Jesu Juva
“Our Entering Saviour”
Text: Luke 19:28-40; Jeremiah 33:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Imagine going to a National Park - like Arches or Yellowstone - but not going in to see the arch formations or Old Faithful.
Imagine going to a museum, but not going in to see the exhibits.
Imagine receiving a gift of delicious food, but not opening it, not eating it. Letting it go to waste.
Why would you do any of those things, right?
But that’s what happens at Christmas for many people.
The story of Advent and Christmas is the entrance, the door, into the story of Jesus. It is not the end, the destination, but the beginning, the entrance. But sadly, for many people - too many - they stop at the entrance of Jesus’ story. They don’t go in.
But it’s when you go in - there is the reward. Then you see the wonders. Then you taste the wonderful flavors.
So we start each church year on this First Sunday of Advent by going in - by going into Jerusalem with Jesus, where in just a few days, Jesus will reach the end of why He came - the cross. And with this, we remember why we are entering the story once again. This is why we came, where we are going, and what we will see. And that sight is glorious. More glorious than amazing stone arches, a faithful geyser, a delicious banquet, or anything else in this world. The death of the Son of God for sinners like us, that sinners like us may be children of God.
So we heard today of Jesus entering Jerusalem. But He needs a donkey. To ride in as a humble king.
Now as God, Jesus could have ordered that donkey to come and serve Him. Just as He caused the pairs of animals to go into Noah’s ark. For all of creation obeys His voice . . . all, except one, that is: man. Rebellious man. The creature God made in His own image! The creature Jesus is entering Jerusalem to save, to restore that image - His image! - that we sold . . . and for what? What did we think more important than that? A piece of fruit. A bowl of stew. Some pleasure that won’t last. What is it for you? More important than God’s Word? What do you sell your inheritance for? Put before God in your life? And why? Why? Is it really worth it?
But Jesus puts nothing before saving you. He gives up everything for you. He wouldn’t come into this world and then not enter into His suffering and death. That would be unthinkable.
So Jesus didn’t come into creation and start bossing it around, though He could have. And on those occasions when He did, it wasn’t for Himself - it was to save people. The lepers, the demon possessed, the sick, the dead. And to use these things as pointers, as foreshadowings, of what He would do finally and fully for us through the cross. For He came to serve, not be served (Matthew 20:28).
He came not just to be God in the world - He already was that! He came to be the Saviour of the world. And so He came as one of us and to live as one of us. Only with this difference: to live perfectly. So that man wouldn’t be the only part of creation that did not heed the voice of God. So He did. For us all.
And so before He entered Jerusalem that day and needed that donkey . . . before that, He needed a mother, He needed a manger, He needed feeding and changing, He needed to learn and grow. Until the time came when He needed to die. To die as one of us. To die for all of us. Because we had need of that. We needed Jesus to be our beast of burden, to carry our rebellion to the cross and bear our sin there under the wrath of God and bear the punishment due. So He did. For just as Jesus told two of His disciples to go and get that donkey, His Father had told Him to go and get us. So He did.
And when He rode into Jerusalem that day, He received the praises of those He came to save. Though not all of them. A great crowd began to rejoice and say: Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! This, too, a foreshadowing of the great multitude that no one can number (Revelation 7:9), who will rejoice on the Last Day when Jesus comes again, visibly, into our world, to raise the dead and take us home.
But in Jerusalem that day, as it is today, as it will be on the Last Day, some would have nothing of it. They would not - and so will not - enter into Jesus’ story. Teacher, rebuke your disciples, is what they cry out. And many are rebuking His disciples, the church, today. Rebuking our teaching, rebuking the truth, rebuking us. They want Jesus no more today than they did then. And so Jesus they crucified, and they would the church, too.
But Jesus didn’t go all God on them, calling down twelve legions of angels to defend Him, calling down fire from heaven on those pounding the nails or mocking Him, or crumpling up the cross between two of His fingers! All of which He could have done. Instead, He hung there and quietly spoke. To those who would listen. Father, forgive them (Luke 23:34). Never were more powerful words so quietly spoken. Those words that break the devil’s back and make us right again. Right with God. Words of victory from a dying man.
So Jesus enters Jerusalem that day to speak those words of victory. Which is why He rides a donkey. Not only because it is humble compared to a war horse - but because it is a sign of the victory Jesus has come to win. For when you ride a donkey instead of a war horse, it is because the battle is over, the victory won. Now, Jesus would still need to go to the cross and complete His victory in His death and resurrection, but it is as good as done, already. For when God makes a promise, it is a sure thing. It will be fulfilled.
And so are the words we heard from Jeremiah today fulfilled by Jesus. He is the righteous branch that sprang up for David in His birth, and He is the Lord our righteousness - to make us right - on the cross, and here today. For those words of victory Jesus spoke from the cross He is still speaking today, for you: Father, forgive them. And you are.
Because Jesus has entered your story as well. For as I said before, just as Jesus told two of His disciples to go and get that donkey, His Father had told Him to go and get you. So He did. He baptized you and made you His. He gave you His Spirit. He feeds you with His Body and Blood. His righteousness and victory He gives to you. That donkey was humble, but so are the water and words and bread and wine He rides in today. Those words spoken from the cross were quiet, yet powerful, but so are the words proclaimed here - words of love, mercy, and forgiveness in a world of noise, disagreement, and strife. We don’t have to shout or be spectacular! Just speak the Word of God in truth and love. He does the rest. Jesus does the rest. Entering lives broken by sin, lives shattered by lies, lives beaten up and beaten down by the world and its power, lives despairing and weak - entering our lives with His forgiveness, healing, and hope.
So that when He comes again in glory, we will not be rebuked, but welcomed home with outstretched arms.
And in anticipation of that day, and recognizing the reality of Jesus’ coming today and entering into our story, we sing the same words those who welcomed Him into Jerusalem that day did: Blessed is [He] who comes in the name of the Lord! we will sing right before that same Body and Blood that rode into Jerusalem that day is given to us here. We take our place in the crowd welcoming Him. And pray as Paul did - not only for holy and blameless hearts through the forgiveness given us here, but also that the Lord would make us increase and abound in love for one another and for all. That each Advent would not only be the start of a new church year, but the start of a new life for us. Living in the image we were created to be.
So today, we enter Jesus’ story again, as He entered ours. This year, we will hear of wonders. This year, we will taste and see that the Lord is good. And it will be a year of blessing. For where the Word of God is, there is Jesus. And where Jesus is, there is blessing, and life.
The Saviour of the nations who came. The Saviour of the nations who comes. And the Saviour of the nations who is coming again (LSB #332). So Come, Lord Jesus! O come, come, Immanuel (LSB #357). God with us. Come to the world. Come to us. Come for me.
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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