Category: Advent 1

Jesus Comes in a Manner We May Receive Him

12/4/2024

Holy Gospel: Matthew 21:1-9
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 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. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5 “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.’ ”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

Ad Te Levavi (Advent 1)
Matthew 21:1-9
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
December 1, 2024

“Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.” With these words, the prophet Zechariah not only perfectly predicted Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem 500 years before it happened, but he described Jesus’ entire earthly ministry. Jesus comes to His own in great humility. Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 20, “The Son of Man came not to be served by to serve, and give His life as a ransom for many.” (vs. 28) Except Scripture told us that He would come in this way, we would never believe it. This is not how we would expect a great king, let alone our God to come to us. We do not treat each other in this manner. Rather, when we are offended, we lord it over the one who offends us. If someone does us wrong, we hold it against him and cut him out of our lives. If my brother sins against me, I’m not going to seek him out to be reconciled with him, rather, I’m going to wait for him to come groveling back to me to apologize. And if I think he is sorry enough, then I just might forgive him. But if not, he’s dead to me. That’s how we want to treat each other. We aren’t patient. We aren’t understanding of others’ weaknesses. We remember their sins. We get frustrated that they don’t understand things as we understand them. Although we are all men and women of the dust, who have our own sins, and will soon return to the dust, we exalt ourselves above others instead of treating them with humility and kindness.
Yet, not so with Christ. He is the very Lord of heaven. By Him all things were created and are held together. He shares equal glory and honor with God the Father and Holy Spirit. He is worthy of worship from all angels, humans, indeed, from all creation. Yet, He comes to us lowly, in great humility, to us who have sinned against Him in every way imaginable and deserve His just wrath against us. For us, Christ was born in a stable and endured rough straw for His first bed. He was raised in poverty, often fleeing from danger with His mother Mary and His foster-father Joseph. He endured hunger, thirst, and temptation for us. He had no place to lay His head to rest. And finally, He endured the shame of the cross, willingly, for our sake. He came to His own, who had rejected Him. Sought out the lost sheep. Welcomed sinners into His embrace. And He died for them. All this is summed up in those words of Zechariah, “Behold, your king is coming to you, humble.” The Son of God came in human flesh as a descendant and rightful heir of King David, so that He might serve us and lay down His life for us.
Yet, this prophesy does not only describe Jesus’ coming in human flesh to gain our salvation through His obedience and death. This prophesy describes the manner of Christ’s coming to us now in grace. The daughters of Jerusalem and Zion are not the inhabitants of the city Jerusalem, but the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, the Holy Christian Church. As Jesus humbly rode into Jerusalem upon a donkey, He now rides into His holy Christian Church to be greeted by her inhabitants upon the humble forms of water, bread and wine, and upon the lowly voice of His ministers. Jesus promised His Church that He is with us always, even to the end of the age. He attached this promise to His command to make disciples by baptizing, teaching, and doing all that He has commanded us. So, we believe that when we hear the Gospel preached, we are hearing the very voice of Christ, that in Baptism God clothes a sinner with Christ, and in the Sacrament of bread and wine, Christ’s true body and blood are eaten and drunk, and when we read our Bible, our Lord Jesus is speaking to us.
And why does Jesus come to us in such a humble manner? So that we may receive Him in faith. If Christ were to come to us in His glory, we could not receive Him. As the people of Israel begged Moses not to let God speak to them again through thunder and cloud lest they died (Exodus 20:19), so would we melt and die if Christ were to reveal Himself to us in full majesty and glory without us first being clothed in His righteousness through faith. Jesus comes to us in humility, because that is the only way poor, lowly sinners can receive Him. Just as the inhabitants of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago did not need a heavenly army to come and wipe out the Romans, but rather they needed a heavenly Victim to come to atone for their sins, so we cannot endure His majesty and glory, until we first receive His grace in humility and faith.
Yet, our sinful flesh begrudges Christ for coming to us in such a lowly manner. Our flesh belittles the water in Baptism and the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper, and it despises the preaching of Christ. Instead of thanking God that He recognizes our weakness and comes to us in a manner we may receive Him, our flesh despises Christ and His means of grace for coming to us in a way we think is beneath us. That is why so many ignore their Bible and its teaching and avoid receiving Christ in His Word and Sacrament. If an earthly king or billionaire were to invite them for dinner, serve them food prepared by a Michelan star chef, and sent them home with thousands of dollars in cash as a departing gift, few would ignore the invitation. But here the King of heaven invites us to eat the food of immortality, to dine with the Lord of heaven, and sends us away with forgiveness of sins, peace with God, and a certain inheritance in heaven, but since these treasures are veiled in humility and can only be recognized through faith, most ignore them.
And so, we must do as St. Paul exhorts us in Romans 13 and wake from sleep, for salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. As the crowds that met Christ stripped off their coats and spread them on the ground, so we must cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. The Holy Spirit works through God’s Word and Sacraments, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. But what does it mean that Christ dwells in our hearts? It means that Christ reigns as king in our hearts.
Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem presents a helpful illustration. He enters Jerusalem with two donkeys, an old jenny, and a young colt upon which no one had yet ridden. The old donkey represents your old sinful nature. The young colt represents your new self, made in the image of Christ. Saints Mark, Luke, and John tell us that Jesus sat upon the colt, being its first rider. The old donkey then, being tethered to the colt, would have been led by the young colt upon which Jesus rode. This is a great illustration for you to consider. When you confess that Jesus dwells in your heart through faith, you are calling yourself that young donkey’s colt upon which Christ rides. Yet, as long as you live on this earth, that old donkey, what we call the Old Adam, remains tethered to you. For Christ to dwell in your heart through faith means that He will ride you into Jerusalem, while your old donkey stubbornly resists following along, frequently stopping, braying, and otherwise making an ass of itself, pun intended.
Dear Christian, this is the tension you feel on this earth. Your new self, baptized into Christ Jesus, is ridden by Christ and He is riding you into the heavenly Jerusalem. He rides upon the lowly and humble, because only they will receive Him. Your old self is the old donkey tethered behind. It doesn’t want to humbly go with Christ, but is stubborn and obstinate in its own way. Your old self wants to drive you away from Christ, away from the heavenly Jerusalem, to insist on its own way, to indulge in the sins of the flesh. That is why you lust and crave that which God has forbidden from you. That is why you are not satisfied with what God provides for your body and soul. This is your old self warring against your new self.
But for Christ to dwell in your heart through faith means that Christ is driving you. He drives you to humility and repentance. He drives you to His forgiveness and grace found in the promises of His Word and Sacraments. He drives you into the heavenly Jerusalem, where you are kept safe from the attacks of Satan and the World. And He drives you to the cross, where your old sinful self is crucified daily, so that you may walk in newness of life. He drives you to the cross, where you find your only Savior, who paid for your sins with His blood.
Christ comes to us meek and lowly through His Word and Sacraments, so that we may receive Him through faith. Yet, our prideful old-donkey-self despises this humility and stubbornly refuses it. So, we must recognize when we are being pulled by our old sinful self, so that we may repent and let Christ drive us to salvation.
Christ comes to us now disguised in humility in the pages of Scripture and the voice of His ministers and under the elements of water, bread, and wine. This is His advent of grace (advent means coming). But Christ will not always come to us in humility and grace. The hour is fast approaching when He will come to us in glory and majesty. Every eye will see Him and every knee will bow. Those driven by the old donkey, the old sinful self will by found guilty and sent to hell. But those upon whom Christ rides, that is, in whose hearts Christ dwells and reigns as king, they will lift-up their heads to see their Redeemer come with salvation. Psalm 118, in which we find the words, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” was part of the Jewish liturgy during Passover. They sang it in anticipation of Christ’s arrival with salvation. And one day, as they sang this song, Christ came to them as Scripture foretold. This is what we should expect as we sing these same words. Hosanna means, “Save us now!” We sing these words in joyful anticipation for Christ’s return with salvation. Even as He comes to us today with His grace in humility, even so will He come soon with His glory in majesty. And if Christ is driving us in humility, so that we repent of our sins and receive His forgiveness through faith, then we will be prepared to welcome Him in His glory. For the humble He will exalt, but the proud He will cast down. So, let us sing our Hosannas to Christ with joy and great anticipation, with the sure and certain hope that He will return soon with salvation for us. Amen.

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Receiving Christ in Humility

12/9/2023

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Advent 1
Matthew 21:1-9
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
December 3, 2023

Over the past few weeks, we have been focusing on Christ’s return in judgment. Seared in our memory is the image of the unrighteous being banished to eternal punishment prepared for the devil and his angels, and foolish virgins banging on the door to the Wedding Banquet, Christ refusing to let them in. Christ’s return in glory is a terrifying thought. How can we be prepared for His coming? And so, we begin a new Church year preparing for Christ’s second coming in glory by focusing on His first coming in the flesh.
Yes, that mighty judge, who will come to us riding on the clouds with the voice of an archangel and the sound of a trumpet, who will judge the living and the dead from His glorious throne, has already come to us. Yet, He did not come in terror, but in humility. He was born a poor baby, laid in a manger, and first worshipped by lowly shepherds. He grew up among his brothers with no form of majesty or beauty that we should desire Him (Isaiah 53:2). And finally, He enters Jerusalem, His holy city, riding on a borrowed donkey, to the singing and cheering of little children and commoners.
It is essential, if you are to be prepared for Christ’s coming in glory, that you first know Him in His coming in the flesh. It is only through Christ’s coming in humility that you can receive Him in faith, so that you may stand unashamed on the Last Day. The charming Christmas hymn states it well, “Come from on high to me; I cannot rise to Thee. Cheer my wearied spirit, O pure and holy Child; Through Thy grace and merit, Blest Jesus, Lord most mild, Draw me unto Thee! Draw me unto Thee!”
We cannot rise to Christ! Our sins keep dragging us down. We cannot by our own merits or works prepare ourselves for Christ’s coming. Like the tower of Babel, Pharoah, Ninevah, King Nebuchadnezzar, Lucifer, and everyone else who exalts himself before God, we are cast down to the dust when we try reach God. That is why Christ’s return in judgment is so scary. Christ must come down to us, not in glory, lest we die, but in meekness, humility, clothed in the flesh of a servant, so that He may serve us and ransom us from our sins (Matthew 20:28).
And that is exactly what He does. As we watch Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, we remember that He came in humility as a baby. We must not see Christ’s second coming in glory without seeing His first coming as a child! And as we watch Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, we remember that His destination is the cross, where He will lay down His life for us. And so, when we see Christ Jesus coming to us on the clouds with angels and archangels is His wake, we see Him who was laid in the straw for us, who rode into Jerusalem for us, whose hands and feet were pierced for our transgressions. We see Him who comes to save us.
Yet, we obviously aren’t watching Jesus ride into Jerusalem this morning, nor are we peering into His cradle-stall, nor can we kneel before His cross or empty tomb. Yet, Christ still comes to us today to prepare us for His glorious return. The words of the prophet Zechariah still apply to us today, “Behold, your king is coming to you!” Yet, instead of riding in humble, and mounted on a donkey, He comes to us humble and mounted on the words spoken by His lowly servant, and upon water poured on a child, and upon bread and wine eaten as the very body and blood of Christ. This is how Christ comes to us today in His grace, so that we may believe in Him and thereafter receive Him in glory.
Yet, as the high priests and loftiest of the people sneered at Jesus’ advent into Jerusalem on a donkey, so people sneer at Jesus’ coming to us in Word and Sacrament. “It’s boring! It’s always the same! I’ve heard this story before; why do I need to hear it again? I’ve had communion before; I think that should last me quite a while. I know what it tastes like. I’ve got more exciting things to do.” Thus, the hearts of the lapsed speak when they turn away from receiving Christ, who comes to us with His grace. They find the way Christ comes to them with His grace boring, uninteresting, not entertaining enough (As if the purpose of worshiping Christ is for Him to entertain you!).
Of course, this is rich coming from those who do not get bored with their same old idols, lusts, and vices. Their idols remain the same: money, job, sports, booze, and drugs. These are boring, uninteresting idols, which predictably disappoint as they always do when you make them into your god. Their lusts provide no lasting stimulus except the persistent whip of a slavedriver, for one who follows his lusts is a slave to them. And the vices of hatred, anger, jealousy, laziness, pride, and gossip are all boring, repeatable, and destructive no matter how often you return to them. And yet, without seeing the irony at all, those who call the Lord’s Supper boring, the preaching of Christ predictable, and the forgiveness of sins unstimulating, religiously return to these idols, lusts, and vices, which lead only to shame, death, and hell.
And so, if you are going to receive Christ in His grace, you must humble yourself. Jesus will not rise to you. He will not meet you in your pride. He will only meet you in reality, that is, in your lowliness. So, not only do we humble ourselves by acknowledging our sin before our Creator, but we humble ourselves by receiving Christ in the seemingly mundane, through the words of a man, we don’t think is better than us; through bread and wine, that we would not crave, if it did not promise the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.
And when we receive Christ by these meek means, we realize how very gracious He is to us. Over this past Church year, did you attempt to rid yourself of some of those idols, lusts, and vices, which fill you with shame? If you are a Christian, you made the attempt. Well, how did you do? Have you cast every idol from the throne of your heart? Have you turned the whip on your lusts? Have you replaced your vices with virtue?
And when you consider this, you’ll see how comforting it is that Christ continues to come to you in the same old way, week after week, proclaiming Himself your Redeemer, who forgives your sins, feeding you His body and blood, again and again, as a token of peace from God on high. He doesn’t tire of forgiving you. He doesn’t get bored with pardoning your guilt. Rather, week after week, as you come ashamed that you returned to your boring, predictable, destructive idols, lusts, and vices, Christ comforts you in the same familiar way, assuring you of forgiveness, cleansing your guilty conscience, and strengthening you to do better.
How terrified the citizens of Jerusalem would have been if Jesus had ridden into Jerusalem on a chariot of fire with legions of seraphim and cherubim with flaming swords. The destruction would have been worse than that brought by Nebuchadnezzar or Titus. Yet, how glad they were to receive Him in meekness as their King! And so, we will not tire of receiving our Savior in His grace and mercy, because He comes to meet us in our weakness, so that He may make us strong.
Yet, to whom does Christ come? The prophet Zechariah proclaimed His coming to the daughter of Zion, that is, the citizens of Jerusalem. Zion is the mountain on which Jerusalem is built, so Zion and Jerusalem are used interchangeably in Scripture. Jerusalem is the ancient capital of Israel, where King David reigned. Yet, Jerusalem is also recognized as the heavenly city where God’s people will dwell for eternity. St. Paul tells us that this heavenly Jerusalem is our mother (Galatians 4:26). So, the daughters of Zion, the true citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem are those who have faith in Christ and receive His coming in grace. Christ comes to His holy Christian Church!
So, if you are to receive Christ as He comes with His grace to forgive and save, then you must be a daughter of Zion, you must be a citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem. You must be a member of Christ’s Church, for He enters no other gate to bring righteousness and salvation except through the gates of Jerusalem. Some smart Alecs will spout that Christ can come to us in any way He likes, so we don’t need to receive Him through the Church. Yet, we don’t choose how Jesus comes to us. Jesus does. How He could come is irrelevant. All that matters is how He does come. And He comes to the daughter of Zion. He enters the gates of Jerusalem. He comes to His bride, the Holy Christian Church through His Word and Sacraments to be received by faith.
And so, we should behave like those saints in Jerusalem, who laid their garments before Him and waved palm branches in His honor, singing, “Hosanna in the Highest! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” And indeed, we are singing that song today! We rise as a bride to meet Him every time we come to receive His grace, listening to His preaching, and receiving His body and blood.
In humility Christ comes to save us by His grace and merit. Yet, in His humility Christ also leaves us an example to live in humility. While good works do not save us, saving faith produces good works. A sinful life, on the other hand, can prove detrimental to saving faith. This is why St. Paul warns us to cast off the works of darkness, and to walk properly as in the daytime. We do this by putting on Christ. Like the donkey, carrying Jesus as His burden, so we carry Christ. We are humble, as He is humble, considering the needs of others before our own and doing unto them as we would have them do unto us. And bearing Christ, we cannot be put to shame. We do not worry about our works being good enough, being bright and shiny enough, being noticed by the world. We are concerned only with humbly bearing Christ as we live with one another. This causes us to be quick to forgive, slow to anger, and ready to make peace for Christ’s sake.
Jesus’ coming to us in the meekness of His flesh, whereby He earned our salvation, takes the terror of the final judgment away from us. Jesus’ coming to us in the humility of the Word and Sacraments prepares us to meet our Lord on that glorious day and to live with our neighbor in peace today. Let us not despise Christ in His humility, but rather, let us in humility meet Him as He condescends to us, so that we may also welcome Him in His glory. Amen.

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How Does Jesus Come to Us?

11/28/2022

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Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem by Alexander Gibbs (1832–1886), Creative Commons

Advent 1
Matthew 21:1-9
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
November 27, 2022

O Lord, How Shall I Meet You by Paul Gerhardt is the perfect Advent hymn. Advent means coming or arrival. We Christians anticipate Jesus’ return. So, the hymnist asks the important question, “O Lord, how shall I meet You, how [shall I] welcome You aright?” Yet, in order to answer that question, we must first answer the question, “How does the Lord come to us?”

He comes humble and lowly on a donkey bringing salvation. It is the week of the Passover as our Lord enters Jerusalem on a donkey. And the crowds following Him and going before Him are singing the Passover Hymn, Psalm 118, “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna!” They sing this psalm to Jesus, recognizing Him as the Christ. Yet, what they likely miss is what Jesus has come to do. If you continue to read Psalm 118, you hear the words, “Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar!” (vs 27) And who is this victim, which will be bound and brought to the altar to be sacrificed? It is Christ Jesus, the Son of David, He who comes riding on a donkey. The first thing you need to know about Christ’s coming is that He first came to suffer and die for the sins of the world.

“A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth,
The guilt of sinners bearing
And, Laden with the sins of earth,
None else the burden sharing;
Goes patient on, grows weak and faint,
To slaughter led without complaint,
That spotless life to offer,
He bears the stripes, the wounds, the lies,
The mockery, and yet replies,
‘All this I gladly suffer.’” (LSB 438)

Paul Gerhardt wrote this hymn for Palm Sunday, the Sunday which takes us into Holy Week, when we focus on the suffering and death of Christ for our sins. Yet, this text was written for the same Gospel lesson. Jesus goes into Jerusalem as a lamb going to the slaughter. We cannot receive Jesus except as Him who died for our sins. We cannot welcome Him without gazing on those scars, which healed us from our sins.

God prepared the words the crowd shouted to Jesus during His triumphal entry. Hosanna, while it has become a word of praise means something different than Alleluia! Alleluia means, Praise the LORD. Hosanna means, please, save us now! When Jesus comes to us as the crucified one, who died to take away our sins, the appropriate response is, “Save us now, please!” Jesus comes to take away our sins, so we should repent of our sins and ask God for forgiveness and mercy. This is why we sing these same words before we receive the Lord’s Supper. We sing, “Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest” before we eat and drink the body and blood of the Lord, because this body and blood were given and shed to save us from our sins. Jesus comes to save us from our sins. So, we sinners receive Him by asking Him to take our sins away. If you feel no sorrow for your sins, if you do not desire Christ to take your sins away, then you are not welcoming Him rightly.

Yet, we do not welcome Jesus rightly simply by having sorrow for our sins. We welcome Jesus with confidence that His sacrifice on the cross truly made atonement for all our sins. Jesus’ blood washes us clean of all our sins. It is with that confession that we welcome our Lord.

First, Jesus comes humbly, bringing salvation with His bitters suffering and death for our sins. Second, Jesus comes to us the way he dictates. Jesus ordered His disciples to go to a certain village to find a particular donkey and her colt and to bring them to Him. He gave them particular words to say to the owner of these beasts when asked why they were taking them. And Jesus’ disciples did exactly as Jesus directed them to do. They didn’t ask why Jesus wanted to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, when He had spent His entire ministry walking on foot, and had gone into Jerusalem many times without riding on a donkey. They didn’t refuse to carry out this seemingly superfluous task. They did as Jesus directed them. Jesus comes to us the way He directs.

This is an important point. Many people want to have a relationship with Jesus, but they want to have that relationship on their own terms. But it doesn’t work that way. Nowhere in Scripture does it say that Jesus will come to you on your terms or in a way that fits with you. Rather, Scripture tells us how Jesus comes to us. Jesus comes as He directs. Jesus sent His disciples out to every nation commanding them to make disciples by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). He promises that this Baptism saves sinners (Mark 16:16). Jesus gave His disciples bread and wine and told them that they were His body and blood given and shed for them for the forgiveness of sins. Moreover, He commanded that we do this as often as we eat and drink it in remembrance of Him (Matthew 26; Mark 14: Luke 23; 1 Corinthians 11). Jesus gave His Church the authority to forgive sins (Matthew 16; 18; John 20), promising that whosoever sins His disciples forgive, they are forgiven before God in heaven. Jesus commanded that His Gospel be preached to all nations (Mark 16:15), and He promised that wherever two or three are gathered in His name, there He is in their midst.

It is no secret how Jesus comes to us in our day and age. Just as He gave clear instructions to His disciples to fetch a donkey and her colt, so that He could ride into Jerusalem, so Jesus gives us clear instructions on Baptism, Absolution, the Lord’s Supper, and the proclamation of the Gospel, what we call the means of grace. It is by these means of grace that Jesus directs that He will come to us and we will receive Him. Yet, those who claim to want to welcome Jesus despise Baptism and the Sacrament of the Altar and refuse to hear Jesus’ Gospel preached.

But, if you want to receive Jesus, you must receive Him as He dictates that He will come. When emphasizing grace, we preachers will often emphasize that Jesus welcomes sinners just as they are. And that is true. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). We cannot make ourselves perfect before we meet Christ. Christ makes us perfect. Christ receives you as you are. Yet, it is equally important to emphasize that you in faith must receive Christ as He is. Jesus clearly teaches that he comes to us through His Word and Sacraments, so that is how we should receive Him. When you accept the forgiveness and grace that Jesus offers you in the Sacraments and the preached Gospel, then you are accepting Christ Jesus Himself. Saving faith clings to how Jesus directs that He will come to us.

Finally, when Jesus comes to us, He always fulfills Scripture. Jesus road into Jerusalem on a donkey before He was crucified for the sins of the world, because that is what the prophet Zechariah said would happen (Matthew 21:4-5; Zech. 9:9). Jesus died and rose for our sins in order to fulfill the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15). Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead in order to fulfill the Scriptures (Daniel 10; Matthew 24-25; etc). The Bible is the Word of God. Jesus did not come to abolish the holy Scriptures, but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17). So, if you want to recognize how Jesus comes to you and how He will come to you, you must look to Scripture alone.

We cannot determine what we will believe or how we will worship Jesus or how we will prepare for His coming by our own emotions, thoughts, and imaginations. How we feel does not determine what is faithful. Holy Scripture determines what is faithful. And what we imagine does not determine what will happen. What Scripture prophesies determines how the end times will unfold. Scripture declares that Christ will come to judge the living and the dead (Matthew 24-25; 2 Timothy 4:1; 1 Peter 4:5). So Scripture warns us how we should behave. We heard St. Paul write to the Romans:

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (Romans 13:11-14)

So, we welcome Christ by paying attention to His Word in holy Scripture and by daily repenting of our sins, so that we are not caught unprepared. Continuing in sin without repenting destroys faith. And if you have faith in Jesus Christ, you will repent of your sins and fight against your fleshly desires.

The city of Jerusalem was disturbed by Jesus’ arrival, and many citizens asked the crowd, “Who is this.” They gave an unsatisfactory answer, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” However, we can give a much better answer. This is Jesus, true God and true man, who has died for all our sins. He comes to us in Baptism, washes away our sins and makes us God’s children. He forgives our sins through the mouth of His ministers. He feeds us His very own body and blood, which forgive our sins and strengthen our faith. He always stays near us through His preaching, and my heart receives Him through faith in His promise. He will again come to judge the living and the dead. For this reason, I should daily repent of my sins and seek Christ’s mercy in His means of grace by which He comes to me. Yet, I am not afraid of His second coming. He comes to set me free from sin, death, and hell. I welcome Him today in faith as He comes to me in His Word and Sacrament. And I will welcome Him when He comes to me in His power.

So can we answer the question, “Who is this?” and “How is He coming to us?” and “How shall we meet Him?” These answers have been given to us by Christ Jesus Himself in Holy Scripture. Confident in Christ’s Word, we know how to meet our Lord as He comes to us. Amen.

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Hosanna on Earth and in Heaven

11/29/2021

1 Comment

Giotto, "Entry into Jerusalem," 1266-1337. Public Domain.

Advent 1 (Ad Te Levavi)
Matthew 21:1-9
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
November 28, 2021

“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the Highest!”

These words shouted by the crowds in Jerusalem are a paraphrase from Psalm 118. Psalm 118, along with all the Psalms and the entire Old Testament were inspired by God the Holy Spirit. They are words prepared in heaven for us creatures here on earth. And these words, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” who is on earth, and “Hosanna in the Highest,” sound similar to another familiar hymn of praise, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14) These words, of course, were proclaimed by the angels to the shepherds at the announcement of Jesus’ birth. In fact, St. Luke even records people in this same crowd welcoming Jesus as he comes into Jerusalem on a donkey saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:38) So, the crowd not only paraphrases God’s Word from Psalm 118, but they paraphrase the words of the angels at Jesus’ birth! Perhaps, they heard them from the Bethlehemite Shepherds, who were watching their sheep just a few miles away from Jerusalem some thirty-three years earlier. Perhaps the elderly shepherds were even in the crowd!

Regardless, what we have here in Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem is a crowd of faithful people proclaiming words prepared for them by God in heaven, spoken to a man, who himself has come to them from God’s heavenly throne!

Yet, let’s examine these words. “Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna in the Highest!” The word “hosanna” is Hebrew for “save us now.” Son of David is a title given to the Christ, the anointed Savior sent by God, as prophesied by numerous prophets (2 Samuel 7:12-16) including Isaiah (11:1) and Jeremiah (23:5). So, the crowd is crying to Jesus to save them. And they are calling Jesus the Christ, the Son of David. The Son of David is on earth, born to a woman, born under the Law. They can see him riding on a donkey. They are also crying, “Hosanna in the Highest!” “In the Highest” refers to God’s holy throne in heaven. How is it that they are crying, hosanna, both to him who is on earth, riding on a donkey, descended from King David; and they are crying, hosanna, to him who is in the highest, enthroned above, surrounded by cherubim and seraphim?  Are they crying hosanna to two different persons? No. They are crying hosanna to the one and only Christ, who has become man, and dwelt with people here on earth, even as he remains in heaven.

These words, “Hosanna to the Son of David” and “Hosanna in the Highest,” teach us about the personal union of Christ. Christ is both God and man, yet he remains one Christ. We Christians confess this. He is God from eternity, begotten of the Father before all worlds. He is man in time and place, born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem over two thousand years ago. Yet, it is important for us to understand that when Christ became incarnate, that is, when Christ became a man, he remained God. We might use the phrase, “He left his throne on high,” and many of our hymns will use such language. But such language is only used to emphasize Christ’s humility to save us. Yet, in fact, when Christ Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger by his virgin mother, he remained enthroned in heaven, because he never ceases to rule the universe. The Christmas Hymn, A Great and Mighty Wonder, written by St. Germanus in the seventh century articulates this well, “The Word becomes incarnate And yet remains on high.”

This seems impossible, and for our human minds it is. How can Christ remain one, yet be in more than one place? How can he be held in his mother’s arms, yet hold in his hands the sun, moon, and stars? How can he be dependent at his mother’s breast while feeding all living creatures on earth? How can he hang dying on a cross and be laid dead in a tomb, even while keeping alive every creature he created? I do not know. Yet Scripture clearly teaches this. And God made sure that his faithful proclaimed it on this Sunday in Jerusalem, before Christ was crucified for all sins.

Yet, this teaching is necessary for our salvation. “Hosanna to the Son of David.” Save us, Son of David, you who are on earth! Our salvation must be on this earth, because we are on this earth. Our sins are on this earth. Our flesh and blood and stained souls have incurred the judgment for our sins on this earth. Christ must bring his salvation to this earth and die for us, if we are to be saved! The Law of God, which was laid down on earth, must be fulfilled. The sins of the world, which were committed here on earth, must be atoned for. We poor sinners, who dwell on this land need a Savior to come to us. “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

Yet, an earthly savior will not suffice. “Hosanna in the highest!” Our salvation must also be in heaven. Not any man born of woman can save us. No man born of woman can save us, except he who was first born from above from eternity. For, while our sin indeed is committed here on earth, our judgment is not determined here on earth. Your father and mother are not your final judge. Neither are your friends or co-workers or neighbors or classmates. No one on this earth can declare you innocent of all sins. No, your judge is in heaven. He sits on the throne of God in the highest. God alone can declare you innocent of all sins. God alone can accept atonement for your guilt. God alone can forgive you. God alone can save you. Our Savior and salvation must be in heaven!

So, the crowd rightly shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna in the highest!”, because they rightly needed saving here on earth, and they rightly needed saving in the highest heaven. And they rightly confessed Jesus Christ to be the Savior on earth and in heaven.

Christ Jesus is the promised Son of David, who fulfilled God’s Law for us and died in our stead. The wrath of God against all your sins were laid on Jesus as he suffered for you on the cross. Yet, that man on the cross is also the Lord of heaven. We see him anguish on the cross, yet we cannot see or fathom the great price he pays with his spiritual sacrifice, which reaches up to heaven. Yet, we know that he who sits in the highest heavens is satisfied. The stench of our sins no longer reaches him. Rather, the pleasing aroma of Christ, his beloved Son fills the heaven of heavens (Ephesians 5:2). He who sits in the highest throne in the highest heavens has paid for your sins. He who declares you innocent of all sins is enthroned in heaven. And he sits on a donkey riding through Jerusalem.

Today we begin our observance of Advent. Advent is the season of preparation before Christmas, that wonderful festival, where we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ in human flesh. This was his first advent, his first arrival. Yet, after Christ fulfilled his course on this earth, having won for us salvation, he departed this earth and ascended to his throne in heaven, where he sits in glory waiting to judge the living and the dead. Advent is not so much a season preparing us simply to celebrate Jesus’ first advent at Christmas, but rather to prepare our hearts for Jesus’ second advent, when he will come to judge the living and the dead. He will pronounce judgment on every human. Some will be damned to hell. Those who are faithful to Christ Jesus will be welcomed into eternal life with him.

Yet, while we wait for Christ’s second advent, we must remember the words, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Hosanna in the Highest!” Our salvation is indeed in heaven. Christ intercedes for us today before God the Father, pleading for our innocence and salvation. Yet, although Christ departed physically from this world, he still remains with us today, as surely as he said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

When Jesus was on this earth, walking around Israel with his disciples, riding on a donkey into Jerusalem, standing before Pontius Pilate, rising from the dead; he was present also in heaven, but under a different mode. By mode, we simply mean that he was present in a different way, although we cannot explain it. For example, Jesus is locally in heaven. That is where his body has ascended. Yet, we confess according to Jesus’ words, that his body and blood are present in the Lord’s Supper under the forms of bread and wine. We call this presence his sacramental presence. Sacramental simply means mysterious. That is, we confess Jesus’ body and blood to be there, but we do not know how it can be there. We simply confess that God is able to do far more than we can either ask or think. All things are possible with God.

And so, it is possible for Christ to be at the Father’s right hand in heaven, and for him to be with his Church here on earth, not only in his sacramental presence in the Supper, but he is present with us at all times, especially where his Gospel is proclaimed and where his faithful Christians gather to hear his Word. We prepare our hearts to receive Christ at his second advent of glory, by receiving him now in faith as he comes to us with his grace through his Word and Sacraments. The Savior, who came to his people lowly on a donkey, and who will come again in glory on the clouds of heaven, comes to us to day through his promise of forgiveness and salvation.

This is why we continue to use those words here on earth, which were prepared for us in heaven: The words of the angels, “Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men,” which we sing most Sundays of the Church Year; and the words God gave to all believers on earth, “Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he, blessed is he, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!”  We proclaim these words with the utmost sincerity. Christ our Savior comes to save us today. He who sits in the highest comes to us here on earth, the Son of David who died for us. When the pastor proclaims the Gospel, Jesus comes to us. When we eat the Sacrament, we commune with him who is in heaven. Showered by the means of grace, this church becomes heaven on earth as with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify the glorious name of our God. Our Savior is with us today, even as he is in heaven. And through faith in his name, we too will join him in celestial peace. Let us pray,
Come, then, O Lord Jesus,
From our sins release us.
Keep our hearts believing,
That we, grace receiving,
Ever may confess You
Till in heaven we bless You. Amen.

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O Lord, How Shall I Meet You?

12/1/2020

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Entry into Jerusalem, Pietron Lorenzetti, 1320, Public Domain

Advent 1
Matthew 21:1-11
November 29, 2020

“O Lord, how shall I meet You, How welcome You aright?” What a good question! How can we welcome the Lord Almighty? The crowds in Jerusalem from our Gospel lesson give us a wonderful example. They took off their cloaks and cut down branches from trees and laid them on the road for his donkey to walk on. They shouted out, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” There were shouts of joy and singing, a happier event than you’ve seen at any street parade.
Yet, how does this teach us how to meet our Lord? Should we cut branches off trees and stand out in the street waiting for Jesus to come in? No. The example these saints in Jerusalem give us is the example of faith. They received Jesus as their King and Savior through faith. And their laying down cloaks and palm branches, their shouts of joy and praise, these all revealed the faith within their hearts.
The crowds wouldn’t let the donkey Jesus road on touch the ground, so greatly they revered their Lord. They called him, “The Son of David,” which means that they believed him to be the Christ, the Righteous Branch, which God promised to raise up from David (Jeremiah 23:5-8). These crowds confessed with their words and actions that they believed Jesus to be the fulfillment of the prophecies of Scripture. They heard from his teaching and saw from his mighty deeds that he was indeed the promised Christ. Jesus taught God’s Word with authority and was faithful to the Scriptures. He made the blind see and the deaf hear; he made the lame man leap like a deer, as Scripture foretold. (Isaiah 35:5-6) They believed that Jesus was the Christ who was coming into the world. (John 11:27)
And these saints crowding the streets of Jerusalem used the words of Scripture to sing praises to their Lord and King. They shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” These are the words of Psalm 118:25-26. Hosanna means, “Save us.” They are treating Jesus as their Savior and as saints are wont to do, they use the very words of Scripture to praise him.
And, so we should follow in the train of these saints who welcomed Jesus’ advent into Jerusalem that week of his crucifixion. We should have faith in Jesus. We should call him the Christ, the King in the highest, David’s Son and Lord. We should call him our Savior and cry to him for salvation with great anticipation. We should listen to the prophecies of Scripture and their promises and believe them. And we should borrow the words of Scripture as we worship our King, who comes to us, just as these saints did. And that is indeed what we do! Every Divine Service before Christ Jesus comes to us in his body and blood at the Sacrament of the Altar, we sing these same words, “Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the Highest!” These are words of faith, which have been used by the saints for thousands of years.
And we should be joyful. We have a Savior who loves us. We should gladly come to worship him. This should be our fervent desire, not an obligation that takes up time we don’t have. Worshiping Christ, welcoming him into our midst is the greatest thing we do in life, the most important, and the most rewarding.
St. Paul also gives us instruction on how to meet our Lord, not only on Sunday mornings, but every day, especially as the day draws near for his return. He writes, “Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Romans 13:12-14)
And so, we too should recognize that our Lord Jesus came to die for our sins. He came to rescue us from their destruction and filth. If we are to welcome our Lord in faith, we must also repent of our filth, cast off the works of darkness which seek to enslave us and cling to Christ Jesus, walking according to his teachings of love, purity, honesty, and self-control. Scripture warns that the sexually immoral, the drunkards, the sensual, and those who are jealous, will not inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21) In Revelation 21, after describing the wonderful vision of the new heaven and the new earth, and Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega wiping the last tear from our eyes and destroying death, St. John writes, “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (vs. 8)
And so, it is clear that Christians cannot go on sinning as if it does not matter without repenting. You cannot rightly welcome your Lord Jesus if you refuse to turn from your sin. This means that if you have a habit of getting drunk, stop it. If you are fornicating, stop it. If you pick fights with people, gossip, lust after impure things, stop it. And every time these sins arise in you again, cast them off again. Drown your old Adam every day, so that the new man may rise up to welcome Christ at his coming.
It is sin which makes us fearful of Jesus’ return. If Christ comes to judge the nations, a terror to his foes, then it is a terror to those with a guilty conscience! Well, how can you greet Jesus with joy, when you’re a sinner? Jesus hates sin. Scripture clearly states that the wicked will be destroyed and sinners will not stand in the judgment (Psalms 1:5-6; 37:38)!
You can greet Jesus with joy, because Jesus does not come to deal with you according to your sins, but to rescue those who wait for him (Hebrews 9:28), that is, those who have faith in Christ’s forgiveness and salvation. Yes, Christians must repent of their sins. If you refuse to repent and continue to live as if sin is not a problem, then you are not a Christian. Your faith is fake. Yet, even Christians with a sincere faith still sin. We can’t help it. We’re still trapped in these sinful bodies. And although we desire to do what is right, our sinful flesh still lures us into sin each day. Although we daily drown the old Adam in us, he rises again to agitate our conscience. This is why St. Paul laments, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:29) This is the condition of all Christians. Yet, there is a big difference between falling into sins of weakness but repenting of them, and continuing in sin with no remorse without turning to Christ for forgiveness. Jesus promises to forgive you as often as you repent. But if you refuse to repent, then you refuse Christ’s forgiveness.
This is what the Apostle John says in 1 John 1, “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” Christians are still sinners on earth. And Christians are saved. Jesus saves sinners. That is what he came to earth to do. The crowd in Jerusalem, which welcomed Jesus with such faithful songs and praise, were welcoming him who would die for their sins. That is why Jesus came to Jerusalem. He came to die for the sins of the whole world.
This means that your sins should not make you doubt your salvation. Jesus died for your sins. God knew your sins and the sin of the whole world, and he still sent Jesus to pay for it all with his suffering and death. In Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, we see how willing Christ is to die for us. We see how set he is on winning for us salvation. Jesus commanded that his Church baptize all nations. Scripture promises that Baptism forgives sins and grants salvation to all who believe. Jesus told his ministers to forgive the sins of others and promised that he also would forgive their sins in heaven. Jesus sent out his Apostles to preach the Gospel in every land and promised that whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. The bread and wine, which we share in the Sacrament, Jesus tells us is his very body, which he gave for us on the cross, and his very blood which is poured out for the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus came to earth to save sinners. And he comes to us today in his Word and Sacraments in order to save us.
As Christians, our sins do not cause us to fear Christ’s arrival, because Jesus died to take away our sins. And he comes to us frequently through his Word and Sacrament in order to heal us and forgive our sins, so we do not fear his coming on the Last Day, because we know how he will deal with us. As we just sang,
Sin’s debt, that fearful burden,
Cannot His love erase;
Your guilt the Lord will pardon
And cover by His grace.
He comes, for you procuring
The peace of sin forgiv’n.
His children thus securing
Eternal life in heav’n. (Paul Gerhardt, O Lord, How Shall I Meet You, LSB 334:6).

As the crowds and children received Jesus in faith and joyful praise, Jesus’ enemies in hatred plotted his destruction. Less than a week later, while this crowd of Christians slept after celebrating the Passover, Jesus’ enemies arrested Jesus, put him on trial, hurling fists and false accusations against him, and brought him before the pagan governor. By the time the faithful woke up, Jesus was already headed to the cross. In confusion many of them ran and hid, many lost heart. Jesus’ own disciples hid in fear behind locked doors. Only when Jesus returned victorious from the grave and sent the Holy Spirit to them, did these faithful gain courage again to sing his praises in public.
And so, it is with us today. As the chief priests and scribes looked with hatred upon the celebrating faithful in Jerusalem, so the powerful in this world hate and plot against the Church. Satan and his real human minions look at our celebration of Christ as foolish childhood play. They seek to discourage us and to erase Jesus from our hearts and from this land. But just as Jesus overcame the evil plots of Satan and the chief priests, so Christ has arranged for his Christians to overcome the plots of the enemies of his Church. Though we face evil in this world, we will prevail. While the enemies of Christ look at Christ’s return with terror and the more foolish among them look at it with scorn, we look to Christ’s return with joy and great anticipation, for we know that when he comes, he will give an imperishable crown of righteousness to all who love his appearing.
He comes to judge the nations,
A terror to His foes,
A light of consolation
And blessed hope to those
Who love the Lord’s appearing.
O glorious Sun, now come,
Send forth Your beams so cheering,
And guide us safely home. Amen. (LSB 334:7).

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"For faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." ~ Romans 10:17

Jesus Comes in a Manner We May Receive Him

Receiving Christ in Humility

How Does Jesus Come to Us?

Hosanna on Earth and in Heaven

O Lord, How Shall I Meet You?

Rev. James Preus

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