David. Rome quashed and crushed Jesus."
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.
As Lenski goes on to say, the moment Jesus commanded that the animals be brought was the fulfilling of the Zechariah 9:9 prophesy.
Although the Passion was a short time of panic and disbelief, the complete narrative showed the disciples the Promises fulfilled in that week, as the risen Lord explained to them on the road to Emmaus and afterwards.
2. This Gospel encourages and demands faith, for it prefigures Christ coming with grace, whom none may receive or accept save he who believes him to be the man, and has the mind, as this Gospel portrays in Christ. Nothing but the mercy, tenderness and kindness of Christ are here shown, and he who so receives and believes on him is saved. He sits not upon a proud steed, an animal of war, nor does he come in great pomp and power, but sitting upon an ass, an animal of peace fit only for burdens and labor and a help to man. He indicates by this that he comes not to frighten man, nor to drive or crush him, but to help him and to carry his burden for him. And although it was the custom of the country to ride on asses and to use horses for war, as the Scriptures often tell us, yet here the object is to show that the entrance of this king shall be meek and lowly.
The Jewish people always expected the Son of David to be a royal figure, but here the Messiah enters Jerusalem as the Prince of Peace and King of Grace. The world admires power and trusts in military force, but those examples of power never last. There is only one everlasting and ever-growing kingdom, the Kingdom of God.
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.
We are tempted to say, "How futile!" when the same crowds turned against Him. However, this is a great announcement nevertheless and one that would ring out through the ages. The divinity of Christ was so apparent in His miracles and raising of Lazarus that the people flocked to Him and the opponents counseled against Him and against Lazarus, living walking proof of Jesus' power.
The raising of Lazarus made people confess, "He is the Son of David. The Promises are fulfilled before our eyes."
But we have to acknowledge too, Luther's great statement, that wherever the Gospel gains a foothold, there is Satanic opposition. Witness the utter silence of all the Lutheran sources that his sermons can be obtained at the price of a used book (the kind I buy for friends - $5 or so, often less).
The same will be true when all the Kindle e-book versions are 99 cents. No one is going to say, "Isn't this great, a color-illustrated set of Lenker's Luther's Sermons, for only 99 cents each?!" Dead silence will reign, if only to show how opposed people are to genuine Biblical Christianity.
The Gospel enjoyed a brief reign in Jerusalem until persecution rose up again and drove the early Christians away, but that saved them from the Roman Imperial Army.
Gospel Causes Faith -- The Holy Spirit in the Word
The power of God is so great that He creates and builds faith through the Gospel Promises. The Holy Spirit is always at work in the Word, so those who desire God's grace only need to dwell on the Means of Grace, avoiding those who attack the Word.
Sometimes a person will say, "If only I had your faith!" But that is the wrong attitude. Faith is increased by the source of faith - God's gracious Promises.
That is where we especially need to see what the opening of John's Gospel says - The Son is the exegete of the Father - He narrates the true nature of His Father.
That is true to such an extent that when we think about the kindness and protection of the Good Shepherd, that is also the nature of the Father.
Jesus drew a large crowd of reprobates, the same ones shunned by the works-righteous Pharisees. Why? These ne'er-do-wells were attracted by His kindly and forgiving nature. That is the nature of the Father.
