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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus willingly, without complaint, came into Jerusalem in order to glorify God the Father and us: as prophesied by Isaiah, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth (Isaiah 53:7). A large crowd that had come to the Passover feast went out from Jerusalem to meet Him: in their hands, palm branches; on their lips, the cry “Hosanna!” “Save us!” That crowd sang antiphonally with the crowd that had been with Jesus and was following Him (confer Mark 11:9), continuing to bear witness to His calling Lazarus out of the tomb and raising him from the dead, one of the miraculous signs that led people to give glory to God (Luke 19:37‑38). The Jewish leaders wanted Jesus to rebuke His disciples (Luke 19:39), and they complained to one another that the world had gone after Him. Indeed, as we heard in the Gospel Reading, some Greek converts to Judaism came to see Jesus, and Jesus answered their request by speaking about His death and the fruit that His death would bear (confer TLSB, ad loc John 12:20-26, p.1806), ultimately glorifying God the Father. And, God the Father glorifies God the Son (confer John 13:31-32) and honors those who serve Him, but, the Divinely-inspired evangelist St. John explained, some love the glory that comes from people more than the glory that comes from God.
Like some of the people in Jesus’s day, too often we seek the glory that comes from other people and not the glory that comes from the only God (confer John 5:44). Unlike them, we do not face being put out of the synagogue for faith in Jesus (confer John 9:22), but our faith in Jesus still can have consequences at school or work, among our friends, or in our families, and so we might not confess our faith. From a human perspective, having a great reputation among people, being praised by them, and loving one’s life in this world sounds better than having a horrible reputation among people, being dishonored by them, and hating ones life in this world. Yet, while gaining what we perceive as positive temporal benefits, we actually accrue negative eternal costs.
Because of the sinful nature that we inherit the moment we are conceived, our eyes are blind and our hearts are hard to God’s Commands, and we commit countless, sometimes unspeakable, sins. We deserve nothing but death here and now and torment in hell for eternity. But, God draws all people to Himself through His Word: God seriously and efficaciously calls and thereby enables all people, including us, to turn in sorrow from our sinful nature and our actual sin, to trust God to forgive us for Jesus’s sake, and to want to do better than to continue sinning. Jesus came to glorify God the Father and us, but His coming also brought judgment: not only judgment for the ruler of this world, but also judgment between those who both believe in Jesus and confess their faith in Him and those who do not so believe and confess. Faith and unbelief were the two possible outcomes from the preaching of Isaiah; they were the two possible outcomes from the preaching of Jesus, and they are the two possible outcomes from preaching even today. Some people resist the Holy Spirit and instead despise, blaspheme, and ridicule God’s Word, and so they may be further blinded and hardened. Others, see with their eyes and understand with their heart and turn and are healed. When we turn from our sin, trust God to forgive our sin, and want to stop sinning, then God forgives us: God forgives all our sin, whatever our sin might be.
As we heard in the Gospel Reading, the Divinely-inspired evangelist St. John quoted Isaiah’s question asking who has believed the prophets’ report, and that question was in the context of Isaiah’s prophecy of the Lord’s Suffering Servant, namely, Jesus Christ (Isaiah 52:13‑53:12). Jesus was and is the Christ, the Son of Man and the Son of God. As true God in human flesh, Jesus knew what kind of death He was going to die. Even before the events of today’s Gospel Readings the Jewish leaders intended to arrest Him (John 11:57), as they eventually did arrest Him, but only because Jesus was willing to die and let them arrest Him. As promised in today’s Old Testament Reading (Deuteronomy 32:36-39), the Lord had compassion on His servants. As described in today’s Epistle Reading (Philippians 2:5-11), Jesus humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Out of God’s great love and mercy, Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt, humbly and having salvation (confer Zechariah 9:9). Like a grain of wheat that falls into the earth, He died and bore much fruit (confer 1 Corinthians 15:36-37). As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so it was Divinely necessary that the Son of Man be lifted up that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life (John 3:14-15; confer John 8:28). On the cross, Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, including your sins and my sins. On the cross, the ruler of this world was cast out, or, to paraphrase the Proper Preface for Holy Week, the serpent, who overcame by the tree of the garden, was overcome by the tree of the cross (LSB:Altar Book, p.190). On the cross, Jesus glorified God the Father, and, as much as the cross may appear to us as defeat and dishonor, by faith we see the cross as it truly is: as victory and glory.
Having been so lifted up from the earth, Jesus draws all people to Himself, and He draws all people to Himself through His resistible Word and Sacraments. As Isaiah and Jesus preached, so pastors preach today. And, through pastors today, God puts on believers His Name in Holy Baptism; He forgives sins in His Name in Holy Absolution; and, He gives with bread the Body of Christ and with wine the Blood of Christ and so also gives the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation to those gathered in His Name in the Sacrament of the Altar.
Jesus draws all people to Himself: all nations, tribes, peoples, and languages (for example, Revelation 7:9; 13:7). And, we might add: all skin colors, socio-economic statuses, ages, and gender identities or sexual preferences. But, those who are sorry for their sin and trust God to forgive their sin also do not want to stay in their sin. In Holy Baptism, God, as it were, kills our sinful nature and makes alive our redeemed nature. In terms of our redemption, there is no ethnicity, social status, or sexual identity, for we are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28), but our redemption does not undo our creation as either male or female and the implications that go along with that creation (Genesis 1:27). All who believe in the Light of the World (confer John 8:12) become sons of light and walk in the light (1 John 1:7; Ephesians 5:8). As Philip and Andrew did (confer John 1:40-42, 45-46), we bring others to Jesus. We bear our crosses and confess our faith in Jesus, even if confessing our faith in Jesus leads to our deaths, which deaths also glorify God (John 21:19). As Jesus did, we love less our life in this world and love more our life in the next world, and so we keep our lives for eternal life. We follow and serve Jesus, and so we will be where He is and see the glory that the Father has given Him (John 14:13; 17:24), and we ourselves will be honored by God the Father and, in His presence, we will be glorified, which includes being finally and fully purged of our sinful nature and all of our sin.
Through His Word and Sacraments, Jesus comes now to glorify God the Father and us. We do not see it now, but with the Church of all times and places we cry out to Him, “Hosanna!” “Save us!” And, He answers us and becomes our salvation. So saved, ultimately we will be a part of that great multitude that no one can number, clothed in white robes, with palm branches again in our hands, but then crying out with a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God Who sits on the throne and to the Lamb! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! (Revelation 7:9-12).
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +