The Lord is Coming
Matthew 21:1-9
December 1, 2024 anno Domini
Do you think Adam and Eve wanted God to come into the garden? Or that the children of Israel wanted Moses to come down Mt. Sinai to see them worshipping the Golden Calf by playing with their passions and perversions?
We know they didn’t. Adam and Eve hid. Moses had to plead with God not to destroy His people.
Yet today the church begins her calendar with this blessed and comforting declaration. The Lord is coming. You should not fear His coming, even though you know your sins (and He knows them better than you), for as Adam and Eve and the Israelites learned, He comes not to destroy, but to save you.
This is the hope of the Christian church, our Lord is coming. In the Old Testament God made His first promise to the Devil so that Adam and Eve could overhear and believe. God would send a male child, born of a woman, who would be the Devil’s enemy and crush his head, ending his poison lies and his deadly accusations. So, throughout the Old Testament the people waited on the arrival of this son. As sons were born they hoped — as Isaac was born to Sarah, and Jacob to Rebekah, Judah to Leah, Moses to the wife of the Levite, Samuel to Hannah, and David to the wife of Jesse. The coming of the Lord was hidden in this line of boys and men who were sinners. He was hidden in the cloud of glory that led them out of Israel and camped in their midst at the Tabernacle and Temple. His saving work was camouflaged under the blood of bulls and goats and birds and especially under those one year old lambs who gave up their lives at Passover.
Why did they look for His coming? Because they were sinners and they needed a Savior. God let them feel the consequence of their sin. He let Adam and Eve see their nakedness and shame. He allowed the Israelites to be enslaved in Egypt. In the wilderness He killed hundreds of thousands for their sins of disobedience and unbelief. Remember only two of the men who left Egypt crossed into the promised land, but God never let His beloved and chosen people go.
He came in Moses to bring them out of Egypt. He came in Joshua and the Judges to defeat their enemies. He came in Samuel to prophesy and in Saul, David, and Solomon to rule. He came in the Levites to sacrifice for their sins. He came in a foreign King Cyrus to bring them back from exile. He came in every prophet to rebuke them for their sin, but more importantly to keep their eyes open for His coming.
The last book in the Old Testament is Malachi. He prophesied about 430 years before Christ. There was 400 years of silence after Malachi. 400 years without an inspired prophetic voice. All they had to hold onto in the silence was God’s Word and the promise, promises like Zechariah’s words 100 years before Malachi, “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.” They held on to the words of Micah, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephratha, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler of Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”
Do you know why we light 4 candles during Advent? For those four centuries of God’s Old Testament people waiting in the darkness, holding on to the Word, keeping their eyes out for a little guy who would be born in Bethlehem and would ride a donkey into Jerusalem to be enthroned as their King.
What do we learn from God’s people of old who waited their coming Lord? We are sinners and therefore we are the cause of this world’s darkness. No man, no machine, no human wisdom will bring us light. Our only hope is the Lord who comes as He promised.
To have that hope we need to hold on to the Lord’s Word, especially in the darkness. Those people waving Palm Branches remembered the words of Zechariah. They may not have had the full picture of what the week would bring, but they saw their King, righteous and having salvation, riding on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. They believed in their hearts, and their faith came out of their mouths, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” Hosanna means “save now.” “Save us now Jesus.”
Do you want the Lord your God to come? That depends, doesn’t it? If you have staked your life on yourself or the abilities and promises of men, you probably don’t want Him to come. If you don’t believe your sin is serious or the cause of the world’s darkness you don’t need Him to come. If you are burdened by your sins and looking in shame at yourself as did Adam and Eve, you might fear His coming. If you have fooled yourself into thinking everything is going to be fine and the world will get back on course and there are better days ahead, you could care less if He comes.
But if you know your sins, see the darkness for what it is, and desire not only a better world, but a better you, a good life, a future and a hope, then behold your King comes. The Son of God comes not hidden in the sons of old, born of sinful fathers and mothers, but now He is hidden in the Son of Mary, a virgin. He is hidden but revealed in the flesh of Jesus of Nazareth. He comes not to judge, but to save. He comes not to damn you, but to destroy your enemies and His. He comes to take on your sin and bury it in His grave. He comes to suffer the depths of darkness, the suffering that comes when you abandon God, except in His case God abandons Him for you.
This is no earthly King. He does not tire of His subjects calling on Him for favors, because favor, grace, is His nature and being. He is glorified as your King when you receive His forgiveness. Don’t tire of asking for His rule, He loves to rule for you. So, ask and receive, humble yourselves and be ruled, cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Hold to this comforting word of Saint Paul, salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The Lord is nearer to you now than when He walked the earth. For He has promised to be wherever two or three are gathered in His name. He has promised His death and resurrection become yours in baptism. The forgiveness He won at the cross came to you this morning in His absolution. His risen body and blood, His ascended body and blood, come to you in His Holy Supper.
It is ironic that in the northern hemisphere these darkest days of the year are the most optimistic hopeful days for the church. Every Sunday in Advent we’ll light another candle. Our church will be at its most beautiful, filled with life and light. It’s getting brighter and brighter for you who believe. Christ is nearer now than when you first believed. Now He is coming to you in grace, but the day is not far off when He will come in glory. Then your eyes will see what your hearts believe, just like those people in Jerusalem. You will see Your King and His rule will be visible. Your body will rise incorruptible, there will be no more suffering, pain, or loss, because you will no longer sin. You will see your salvation. In the name of Jesus. Amen.