First Sunday in Advent

First Sunday in Advent (A)

November 27, 2022

Text: Matt. 21:1-11

            The Lord Jesus Christ comes to you this morning, here, in this place, as surely as He came that day to the Palm Sunday crowd in Jerusalem.  Then, He rode upon a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey, the King who comes in peace and humility.  Now, He comes in Words and water, bread and wine, by humble means, the Son of David, the Son of God, to grant you peace.

            His peace.  Peace with God.  The peace of sins forgiven.  The peace of righteousness, life, and salvation.  Peace in the midst of sorrow.  Peace in the midst of pain.  Peace in the midst of turmoil and fear.  Peace even when your world is crumbling around you; even when you suffer violence; even when your body wears out and breaks down; even as creation groans in eager expectation of the revealing of the sons of God; and we, ourselves, groan with the help of the Spirit, who carries our prayers as incense before the throne of our Father in heaven.

            The Good News of Advent, which means coming, is that Jesus comes to us, God in human flesh, not to obliterate us in our sins and damn us to eternal death as we deserve, but to raise us up from death, to heal our brokenness, and give us eternal life in His Kingdom as dearly loved children of God. 

            That is why King Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, and not upon a steed.  Kings ride in on warhorses to conquer and enslave the people.  But when kings ride in in humility, it is to bring peace and blessing.  Solomon rode into Jerusalem on David’s mule, to usher in an age of peace and prosperity (1 Kings 1).  Jesus rides upon a meeker animal yet, to usher in eternal peace and prosperity.  Balaam’s donkey laid down under her burden in obedience to the Angel of the Lord.  She spoke God’s Law to Balaam, to warn him against the path of cursing, which leads to death (Num. 22).  Our Lord’s donkey carries Him into the Holy City in obedience to her Master and Creator.  She carries God on her back, who comes to His people with life and salvation.

            So our King comes to us here and now, riding in upon the meek vessels of His Word and Sacraments.  He does not ride in with a blaze of glory, to terrify us and punish us.  To be sure, He opens the mouth of His beast of burden to announce His holy Law from this pulpit, warning you against the way of cursing that leads to death.  That Word, please God, stops you dead in your sinful and rebellious tracks.  But this is to open your ears to the proclamation of His joyful tidings of life and peace.  Join Him on the road as He goes His way, the way of the cross, the way of resurrection, the way of your blessing and redemption.

            Then He rode into Jerusalem, knowing full well what would happen.  Jesus had shown His disciples “that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Matt. 16:21; ESV).  His disciples protested.  Suffer?  Be killed?  No, Jesus, raise an army and let’s go show those people Your power and set things right.  Peter even rebuked Him, “Far be it from you, Lord!   This shall never happen to you” (v. 22), this suffering and death business… Which merited for Peter the stinging reproach, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are hindrance to me.  For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (v. 23).  The things of man never include the cross.  And, as a result, they never include the resurrection.  The things of God come to fulfillment precisely through the cross.  The Son of God came in the flesh of men for this very purpose, to suffer and die for our salvation, and on the Third Day be raised.  And nothing, and no one, should hinder Him from His goal.  He does it for the joy that is set before Him, the joy of winning for Himself a Kingdom and bringing us into it.

            Now He rides into His Church, and He knows our own objections, the way we have in mind the things of man, rather than the things of God.  Our Lord’s death and resurrection for our salvation is accomplished fact, but here He would deliver the benefits of His saving work to us in Baptism, preaching, and Supper, in Scripture, and liturgy, and in the Communion of Saints.  But we think it’s all so mundane.  Routine.  Dull.  We’ve heard it all before.  We’ve done it all before.  Another Church Year, this First Sunday in Advent, and it’s the same old thing.  We want some fireworks.  Some manifestation of Jesus’ glory.  Excitement.  Spectacular experience.  Fire from heaven.  An army for the Lord, to show those people God’s power, and put sinners in their place.  And Jesus has to say to us, “Get behind Me, Satan!  You are hindering Me from delivering My gifts to you in the way that I have purposed to give them.”  The things of man never include such humble, mundane means.  It is all too ordinary for us.  But the things of God are delivered precisely through these mundane, ordinary means.  The Son of God comes among us in the flesh, to wash us clean from our sins in Baptism, and in Absolution, which is always a return to Baptism.  To bespeak us righteous in the preaching of His Gospel.  To feed us with His own crucified and risen body and blood in His Supper.  He comes among us here and now, in the flesh, for this very purpose, to enliven and strengthen us through these Gospel gifts.  And nothing, and no one, should hinder Him from His goal.  He does it for the joy that is set before Him, the joy of making us His own, to live under Him in His Kingdom, and to serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.

            See, He really is our Savior… from sin, absolutely, but if we’re not careful, we’ll turn that into too theoretical a term.  We don’t always stop to think about what that means, concretely.  He really is our Savior, come to save us… from all of this stuff to which sin has condemned us in this world and beyond.  All the stuff you read in the news.  All the stuff going on in your body, your mind, your heart, your soul, that brings about so much sadness, because it’s all so broken.  All the stuff between you and other people that is broken.  All the destruction.  All the rebellion.  All the bitterness and anger and vitriol that marks this fallen world, and is a foretaste of hell.  Jesus saves us from all of that.  In the nick of time.  He shows up on the scene.  He comes.  And He suffers all of it on the cross.  He suffers for all of it on the cross.  He sheds His blood for it on the cross.  And He covers it over with His blood, here and now, in His Word and Sacraments.  And He calls you to something better.  To follow Him on the way that leads through suffering and the cross, to be sure.  But to resurrection.  The way of faith.  The way of hope.  The way of love.  The way of Jesus Christ. 

            So, how should we greet Him, then, as He comes?  Like the Palm Sunday crowds, we should strip off and spread before Him our sin-stained cloaks… that is, we should “cast off the works of darkness” (Rom. 13:12): orgies, drunkenness, sexual immorality, sensuality, quarrelling, jealousy, and the like… the things St. Paul warns us against in our Epistle (v. 13).  And we should strew our palms before Him, the symbol of His victory and of new life… that is, faith!  We should “put on the armor of light” (v. 12)… “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 14) by Baptism and faith and immersion in His Word.  We should make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires (v. 14), which is the old way of darkness and death.  Let Balaam’s braying beast talk you out of taking that road.  And we should make every provision for the new man, created anew in Christ Jesus… for gladly hearing and learning God’s Word, and receiving, at every opportunity, the precious Gospel gifts He gives us in His Word and in the holy Sacraments.  That is the new way the Lord has given us to go.  His way.  The way of life and light. 

            And with the Palm Sunday crowds, we should join the festal shout: “Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest!” (Matt. 21:9).  “Hosanna,” that is, save us now!  And Psalm 118, the Passover Psalm, the Psalm Jesus fulfills in His Passion and Resurrection, the Psalm we sing in the Sanctus every time we gather around His altar to feast on the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world: “Blessed is He who comes,” literally, in the flesh, under bread and wine, “in the Name of the Lord,” God’s own Son, bearing His Name, speaking for Him, making peace in His Name between heaven and earth, and bestowing that Name upon us: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  We should take up that Name, and the One who comes in that Name, and cling to Him by faith for our very eternal lives. 

            Advent is all about preparation for receiving Jesus as He comes.  That means Christmas: He comes as a Baby into our flesh, to suffer and die for the forgiveness of our sins.  And, on the Third Day, to rise again.  And that means here in the Church, in the Means of Grace: He comes in Words and water and bread and wine, to deliver to us His life and salvation. 

            But there is yet another coming, we know, soon, when He will come, no longer in humility and meekness, but in glory with His holy angels, to judge the living and the dead.  But we know that because of Christmas, and because of His continual coming to us here, in His Church, that coming is tremendously Good News for us.  On that Day, He will raise us and all the dead, and give eternal life to us and all believers in Christ.  That is the destination to which this road is taking us as we follow Him… the visible coming again of Jesus Christ.  Well… we want to be ready.  So there is Advent.  Advent is the season of preparation for all three modes of His coming to us.  St. John the Baptist will lead us in this preparation over the next two Sundays by His preaching of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.  And then there are the Advent midweek services, and the special devotions.  Beloved, I urge you not to neglect these opportunities for preparation and edification.  For in them, Jesus Christ Himself comes to you, in the flesh, to bring you His gifts of life and light.  Receive Him with joy.  Go to Church.  Read your Bible.  Live every moment in Him.  And rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.  Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem.  Behold, your King, Jesus, is coming to you this very moment.  Righteous and having salvation.  Humble and mounted on bread and wine.  His true body.  His true blood.  He comes, Jesus comes, here and now, for you.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.