God in Heaven and on Earth
Matthew 21:1-9
April 14, 2019 anno Domini – Redeemer
In the year the King Uzziah died Isaiah was taken up to heaven, into the very throne room of the Lord of heaven and earth. There Isaiah saw the Seraphim, the heavenly guard, the angels who stand around the throne. The glory of God is so grand in heaven that even the angels can’t look at God. With their wings they shield their faces in His presence.
God took Isaiah into heaven to send him back to earth as a prophet. This was call day for Isaiah. While there he heard the angels sing the heavenly song – like we chant the Psalms – back and forth – “holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Isaiah knew he didn’t deserve to be there. He was a sinner, a man of unclean lips. How could God make him a prophet? Then one of the Seraphim went to the heavenly altar – took a burning coal from the fire and touched Isaiah’s lips and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
You might be wondering – Pastor, what does that have to do with Palm Sunday? That’s not even today’s Old Testament reading. Did you pull the wrong sermon off the internet to preach this morning?
How does Isaiah’s call fit on Palm Sunday? Well, every time we join the Palm Sunday crowd in the liturgy we join Isaiah in heaven. Every Lord’s Day the Church has a Palm Sunday. In the Sanctus we sing with the Palm Sunday crowd, “Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the Highest, Blessed is he, blessed is he, blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord,” but before we sing that earthly “Hosanna” we sing the heavenly anthem, “Holy, Holy, Holy.”
The Sanctus has been sung by the church for more than 1700 years in the liturgy. Why do you think the earliest Christians, the congregations of the Apostles, wed together the heavenly song of the angels with the earthly song of the people? Because that guy riding on the donkey is the same guy sitting on the heavenly throne. The guy that everyone came out to see on His way into Jerusalem is the same guy before whom the angels hid their faces. Jesus is the holy God of heaven come down to earth to save us. That’s what is taught to us in the Sanctus. We go from heavenly throne room to the road outside Jerusalem.
The liturgy is not just some human ritual. It’s not some Lutheran custom from the old country. It is a gift from the saints who have gone before us to unite us with them (in heaven with Isaiah and on the Jerusalem road with the crowd) but more importantly it is sung to unite all of us to Christ.
The crowds knew where to look for Jesus. Five hundred and fifty years before Jesus rode in Jerusalem, Zechariah was told by the Holy Spirit to prophesy of his coming, “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.” (Zechariah 9:9, ESV)
It is not the way a people would expect their King to come, but then Jesus wasn’t coming to start an earthly Kingdom. He did not come with economic programs. He didn’t promise that everyone would be free to do whatever he or she wanted. He didn’t make promises He couldn’t keep. He didn’t lie. He didn’t schmooze the crowds, seeking their vote. Instead He repeatedly told them that they themselves were the problem. Jesus did not come to make Israel great again or to destroy the Roman Republic.
So why did everyone in Jerusalem go out to meet Him? Because they believed Zechariah’s Words, because Jesus had performed miracles and signs that only the God of heaven could do. The Old Testament pointed to Jesus unequivocally as God’s anointed Savor, God in the flesh, and when He came, He was to come humble and mounted on a donkey.
What does Palm Sunday mean for us? Let’s return to the Sanctus and learn some more from the liturgy. Where is the Sanctus in the liturgy? We sing it before our Lord’s Words of Institution. Where is He who sits on the throne of heaven right now so you can see Him and receive His saving work? The Son of God is in the flesh and blood of Jesus under the bread and wine. How do you know to look for Him there? His Word tells you. “This is My Body” and “This is My Blood.” Here’s another tie to the Sanctus. Isaiah’s soiled conscience was cleansed when an angel touched his lips with a burning coal from the altar. Your soiled conscience is cleansed today when the body and blood of Jesus from the altar touches your lips. Your guilt is taken away. Your sin atoned for.
The Psalm Sunday crowd cried out “Hosanna” which means “Save us now O Lord.” We don’t know the salvation for which they were looking. Did they want to be saved from Rome? Saved from death? Saved from a meaningless life? We do know the salvation Jesus accomplished. He saved us from our sin. He was carried on a humble donkey into Jerusalem so He could humbly bear our sins out of Jerusalem to His judgement and death. He atoned for your sins there so you could be forgiven here.
Today is the beginning of Holy Week. God’s Word and the Divine Liturgy are going to take us with Jesus to Jerusalem, to His Table, His Cross, and His Tomb. That isn’t where you will find the leaders of the world. Donald Trump has the White House and Mara La Go. Bernie Sanders and Nancy Pelosi are multi-millionaires who live in gated mansions. They like us, sinfully use what God has given us to our own advantage first. That is not why Christ has come. Everything He had He used for you but He didn’t come for your success or happiness. He didn’t come to give you what you want. He doesn’t come the way you expect. Jesus of Nazareth, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, rode into Jerusalem to accomplish your forgiveness so you could be a citizen of the heavenly kingdom. God the Son, Jesus of Nazareth stoops down now from heaven to dwell bodily under the bread and wine of the His Supper, to deliver that salvation to you. Trump won’t last. Bernie won’t save you. The United States might not remain the freest and best country in the world. But the Kingdom of God endures forever because it isn’t from earth – it’s from heaven. Isaiah saw God on His throne. The Palm Sunday crowd saw Him on a donkey, and then on the cross. Today He has come to Saint Cloud for you as He promised, “This is my body. This is my blood for the forgiveness of sins.” Holy is the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes to save us in the name of Jesus. Amen.