Thursday, December 21, 2023

Sermon - Midweek Advent 3 - King Solomon


1 Kings 8:12-21

John 2:13-22

We’ve seen King Saul, a coward and ultimately unfaithful king who stood as a foil for both David and Jesus.  We’ve considered King David, a man after God’s on heart, not because he was perfect, but because he humbly confessed his sins.  And now, on to the first “Son of David” to be king and inherit his father’s throne – King Solomon.

Solomon, the son of Bathsheba and David, had many hopes riding on his shoulders.  God’s promises about the Son of David were freshly made, and I’m sure all eyes were on Solomon as he took the throne of his great father David.  Solomon had some big shoes to fill.

Solomon is perhaps best known for his wisdom.  God had appeared to him in a dream and offered him a wish – any desire of his heart.  And Solomon didn’t ask for riches, or fame, or the defeat of his enemies.  Instead he asked for wisdom to do his job as king, and rule the great people of Israel.  God was so pleased with Solomon’s request that he not only made him the wisest man ever to live (apart from Jesus), but he also added to him fame and fortune and success.  Solomon had it all, basically.  All that his father David had and then some.

But perhaps his greatest achievement as a king was building the temple.  Here’s the backstory:  God’s “throne”, the Ark of the Covenant, was kept in the tabernacle since the days of Israel at Mt. Sinai.  For some 500 years, the dwelling of God on earth in this special way – was in a temporary shelter – a tent, really.  And while they Israelites wandered it made good sense, for they could move the Tabernacle, the Ark, and everything else with them as they traveled. 

But now they were settled in the land, and under David enjoyed a time of peace and permanency.  David established his capitol at Jerusalem and even built himself a palace there.  But then David thought, and you can understand the thinking, “Hey, I’m living in this nice palace, but Yahweh is dwelling in a tent!  Let’s make a grand palace for him, a house fit for a king – a temple!” 

The Lord heard David’s idea, and didn’t totally dismiss it.  But it would not be as David planned.  “David, you’re a man of war, with blood on your hands.  It’s not for you to build me a house.  But instead, I will build YOU a house.”  And of course, by that, God didn’t mean a temple, but a dynasty.  Thus he promised a descendant of David would always rule on the throne of his father.  And then, he ordained that David’s son, Solomon, would build the temple.  And there our reading today picks up.  Solomon had completed the job, and now dedicated the temple. 

This temple of Solomon would stand for some 400 years, and there God made his presence known.  But when the people of Israel turned to false gods, the patience of the true God eventually ran out.  Yahweh withdrew his presence from the temple, and thus also his protection of the people.

And he allowed the Babylonians to destroy that temple and take the people into captivity.  After their mourning in exile, God again showed mercy, and the people returned to rebuild the temple under Ezra.  Later, under King Herod the Great, this second temple was renovated and expanded.  But in this second temple the presence of Yahweh, enshrouded in the mysterious cloud, would not be seen.  The sacrifices had resumed, but the glory had departed.

Until one day a couple from Nazareth brought their infant child to the temple for a blessing.  And old Simeon took the babe in his arms and sang the Nunc Dimmittis, “my eyes have seen thy salvation, and the glory of thy people Israel”.  In the Babe of Bethlehem, the Glory of God had returned to the temple.

Boy Jesus would also visit his Father’s house, and grown-up Jesus also spent much time there, teaching the people, and even cleansing his temple as we heard in John 2.

What famously got him in trouble, though was his statement, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days”.  You can see how the Jews were a bit touchy about the temple being destroyed.  But of course, the temple he spoke of was his body. He would die, be destroyed, but then be raised to life in just three short days.  Jesus, you see, is the true temple, the dwelling of God with man.  Not in a tent or a stone building, but in the flesh.  He’s not just a geographic dwelling with us, he is Immanuel in the deepest, most profound way – God with us, uniting his divine nature to our human nature in the person of Jesus. 

Now what do we make of all of this?  How does it relate to us?

David’s inclination to build the temple and do something nice for God wasn’t what God wanted.  Instead, God was going to do something for David, and really, for all people.  It’s the same old pattern, isn’t it.  We think we have something to offer him, do for him, give to him… but God is the giver of all good gifts, and he takes the initiative when it comes to our creation and our salvation.  He builds his temple, he builds his church, he accomplishes the salvation of the world through the Son of David – not Solomon, but Jesus.

Second, God doesn’t need a fancy building or a grand palace in which to live, but he comes to us to dwell among us on his own terms – humbly to meet the humble, lowly to mee the low.  Yahweh dwelt in a tent for all those years by his own choice, perhaps partly to show that he was accessible to all people, not just kings and the well-to-do.  Likewise, when Jesus appears, it is humbly, laid in a manger, attended by shepherds.  He comes and meets us where we are, and that is, in the flesh.  And even today he comes to us humbly in the sacraments – simple water, humble bread and wine, they are where he may be found, according to his promise.

Third, God keeps his promises, but not always the way we think.  Yes, David’s son would inherit his throne.  Yes, David’s son would build the temple.  Yes, Davd’s son would be a wise and great king.  But Solomon, for all his wisdom and glory, did none of these, fulfilled none of these, as well as the greater Son of David, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ, whose wisdom exceeds all – is the very Word of God made flesh, the wisdom of God in a person.  Christ, the Son of David reigns forever – though Solomon reigned and his son after him, but the line of Davidic kings became lost to history.  Christ will reign forever and ever, and rules over not just Jerusalem, but over all things – all authority in heaven and on earth is given to him, and he will put all enemies under his feet – even death itself.  And he will also give us a share in his reign in his eternal kingdom.  Thanks be to God!

And yes, the Son of David, Jesus Christ, who was welcomed with palms on a Sunday and crucified on a Friday, crowned with thorns as the King of the Jews, enthroned upon his cross… he would build that temple of his body once more, never to be torn down again. In a glorious resurrection our True Temple now stands as an eternal dwelling of God with man, he the once and for all sacrifice for sin, he the one who brings our prayers before the father, our Great High Priest, our Prophet, our King.

None of these three kings of old was perfect, far from it.  Saul a coward, David an adulterer and murderer, and Solomon – who started out so wise and good, it seems fell from the faith late in his life.  While David had 500 concubines, Solomon had 1000, and many of them pagans who eventually led him to fall away from the true God into idol worship.    We read in 1 Kings 11:

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.

A sad ending, a tragedy, indeed.  But our Son of David, Christ the King, is a faithful bridegroom who is devoted to his one and only, the church.  And he will bring her to the Father, not away.  And he will remain faithful forever, to the church as a whole, and to you, his dear child.  His story has a blessed ending, a joyous conclusion, at the marriage feast of the Lamb in his kingdom which has no end.

And so, let us celebrate with joy the coming of the king – remembering his birth in Bethlehem, in the City of David.  And looking forward in hope to the return of the king in glory, with all his angels, to bring abut a kingdom that has no end.

In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

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