{"id":3224,"date":"2016-11-29T10:02:38","date_gmt":"2016-11-29T17:02:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/?p=3224"},"modified":"2016-11-29T10:02:38","modified_gmt":"2016-11-29T17:02:38","slug":"advent-1-behold-your-king-matthew-211-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/?p=3224","title":{"rendered":"Advent 1 – “Behold Your King” (Matthew 21:1-11)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Preparations need to be made for the arrival of guests, especially since you know they\u2019re coming. If you have a dirty house, you clean it. You make sure that the house is spotless, almost to the point that the house is sterile and might even seem as if no ones lives there, for everything is perfectly in its place. Once you have a clean house, the best china laid out, then it is okay to entertain guests. To make sure you are ready, listen to me now: you have a guest coming!<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0What kind of guest is coming, you might ask? The Introit for today tells us what kind of guest is coming: \u201cBehold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation.\u201d<\/span><\/em> We have a King coming! Some of you may respond, \u201cPastor, that\u2019s old news. Of course our King has come. Jesus came, died, rose again, and ascended. Tell us something we don\u2019t already know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We all know that long before Jesus was born and long before Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem as the Son of God, the prophet Zechariah had given Israel advance notice: \u201cBehold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a best of burden.\u201d<\/em> <\/span>We see Zechariah\u2019s prophecy fulfilled. It happens much later in the Church Year. It happens on Palm Sunday as Jesus enters triumphantly into Jerusalem. That same account is the basis for the Gospel reading on the First Sunday in Advent. Why would that be? We\u2019re getting ready for baby Jesus to come into the world, not adult Jesus make His exit in the world.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As we begin the season of Advent, we mark a time of waiting and preparing. We wait for our expectant King to arrive; and while we wait, we prepare. We prepare to receive Him as He comes. How does He come? According to our Gospel account for today, our expectant King comes in a very humble fashion. There is no great pomp and circumstance to our Lord\u2019s arrival. If you want pomp and circumstance, the only thing you have is a star to guide the shepherds and the magi to find the infant Jesus. We prepare for the remembrance of the first coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When we hear that our King is coming, this message is the call to prepare by opening our hearts to His grace. We need not fear, for He comes in meekness and lowliness. But He comes as King, mighty to save, full of grace and truth.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, Jerusalem was poised for the celebration of the Passover. This annual remembrance of God’s act of deliverance of His children from Egypt would have swelled the streets of Jerusalem with holiday crowds. The day of the slaughter of the Passover lambs was fast approaching. People were anticipating the delight of being with family for the Passover feast. But when King Jesus comes into Jerusalem, it interrupts the sort of celebration people are expecting.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We see much the same with Christ at this time of year. We begin celebrating the \u201creal\u201d reason for Christmas: gift giving, parties, but most importantly, gift receiving. We are doing our own thing, enjoying what Christmas is all about, and then Christ comes to ruin everything. For all who think like that, just remember one thing: you can’t have Christmas without Christ, no matter how hard you try.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When Christ does make His appearance in this earthly life, it isn\u2019t with great pomp and circumstance. He is born to lowly parents in very circumstances. It should be no surprise that when Christ enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, He does so in a very unexpected way. He doesn\u2019t enter with trumpets blaring behind a large processional. Rather, He comes riding on a donkey. This is done also to fulfill what the prophet wrote: \u201cBehold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.\u201d<\/span><\/em> You see, whatever perception the people had of the Messiah and what He would look like and what He would do, Zechariah puts them to rest several hundreds year before the Messiah first graces us with His presence. He comes into Jerusalem, the city of the temple \u2013 the place of sacrifice \u2013 to suffer and to die as God’s ultimate Passover Lamb. His sacrifice interrupts the monotonous routines of sin and death. Here is a King like no other, for this King comes not in royal splendor or with military might, but in the humility of the Servant who embraces the cross for you.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Today, we begin preparing ourselves for Christ’s entry into this world, coming into this world by being born in a stable in the small town of Bethlehem. We prepare our hearts for what Christmas brings: it brings the Savior of the Nations, the Virgin Son who makes His home amongst the chosen people of God, as sinful as we are. God came to His people and lived among them as one of them.\u00a0As God came to us in flesh and blood, He experienced all the things we experience – gestation and birth, childhood, weeping and laughter, pleasure and pain, and all the other things that make up the human experience.\u00a0He even experienced temptation, but He never gave in to it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All of this, He did for you. He is the Blessed One, for in His saving death, He brings all the blessings of heaven \u2013 forgiveness of sins and peace with God \u2013 down to earth, down to you. It is no wonder that during the season of Advent, we especially hear that Jesus is indeed Immanuel, God with us. Even as God lives with us, He still comes to us.\u00a0He comes to us as we read and hear His Word.\u00a0He also continues to come to us in His flesh and blood as we eat and drink the bread and the wine of His Table.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That is what Advent is really all about.\u00a0It is a season of repentance and belief while Jesus serves us with His coming.\u00a0Just as Lent is a season of repentance and belief in preparation for Good Friday, so also Advent is a season of repentance and belief in preparation for the coming of Jesus, not just as He came at Christmas, but also as He comes to us now and will come to raise us from the dead and live with us forever.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Consider God and His coming during this Advent.\u00a0Consider His coming at Christmas, but don’t limit your consideration just to Christmas.\u00a0Consider the love that God shows in His coming in that even while sin causes terror and hatred, He continues to come with His love.\u00a0Consider how He came to save us with His suffering, death, and resurrection.\u00a0Consider how He now comes in Word and Sacrament.\u00a0Consider how He will come to take His people home with Him.\u00a0Consider the blessings that He once gave, that He now gives, and that He will give when He comes again.\u00a0In Jesus name, amen. Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Preparations need to be made for the arrival of guests, especially since you know they\u2019re coming. If […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17942,9016],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advent","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3224"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3225,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3224\/revisions\/3225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}