Luke 19:28-40“The King is Coming! (Palm Sunday in December)”
Did someone print the wrong bulletin for today? Why is Palm Sunday on the cover? Why is our Gospel reading about Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem? Isn't Christmas just around the corner? I do seem to remember just eating turkey and stuffing. What's going on, is this some sort of liturgical time-warp or something? No.
It is the beginning of the new church
year, and of the season of Advent. Once again the church flips the
calendar, and starts the time of preparation looking forward to that
first great festival – the celebration of Christ's birth. For
about 4 weeks leading up to it, we prepare. We observe what led up
to that blessed event. We hear from the Old Testament prophets. We
listen to the forerunner, John the Baptist, his voice crying in the
wilderness. We meditate and contemplate, even in a slightly mournful
and somber fashion, just why this Savior had to come. Because we
wait in exile here. We long for his salvation.
We look back to the first coming, and
still we anticipate the second coming. First he came as a babe of
Bethlehem. Someday, even soon, he will come again in glory. So for
the Christian, every day is Advent, just as we are never far from any
other blessed event in Christ's life, and are always mindful of his
many promises.
But why Palm Sunday?
In fact it makes perfect sense to observe Palm Sunday in Advent. Because both occasions highlight this simple theme: “The King is Coming”. He is coming to be born in Bethlehem. He is coming in the clouds to judge the nations. He is coming, riding on a lowly donkey, to Jerusalem. And when Jesus comes, he brings with him salvation. Our theme today, therefore is simple. Jesus is coming. The king is coming.
The King is coming: who invited him?
Around this time of year, with all the parties and get-togethers, there will be lots of invitations sent out, and lots of invitations received. Maybe you are having a party and have made your guest list. But imagine what it would be like if someone came who wasn’t on the list. Someone you didn’t invite. It would be strange.
One thing you might notice about most of Jesus’ various arrivals, is that he is not the one being invited. No, it’s just the opposite, he invites himself. No one asked Jesus to come to Jerusalem riding on a donkey. In fact, it was he alone who made the arrangements – down to the last detail.
Just like no one invited him to be born a human child in Bethlehem. No act of human will brought him to our world. It was the work of the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary – at the initiative of God alone.
Just like the day and time of his promised return are already appointed, and though we pray, “come quickly, Lord Jesus”, he will come in his time, according to the Father's will.
And though some preach and teach otherwise, we also do not invite Jesus into our hearts. We don’t open the door of our heart, or purify ourselves, or make ourselves worthy of his coming to us, individually. He takes the initiative. He calls us, invites us, by his Gospel. He makes us pure, and worthy, and he enters our hearts by his own divine mercy and grace. An uninvited but welcome guest is our King, Jesus!
Jesus is coming: And so we want to be ready.
Maybe you've see that certain bumper sticker message which seeks to poke fun at this reality, and reads, “Jesus is coming: Look Busy!” As if the boss is away at a meeting, and we his employees have to fool him, when he returns, into thinking we’ve been hard at work. But God cannot be mocked. Jesus is coming. And we haven’t been busy. Jesus warns us himself to be awake, watchful, and ready for his coming. Don't let the master find you sleeping when he returns!
Trouble is, we haven’t been busy doing what we should. But we’ve been plenty busy doing what we shouldn’t. In this busy season of the busy year – stop and ponder how you’ve been using or abusing your time. None of us have perfect priorities. We don’t always balance too well the many demands on our time – so many of which we put on ourselves. Sometimes we are over-burdened with things that matter little, and neglect those that matter most. We may appear busy; we may feel busy; but we are often simply distracted.
No amount of “looking busy” or “trying to get busy” will suffice when our king comes. He knows the truth. He knows our busy-work is for show, a lame attempt to cover the inadequately prepared heart. Our prayers falter. Our love grows cold. We boast of prideful works that are so often filthy rags. The light of faith that ought to shine brightly in us is sometimes a dull glow at best.
In fact it makes perfect sense to observe Palm Sunday in Advent. Because both occasions highlight this simple theme: “The King is Coming”. He is coming to be born in Bethlehem. He is coming in the clouds to judge the nations. He is coming, riding on a lowly donkey, to Jerusalem. And when Jesus comes, he brings with him salvation. Our theme today, therefore is simple. Jesus is coming. The king is coming.
The King is coming: who invited him?
Around this time of year, with all the parties and get-togethers, there will be lots of invitations sent out, and lots of invitations received. Maybe you are having a party and have made your guest list. But imagine what it would be like if someone came who wasn’t on the list. Someone you didn’t invite. It would be strange.
One thing you might notice about most of Jesus’ various arrivals, is that he is not the one being invited. No, it’s just the opposite, he invites himself. No one asked Jesus to come to Jerusalem riding on a donkey. In fact, it was he alone who made the arrangements – down to the last detail.
Just like no one invited him to be born a human child in Bethlehem. No act of human will brought him to our world. It was the work of the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary – at the initiative of God alone.
Just like the day and time of his promised return are already appointed, and though we pray, “come quickly, Lord Jesus”, he will come in his time, according to the Father's will.
And though some preach and teach otherwise, we also do not invite Jesus into our hearts. We don’t open the door of our heart, or purify ourselves, or make ourselves worthy of his coming to us, individually. He takes the initiative. He calls us, invites us, by his Gospel. He makes us pure, and worthy, and he enters our hearts by his own divine mercy and grace. An uninvited but welcome guest is our King, Jesus!
Jesus is coming: And so we want to be ready.
Maybe you've see that certain bumper sticker message which seeks to poke fun at this reality, and reads, “Jesus is coming: Look Busy!” As if the boss is away at a meeting, and we his employees have to fool him, when he returns, into thinking we’ve been hard at work. But God cannot be mocked. Jesus is coming. And we haven’t been busy. Jesus warns us himself to be awake, watchful, and ready for his coming. Don't let the master find you sleeping when he returns!
Trouble is, we haven’t been busy doing what we should. But we’ve been plenty busy doing what we shouldn’t. In this busy season of the busy year – stop and ponder how you’ve been using or abusing your time. None of us have perfect priorities. We don’t always balance too well the many demands on our time – so many of which we put on ourselves. Sometimes we are over-burdened with things that matter little, and neglect those that matter most. We may appear busy; we may feel busy; but we are often simply distracted.
No amount of “looking busy” or “trying to get busy” will suffice when our king comes. He knows the truth. He knows our busy-work is for show, a lame attempt to cover the inadequately prepared heart. Our prayers falter. Our love grows cold. We boast of prideful works that are so often filthy rags. The light of faith that ought to shine brightly in us is sometimes a dull glow at best.
Perhaps contrary to our normal way of
thinking, to be ready for Christ's coming is not about being busy at
all. Rather, it takes time out – times of rest – times to pause
and hear and ponder the word of God. And in his word, and by his
Spirit, the king who is coming will prepare you to receive him
rightly. To receive him as he comes to you. On his terms.
Just as you don't invite him, but he
brings you his salvation. So you don't receive only a start toward
him that you have to finish. Rather, Christ is both the author and
finisher of our faith. As today's epistle reading puts it: “so
that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our
God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.”
He does the doing of our salvation.
Jesus is coming: Shout Hosanna!
But as we read the Palm Sunday account, it seems people were busy in a godly way. They were busy welcoming the coming king. The disciples followed his instructions – and brought him the donkey. The crowds following him and welcoming him shouted and sang his praises.
Some of the Pharisees told Jesus to have his disciples settle down. “We don’t want to give the Romans a reason to be angry. They might see all this fanfare as a sign of unrest – and people could get hurt, Jesus! make them be quiet. Rebuke them. Tell them to cut it out!”
But Jesus, who accepted the praises rightly due to him, answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out”. The king is coming, you see. And a king deserves praise. If his people didn’t give it, his creation would have. It was inevitable.
And so they shouted, “Hosanna!” which means, “Save us now!” They knew, in some way, that the king had come. It was the miracles, Luke tells us, the mighty works that they had seen, that caused such a reaction. The recent raising of Lazarus, in particular, was still all the talk, and word must have traveled fast. A miracle worker. A maker of wonders. A great king, yes, the king has come to save us!
If they only knew. For he had come to save them – from their sin. He had invited himself, as he always does, for the great Passover feast. He soon told his disciples to go make preparations in that upper room. And for the few days leading up to the Passover, Jesus the King, Jesus the Lamb of God, would stay in his holy city, with his people. Just like the Passover lamb, according to the custom, was to be kept in the home for several days before it got ugly. Before the lamb was slaughtered and sacrificed. So the crowds that sang his praises Sunday would by Friday cry for his blood, as shouts of “hosanna!” became clamoring for crucifixion.
But it was in that very cross that he answered all the hosannas, that he did, in fact, “save us”. That’s why our king came, after all. It’s why he came to Jerusalem. It’s why he came to Bethlehem. He came to save. And because he has died and because is risen, and because he has promised… he will come again to make his salvation complete.
Advent means coming – but here we mean not only his first coming, his coming as a babe in Bethlehem, or even his coming as a humble king on Palm Sunday – but also his second coming which has been promised. The color of Advent is blue – because Jesus will come again from the sky. The tone of Advent is expectant – not because we’re waiting for Christmas – we know when that will be. We wait for the salvation of the Lord to be made complete on that, the last day, whenever it may be.
The king is coming. He doesn’t need an invitation, because it’s his party, after all.
Jesus is coming: Shout Hosanna!
But as we read the Palm Sunday account, it seems people were busy in a godly way. They were busy welcoming the coming king. The disciples followed his instructions – and brought him the donkey. The crowds following him and welcoming him shouted and sang his praises.
Some of the Pharisees told Jesus to have his disciples settle down. “We don’t want to give the Romans a reason to be angry. They might see all this fanfare as a sign of unrest – and people could get hurt, Jesus! make them be quiet. Rebuke them. Tell them to cut it out!”
But Jesus, who accepted the praises rightly due to him, answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out”. The king is coming, you see. And a king deserves praise. If his people didn’t give it, his creation would have. It was inevitable.
And so they shouted, “Hosanna!” which means, “Save us now!” They knew, in some way, that the king had come. It was the miracles, Luke tells us, the mighty works that they had seen, that caused such a reaction. The recent raising of Lazarus, in particular, was still all the talk, and word must have traveled fast. A miracle worker. A maker of wonders. A great king, yes, the king has come to save us!
If they only knew. For he had come to save them – from their sin. He had invited himself, as he always does, for the great Passover feast. He soon told his disciples to go make preparations in that upper room. And for the few days leading up to the Passover, Jesus the King, Jesus the Lamb of God, would stay in his holy city, with his people. Just like the Passover lamb, according to the custom, was to be kept in the home for several days before it got ugly. Before the lamb was slaughtered and sacrificed. So the crowds that sang his praises Sunday would by Friday cry for his blood, as shouts of “hosanna!” became clamoring for crucifixion.
But it was in that very cross that he answered all the hosannas, that he did, in fact, “save us”. That’s why our king came, after all. It’s why he came to Jerusalem. It’s why he came to Bethlehem. He came to save. And because he has died and because is risen, and because he has promised… he will come again to make his salvation complete.
Advent means coming – but here we mean not only his first coming, his coming as a babe in Bethlehem, or even his coming as a humble king on Palm Sunday – but also his second coming which has been promised. The color of Advent is blue – because Jesus will come again from the sky. The tone of Advent is expectant – not because we’re waiting for Christmas – we know when that will be. We wait for the salvation of the Lord to be made complete on that, the last day, whenever it may be.
The king is coming. He doesn’t need an invitation, because it’s his party, after all.
The king is coming. Don’t just look
busy – you can’t fool him anyway. But receive him on his terms.
The king is coming. So add your
Hosannas to the Palm Sunday crowd, Hosanna to the one, Jesus Christ,
who came once, and will come again, to save us. His Advent is at
hand.
Amen.
Amen.
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