Luke 19 28-40 2006
ADVENT 1
DECEMBER 3, 2006
Luke 19:28-40
“Bound for Glory”
Introduction: Advent is not merely a time to get ready for Christmas, but a time in which the Church prepares to meet the Lord Jesus, her heavenly Bridegroom. Reflecting upon His promised coming to the saints of the Old Testament, she contemplates the wonder of his First Advent in crib and cross, rejoices in his continual Advent through his holy Word and Sacrament, and anticipates his Second Advent at the end of time.
Advent is a new beginning. The season signals not only the start of a new church year, but themes of repentance, that is, newness of life, also permeate its texts and the church’s reflection. The people of God experience new beginnings. Through repentance and faith, we receive a new mind and heart, created in Christ Jesus for a new life generated by the Holy Spirit through his saving means: the Gospel preached and the Sacraments administered.
In today’s Gospel, the Church stands shoulder to shoulder amid the pilgrims at Jesus’ final entrance into Jerusalem on his relentless journey toward the cross and his redemptive sacrifice. If we didn’t know better, we might think we’ve gone on fast-forward today and jumped ahead to Palm Sunday. Here it’s just the First Sunday in Advent; many of us haven’t even trimmed our Christmas trees yet or baked any cookies. Yet we seem to have skipped right over baby Jesus and the manger, Mary and Joseph and the Wise Men and gone directly to the streets of Jerusalem, thirty-three years later. We witness again the laying of palm branches on the road and watch Jesus ride on a donkey on his way to die. Did we miss something here?
No, there’s no mistake. The Church this First Sunday in Advent directs her attention to the final chapter in the saga of salvation. And that’s as it should be, for crib and cross go together. You can’t have one without the other. Don’t take my word for it; the angel said it first to the shepherds: “Good news. . . . Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Lk 2:10–11, emphasis added). This astounding little bundle of joy was born to save, in other words, He was born to die, to lay down his life in payment for the sins of all the world.
Likewise, there is no salvation apart from God in the incarnational flesh of His Son Jesus Christ. It was a real man, with flesh and blood like ours that was born in a manger, lived, suffered and put to death for our offenses and raised again from the dead for our justification,. In order to remove the just penalty for our sin, Jesus Christ took on a human body, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Crib and cross, cross and crib: like bookends, they enclose the whole story of God’s salvation in his incarnate Son. Today, before we rehearse that magnificent story of Jesus Christ’s miraculous birth all over again, we peek ahead to the final scene.
We know it as Palm Sunday. Jesus knew where he was going. He told his disciples they were going to Jerusalem, where he would be delivered to the Gentiles to endure a shameful death (Lk 18:31–32). They were leaving Jericho behind where he healed the blind and brought salvation to Zacchaeus, a notorious sinner (Lk 18:35–43; 19:1–10). He began His dramatic entrance into Jerusalem. First, He directed his disciples to an un-ridden colt (vv 29–31). They were to untie it and bring it to Jesus. If anyone asked, they were to say: “The Lord has need of it” (v 31). The disciples did what they were told, and they said what they were to say (vv 32–34). Thus Jesus fulfilled the message of God through the prophets of the promised Messiah, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zech 9:9). While He was both the promised messianic King (riding a colt) and God, yet He entered under cover of humility. Just as the God of the universe humbly came to earth as a baby child, He rides into Jerusalem.
While Jesus knew what he was doing, while He alone understood that His path would lead Him to be betrayed, suffer and die on the cross, He humbly submitted to the will of His Father. He knew he must suffer, die, and be raised. He knew he was to be the sacrifice for sin. In his death, he would free the whole world from bondage to sin. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “For our sake He (That is God) made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor 5:21).
Jesus was determined to die our death in order to give us peace. His death on the cross would be the consummation and completion of the promise that the angels proclaimed at His birth, “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" Through His death people have peace with God. Through His resurrection, we too share the glory of the kingdom of God. Jesus was bound for glory. The road to glory passes through the cross. This was Jesus’ path. This is the path for every Christian, “it is through many tribulations that we enter into the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22).
On that Palm Sunday adoring crowds acclaimed Jesus as “the King who comes in the name of the Lord” (v 38). But by week’s end, their King would be killed, the victim of their sin. Through His death Jesus breaks the bonds of sin and brings peace to earth and heaven. He brought peace on earth by the blood of his cross (2:14). Then He was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the power of God. Through Him Heaven and earth have been reconnected and there is peace.
As the eternal God, though Jesus Christ is in heaven He is also present with us on this day. He is present through His Word to release sinners from their sin. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (Jn 8:34–36). Jesus comes among us and gives us peace. He comes where his Gospel is preached and his Sacraments administered. He comes to untie us from the burden of our sins. He comes to join heaven to earth and earth to heaven. He brings us God’s peace and peace on earth.
For all these things we again proclaim the name of Jesus, who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless his holy name (v 38). We depart in his peace. We leave in the service of our Lord, to serve each other and our neighbors in Jesus’ name.
Conclusion: Thanks to Jesus, we, too, who suffer and bear the cross now are bound for glory. “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Because of Christ’s cradle and because of His cross, there is, “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”[i]
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[i] Rev. Harold L. Senkbeil