November 27, 2011: Isaiah 64:1-9, Psalm 80:1-7, 1 Corinthians 1:3-9, Mark 11:1-10
“And those who went before and those who followed where shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
As we find this scene from Palm Sunday today in Mark, we find the promise once given to King David by God in 2 Samuel 7-the long cherished hope of the Messiah which would come from his family-being fulfilled here, and which is a perfect place in which to begin the Advent preparation for our celebration the coming of our Redeemer and Savior at Christmas.
For as the crowds, before and after, shouted out at that the One who comes in the name of Lord is certainly blessed and brings with Him salvation and deliverance (the meaning of the word Hosanna)-they acknowledged the hope and faith of all who came before and who followed the coming of Christ into His glory during that Passion week. That they were receiving their King, who came riding in on the donkey prophesied in Zechariah, and were shouting to the world just what was happening with Christ’s triumphantful entry.
And they did this because what more do people who are in need of salvation and deliverance from their bondage to sin, death and the power of the devil, need other than to have their salvation and deliverance rend open the heavens, as Isaiah preached, and to come down and accomplish such? For Christ had been given to the world for this very moment in Mark-this was His “victory” lap, per se-this was His declaration to the world that its King was coming to sit upon His throne. And when He was lifted high upon the cross that Friday, He announced that this King ruled out of weakness and death; that He reigned as He gave Himself over to sin and death for His subjects.
So, as they cried out that this was their “Hosanna;” that this One was the blessed One of God; that this was the One in whom they had been waiting for to arrive to bring down God’s grace, love and mercy upon a world in waiting-they were preparing the world so to look for God nowhere else other than in this Man, Jesus Christ. They were singing the song that only those who, by faith, as Luther noted, can sing-for they were singing of the fact that only in Christ’s death and resurrection does one find forgiveness from their sin, life from the death and salvation from their damnation. They were proclaiming that if you are to find any bit of hope from a life and world that does nothing but seeks your pain, sorrow and destruction, it will be found only in this One who came to die and rise so to defeat and overcome all of this old, fallen world.
And thus, as we begin this new church year with the season of Advent, we do it remembering and heeding the words of that crowd and to look upon this One alone to prepare our hearts, ears and mind not simply for the celebration of His first Advent in the lowliness of the a manger, but finally of His coming again in all glory, honor and power at the end of all time.
For we, too, are in need of One to come to take away our sufferings-both today and forever. That we are in the place where Isaiah prophesied Israel would be-alone and in exile from our God because of our bondage to sin and death. That we are unclean because our wills are in love with the filth and destruction we surround ourselves with each day. That we have denied our God as we fill our lives with the false gods of this world-whatever you place your love and trust in as it take precedent over God and His Word, His Church, His Will. And because of that, we are doomed to fade like a leaf and our iniquities take us away to our graves.
And yet, we join with that crowd long go, seeing our Hosanna, our salvation and deliverance, heading into Jerusalem on that Sunday in order to do nothing but to be rejected, condemned, denied, crucified and buried. We do know of the One who suffered under all the sin, hatred and evil of the world so that when He was raised to life again on the third day, He would become the only way for those who have nothing left of themselves to hope upon. That we are witness, again, to the image of Christ Jesus willingly and boldly heading toward the day of His death-riding on the back of a lowly colt-so that His humiliation would lead to the exaltation of all who repent, believe and are baptized unto Him.
And because of this, then, we are mindful not to forget the mercies our God has had on us, and to so leave behind the cares of this world. This is Paul’s reminder to the Corinthians today-that as we are being sustained in the grace of the Father in the death and resurrection of the Son, we are not lacking in any spiritual gift and so are not able to resist the temptations of the devil, the world and our sinful flesh. Thus, our season of Advent becomes an occasion not to indulge on the festivities, but to begin, again, anew in the grace and peace of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, we take note of the Psalmist and ask that once again, our Lord might have us use this Advent in preparing ourselves in prayer, praise and repentance so that He might shine His face upon us again and so we be saved. We use this season, as we get ready for the joy and festivities of Christmas, to remember that we are sinners who have been forgiven, not by the works of our hands, but solely by the grace and love of God the Father by the sacrifice of the Son, in which we trust through the work of the Holy Spirit in the Word and Sacraments. And because of it, we are able to give thanks always for the fact that this One, will return again at the end so to bring to sight this hope we hold by faith alone today-all the while being sustained until that day by keeping before our ears these words that “Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!” Amen.
As we find this scene from Palm Sunday today in Mark, we find the promise once given to King David by God in 2 Samuel 7-the long cherished hope of the Messiah which would come from his family-being fulfilled here, and which is a perfect place in which to begin the Advent preparation for our celebration the coming of our Redeemer and Savior at Christmas.
For as the crowds, before and after, shouted out at that the One who comes in the name of Lord is certainly blessed and brings with Him salvation and deliverance (the meaning of the word Hosanna)-they acknowledged the hope and faith of all who came before and who followed the coming of Christ into His glory during that Passion week. That they were receiving their King, who came riding in on the donkey prophesied in Zechariah, and were shouting to the world just what was happening with Christ’s triumphantful entry.
And they did this because what more do people who are in need of salvation and deliverance from their bondage to sin, death and the power of the devil, need other than to have their salvation and deliverance rend open the heavens, as Isaiah preached, and to come down and accomplish such? For Christ had been given to the world for this very moment in Mark-this was His “victory” lap, per se-this was His declaration to the world that its King was coming to sit upon His throne. And when He was lifted high upon the cross that Friday, He announced that this King ruled out of weakness and death; that He reigned as He gave Himself over to sin and death for His subjects.
So, as they cried out that this was their “Hosanna;” that this One was the blessed One of God; that this was the One in whom they had been waiting for to arrive to bring down God’s grace, love and mercy upon a world in waiting-they were preparing the world so to look for God nowhere else other than in this Man, Jesus Christ. They were singing the song that only those who, by faith, as Luther noted, can sing-for they were singing of the fact that only in Christ’s death and resurrection does one find forgiveness from their sin, life from the death and salvation from their damnation. They were proclaiming that if you are to find any bit of hope from a life and world that does nothing but seeks your pain, sorrow and destruction, it will be found only in this One who came to die and rise so to defeat and overcome all of this old, fallen world.
And thus, as we begin this new church year with the season of Advent, we do it remembering and heeding the words of that crowd and to look upon this One alone to prepare our hearts, ears and mind not simply for the celebration of His first Advent in the lowliness of the a manger, but finally of His coming again in all glory, honor and power at the end of all time.
For we, too, are in need of One to come to take away our sufferings-both today and forever. That we are in the place where Isaiah prophesied Israel would be-alone and in exile from our God because of our bondage to sin and death. That we are unclean because our wills are in love with the filth and destruction we surround ourselves with each day. That we have denied our God as we fill our lives with the false gods of this world-whatever you place your love and trust in as it take precedent over God and His Word, His Church, His Will. And because of that, we are doomed to fade like a leaf and our iniquities take us away to our graves.
And yet, we join with that crowd long go, seeing our Hosanna, our salvation and deliverance, heading into Jerusalem on that Sunday in order to do nothing but to be rejected, condemned, denied, crucified and buried. We do know of the One who suffered under all the sin, hatred and evil of the world so that when He was raised to life again on the third day, He would become the only way for those who have nothing left of themselves to hope upon. That we are witness, again, to the image of Christ Jesus willingly and boldly heading toward the day of His death-riding on the back of a lowly colt-so that His humiliation would lead to the exaltation of all who repent, believe and are baptized unto Him.
And because of this, then, we are mindful not to forget the mercies our God has had on us, and to so leave behind the cares of this world. This is Paul’s reminder to the Corinthians today-that as we are being sustained in the grace of the Father in the death and resurrection of the Son, we are not lacking in any spiritual gift and so are not able to resist the temptations of the devil, the world and our sinful flesh. Thus, our season of Advent becomes an occasion not to indulge on the festivities, but to begin, again, anew in the grace and peace of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, we take note of the Psalmist and ask that once again, our Lord might have us use this Advent in preparing ourselves in prayer, praise and repentance so that He might shine His face upon us again and so we be saved. We use this season, as we get ready for the joy and festivities of Christmas, to remember that we are sinners who have been forgiven, not by the works of our hands, but solely by the grace and love of God the Father by the sacrifice of the Son, in which we trust through the work of the Holy Spirit in the Word and Sacraments. And because of it, we are able to give thanks always for the fact that this One, will return again at the end so to bring to sight this hope we hold by faith alone today-all the while being sustained until that day by keeping before our ears these words that “Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!” Amen.
posted by Weekly sermons at 4:59 PM
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