Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text this morning is from Matthew’s Gospel, the 21st chapter:
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden…’” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Thus far the text.
Dear friends in Christ,
A strange text to have the first week of Advent, wouldn’t you think? Here we have the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem by the Christ, the time where He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, the sign of a conquering king coming back to His city, in order that Jesus might live out His final days before the crucifixion.
But, what is the point here? Well, the point is really what Advent is truly about. Advent is a time of waiting. Yes, we are looking forward to the day of Christmas, that mass of Christ, the Eucharist of Christ, the Lord’s Supper of Christ, where that Christmas morning we shall gather here before this altar and take and eat, and take and drink, the incarnate flesh and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
This Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified, broken, and bled out for us, is the one who came into this world and took on human flesh in His conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He was conceived in her, traveled down her fallopian tubes, and implanted in her womb, only to grow and be born nine months later. We look forward to celebrating this on that day. But it’s not here yet.
And that’s not all that Advent is about. It’s not about lights, or wreaths, or Christmas trees, or snow, or cold, or sleigh rides, or presents. It’s about waiting for the coming of the Christ. Imagine with me that you live 2,000 years ago. Imagine that you have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ, for indeed, He was not yet crucified. Your people have been awaiting the world’s redemption for thousands of years. You look at the Scriptures and see in them the promise of the coming Messiah, but He hasn’t yet come. You go to the temple, you offer your sacrifices, your praise, you go home, you keep hoping that someday, someday, the Messiah would finally come. Oh, and if you only had a glimpse of Him! Or what if He would be your own Son? What a wonderful blessing from God. Yet, you’re still waiting. He’s not yet here.
All of the sudden, you hear of this man, someone called Jesus, someone others are claiming to be the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the Nations, and you must go and see Him for yourself. You get caught up in the wonder of it all. Could it truly be the Messiah? Could this One be the Messiah? You lay your cloak and your branches down in front of Him as He travels into Jerusalem. You ignore every other duty at home, following this man around all week. And you watch as He is lifted up upon a tree, a cross, and there He breathes His last breath. So, sadly, you think, He’s not the Messiah, he’s just another man. The Messiah would save you from Roman rule, He would take you back as a nation and save you from all the foreigners. Instead, the priests just had Him killed. And when Jesus died, so, too, did all your hopes of the Messiah for the rest of time. It’s been too long. God doesn’t care any more.
And this is what Advent is all about. Advent is about Lent. Advent is about Good Friday. Jesus is and was the Messiah, but the way He would save His people didn’t look like what people expected. They expected a sword, they got a cross. They expected a Messiah’s army, they only saw Roman centurions. They wanted Jesus to take the world by storm, instead, all they got was a stupid solar eclipse and an earthquake.
And this is what we get. Only, we have the benefit of seeing the cross from three days later. Jesus’ story didn’t end on Good Friday. It didn’t even end on Easter Sunday. It didn’t even end on the Day of His Ascension. Jesus’ story continues, even today, and He has now made you a part of it. It seems as if it's taken forever, it seems as if God no longer cares, but He does. For He sent His Son for you.
Remember the expectation the Jews had and even have for the Messiah. This same expectation, this same hope, is the same hope that we have today, the same hope that leads us to joyfully expect the coming of Christ, even again for the second time. Even little Teegan, baptized today and welcomed into the Kingdom of Christ, even he, in his little body, by faith, is praying now, “Come, Lord Jesus. Come today. Come now. Take me home. I am ready for you. Come back and make yourself know to this world again. Declare your power. Declare your majesty.”
But, Christ already has. And He did that today in this baptism. Christ made clear His power, where by His own hand, Christ baptized little Teegan into His reign. He took Teegan’s Old Adam, that sinful flesh that you, Karsha and Travis, gave to him when you conceived him, and Christ did a new thing, a new act. He drowned that Old Adam, and gave Teegan Christ, the New Adam. This is the first part of Christ coming back. He continues to give Himself to us in this gift of baptism, He continues to give the gift of His cross to us through these waters and through the bread and wine of His Supper, which are His body and blood.
But this isn’t all. Christ also has promised to return. And so He shall. Just as He promised that when the chief priests destroyed the temple of Jesus’ body, Jesus Himself would raise it up in three days. And so He did. When a man promises that He will raise Himself from the dead, and He does, you should probably listen to Him and trust Him. So when Jesus promises to return, that’s money you can take to the bank.
And so, we look forward to this great and terrible day of Christ’s return. He shall not come again as He came before. Before, He came humble, riding on a donkey, declaring His victory over sin, death, and the devil before the war was even finished. When He returns again, He shall descend from on high, every eye shall see Him, and He shall declare His victory over all things. In that instant, everything shall be changed. We shall walk in the light of the Lord forever and ever.
The One who came to be incarnate in the womb of Mary will be among us again, still incarnate, still in the very human flesh He took once upon a time, and He shall sit among us. We shall learn all from Him. He shall be the royal judge, the King over all nations. And you shall indeed be there with Him. Those who are baptized and believe shall be saved. Teegan shall indeed be there for the faith that was given to him today, as it is stewarded by his parents, shall guide him to this great and final day. God does indeed care, and it is never too soon for this baptism, this coming of the Christ.
This is the day we look forward to. This is the day we await. We wait for the Advent, the coming, of our Lord for the second time. We, who are now imperfect sinners, and at the same time are still perfected saints in Christ, we shall awake from our slumbers and shall join the Lord in this eternal reign. This is what our baptisms lead to, this is where our hope is.
This day is not far off. I do not know when it will come. I do not know what you will be doing. I do not know if you shall be sleeping in the night, I do not know if you shall be sleeping in the earth, I do not know if you will be about your daily business. I do know that He desires to come back and find you serving your neighbor in righteousness and truth. I do know that the Lord Jesus Christ has claimed you for His own. And I do know that He desires that we look toward this great day.
I do know that we shall draw nearer and nearer to Jerusalem, that royal city, day by day, for this city is where our Royal King shall make His home, and He shall dwell there in peace and security for all within its walls, which shall stretch from the furthest side on the east to the furthest side to the west. It shall be an infinite city, one where we shall never lack for anything, but have all things in Him. We shall seek our brothers’ and sisters’ good for their sake. This is the picture we have of the last day. This is what Christ is returning to do.
But this day is not yet here. Sadly, it is not yet here. It will not be here until Christ’s work is finished in this sinful world. And so we must wait. So we wait. We wait with lights. We wait with wreaths. We wait with Christmas trees and snow and cold and sleigh rides and presents. We wait with family. We wait with friends. We wait with trials. We wait with tribulations. We wait with sin. We wait with all the things of this world. We wait. And we wait. And we wait. And one day, we shall wait no longer for this humble king of Jerusalem. For we, and all flesh, shall see Him together. We shall look to Mount Zion, and rejoice, for her king is home. And He is with us, Immanuel at last seen in our eyes. For the Incarnate One has returned at last to live among His people. Your eyes shall see Him and they shall be overjoyed, for you shall no longer be waiting. The wait is done; Jesus Christ will be here.
Until that day, rest in Him here. Rest in the gifts He has for you here. Rest in His Word. Rest in His Supper. Rest in His baptismal waters. Rest in His presence here in this congregation. And wait. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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