Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and
from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Text: (Matthew
21:1-9)
Say to the
daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a
donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.
Prayer: Lord,
sanctify us in the truth. Your word is truth. Amen.
In Matthew 16, Jesus says: Who do you say that I am?
To answer this question in the presence of Jesus is our
task today, as a church, as a congregation, as individuals.
No other question has so much confusion surrounding it,
and no other question needs addressing more than this one today.
Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the
living God.”
And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah!
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in
heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
What rock? The rock of Peter’s confession. Peter’s
confession, which Jesus’ own Father in heaven revealed to him, is the rock on
which Jesus will build his church.
We might think, “Isn’t Jesus’ word the rock on which the
church is built?”
And yes, you are right. But at the same time, it’s not
enough for the church to simply read the words of Jesus with no commitment to them,
or no recognition of what those words are. The church exists in order to give a
public confession of who Jesus is.
When we read the beginning of the bible, we see read
there, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Everyone can agree that those are the words that are said.
Even the devil agrees that that’s what the text says. But what the devil won’t
say is “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.”
No—the devil wants to give you the whole world, if only
you would bow down and worship him, just as he tempts Jesus in the wilderness.
Listen to Peter’s words: “You are the Christ, the Son of
the Living God!”
This is so important for us today, because our text says:
“Behold your king is coming to you.” We must know who our king is, or we might
end up mistaking Satan’s kingdom for Christ’s.
+++
In the 300s and 400s, there were many things afoot in
world politics. There were wars and battles and invasions, the rise and fall of
nations. And in the middle of all this, the church held various councils,
synods, meetings, if you like.
And what do you think they discussed? World politics?
Social problems? No—they discussed the question, “Who do you say that I am?”
And out of the middle of all this political hooha and social upheaval comes to
us the Nicene Creed from the Council of Nicaea.
And in actual fact, most people today have no idea what
was going on in those times, the politics, the bloodshed, the chaos, but one
thing we do have, and that is the confession of the faith of the early church,
in answer to the question of Jesus, “Who do you say that I am?”
Right at the heart of the Nicene Creed is the confession
that Jesus Christ is one person. We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ. But also we have here described his two natures: his divinity and his
humanity. Jesus is both true God and true man. He is 100% human and 100% God.
So we say that Jesus is the “only Son of God, eternally
begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were
made.” You see: Jesus is true God. To say that Jesus Christ is anything less
than true God is the voice of Satan himself.
Also we say: For us [men, human beings] and for our
salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate [took on flesh] of the Holy
Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human [he was made a man]. You can
see here that Jesus is also a true human being, a true man. To say that Jesus
Christ is anything less than true man is also the voice of Satan.
But also, there are not two Jesuses. There is only one
Jesus. He is both man and God, but there is only one person, Jesus Christ. The
humanity and the divinity of Christ is not a two-way switch that he flicks off
and on, but they describe who Jesus is, and they describe what makes him
different from us. We are not truly God.
In the early church, Jesus was often likened to a burning
sword. His humanity is like the iron which cuts, but his divinity is like the
fire than burns. But when the two are together, there is a red-hot sword, one
than cuts and burns at the same time.
So when Jesus touches a person, it is the touch of a man,
and also God touches the person at the same time. When Jesus speaks, it is a
human voice, but it is also inseparably the living voice of God from heaven.
Jesus was a human being with real blood. If he weren’t
human there would be no blood. But the fact that he can cleanse us with us, and
forgive us through it, happens because he is true God. The fact that Jesus’
blood is powerful and yours is not is because he is true man and true God in
one person.
Also, the fact that he rose from the dead happened because
he was true God. But the fact that he had a human body to raise from the dead
is because he was truly human.
And so we say that Jesus is true God, but he died. And
Jesus is a true man, but he rose.
Beware of any smart aleck who says that we don’t need
creeds because we have the bible! Of course, we know that the bible is the Word
of God, and that the Nicene Creed is not written word for word in it. But the
Nicene Creed is the church speaking God’s word back to God. This is the task of
the church—to confess the faith, and to confess the truth about who Jesus is.
The Nicene Creed was written in a time when Jesus question, “Who do you say
that I am?” was at the forefront of the minds of Christians, and when they
actually cared about it.
Today, people say that Jesus is our “Lord and Saviour.”
And Satan himself will permit all sorts of false teachings, and all sorts of
tricks and deceptions, under the cloak of these pious sounding words. If Jesus
is not “Lord and Saviour” in the same way as the Nicene Creed says he is Lord
and Saviour, then we’re dealing with a different Jesus than what the Nicene
Creed confesses. Don’t be deceived: there are many false Jesuses around today.
And so in our gospel reading today we read where Jesus,
true God and true man comes to Jerusalem on a donkey.
And because he is true God, he is able to predict the way
in which the disciples would fetch the donkey. So he says: “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a
donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone
says anything to you, you shall say, “The Lord needs them,“ and he will send
them at once.” This took place to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet.
Jesus is prepared to let the whole plan fall flat on its
face. He is prepared to send the apostles away from him to fetch the donkey. He
knows where it will be, he knows what will happen when they take it. He doesn’t
go and fetch the donkey himself—that would be arrogance. The donkey must be
brought to him.
But the plan doesn’t fall flat—it happens just as he said.
And so he demonstrates here his divine power, the power of his words, and he
demonstrates that he is true God in the flesh.
But also at the same time, Jesus rides into Jerusalem
sitting on the donkey. He is a true man, with a real body. It isn’t a ghost
that sits on the donkey: it’s a real man.
And all of this happens as a fulfilment of a prophecy,
written centuries before:
Behold, your king is
coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a
beast of burden.
And the crowd rightly welcome him, placing their clothes
on the donkey, and on the ground, and waving branches, singing: “Hosanna to the
Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the
Highest!”
Here we see how Satan’s completely the opposite. Satan
must take the donkey by force, and he will not allow the apostles to take time
to bring it to him. He is impetuous and he wants things done now. He would
steal it without permission.
As the Lutheran theologian Hermann Sasse once said: “Sects
and cults always want to do everything quickly, because they have no future.
But the church does have a future, therefore it has to wait.”
But also, Satan can’t imitate Christ’s humility. He could
try, but it would never be genuine. He couldn’t bring himself to ride in on a
donkey—he would have to take the finest stallion in the country! And he would
ride in by force, and trample all over everything.
But Jesus comes quietly, humbly, gently. He doesn’t need
to prove himself—he’s true God, and he will judge the world. He comes close to
the people, friendly, loving, without force, but completely at their mercy.
And the text says: Behold,
your king is coming to you.
Why do you think that we read this text today? Not simply
because your king came to those people at that time, but also because he comes
to you, into your church, into your heart, into your life. And he comes gently,
humbly, on a donkey. Don’t you know that Jesus in his flesh is sitting at the
right hand of his Father, and can ride out to us in his majesty and glory
wherever he promises?
And so what’s the donkey? Christ always rides to us with
humble, gentle means: he comes to us through his words, through preaching. He
says to the apostles: Go and preach the Gospel to all nations. Do you see?
Jesus wants the Gospel to be preached—through the simple apostles, through
simple sinful pastors. He says: “Make disciples by baptising them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe
all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always to the end of
the age.” Do you see? Jesus promises to ride out to us from the Father, even
with simple water. He says: “Take and eat. This is my body. Take and drink.
This is my blood.” Jesus promises to ride out to us from the Father with simple
bread and wine.
These are the things that Jesus uses to bring his kingdom
to us: his word and his sacraments. We receive them in prayer, in thanksgiving,
in singing and praise. But Jesus is the one who promises to come to us through
his word and sacraments.
Satan wants to switch everything around. He wants to pull
Jesus off his donkey.
First of all, Satan doesn’t want you to know your sin.
Satan wants you to think that you are a better person today than you were
yesterday. Satan wants you to think that all your sins were committed in the
past but not anymore. Satan wants you to wake up in the morning and think that
you are better than someone else, and more worthy of God’s gifts than someone
else. Satan doesn’t want you to be convicted of your sin, because Jesus Christ
your king will only come to you, if you are a totally desperate, helpless
sinner. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not
in us.”
Satan wants to turn your mind away from the simple clear
gospel of the forgiveness of sins, and wants to convince you that you are done
with the gospel and finished with it. He wants you to think: Now that I’m
saved, now where am I going to find Jesus? In miracles? Healings? Signs in the
heavens?
Jesus says: “If
anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not
believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform great
signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I
have told you beforehand.
See, how Satan always wants to pull Jesus off his donkey.
He wants to take your ears away from the law which convicts you of your sin,
and he wants to take your ears away from the gospel which brings you
forgiveness. Satan wants to take Jesus off the donkey which is his word, and he
will use all kinds of preachers and prophets, miracles and signs, using Jesus’
own name, and desecrating Jesus’ own name, to try and do it.
But also, what about baptism? Satan always wants to take
Jesus off this donkey too. Satan wants you to believe that Jesus isn’t there,
and that the Holy Spirit is not there in baptism with water. Satan has a
wonderful little invention called “Second baptism”, where he wants to convince
you that the baptismal font in the church is a silly old bird-bath and what you
really need is to be drawn up into heaven in some great revival meeting, where
he will feed you the so-called “Holy Spirit”, with all his feathers. And people
will say, “Jesus this”, and “Jesus that”—and they will draw people one by one
away from the foot of the cross, and into the deepest hell-pit imaginable. And
they will say, “Lord, Lord, did we not cast out demons in your name, and do
many mighty works in your name?” And Jesus will declare to them, “I never knew
you; depart from me, you workers of darkness.”
Meanwhile, Jesus is still on his donkey. He is still
sending His Holy Spirit through the water and the word. Holy baptism still
works.
And then there’s Lord’s Supper: Satan has been trying to
convince people that the Lord’s Supper’s just a symbolic remembrance meal for
centuries. We know that it’s generally it’s not possible that a man can give
his body and blood to his disciples even while sitting there in front of them,
but this is a great miracle only made possible through the power of Jesus own
words: “This is my body. This is my blood.”
Behold, you king is coming to you. Your Jesus, true man
and true God, is coming to you. He is seated at the right hand of God and he is
coming to you. And he is riding through Jerusalem not on some mighty stallion,
but on his donkey: the word of God and his sacraments. The gates of hell will
not prevail against Christ’s church! Hear Jesus calling you out of the kingdom
of darkness into his marvellous light!
So welcome him gladly! Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is
he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man, Son of the
living God, let us welcome you today as our king, as you come to us humbly and
gently. Don’t let us be fooled by Satan’s tricks to find your kingdom in places
where you haven’t promised it to be. Send us the Holy Spirit and fill our
hearts with joy and gladness as we welcome you. Amen.
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