Text: Luke 19:28-40
Beloved
in Christ, whenever Christ shows up, He shakes up everything. It doesn’t matter
if Christ is coming in a lowly manner or in great glory. Things never stay the
same. The world is turned upside down. Evil is forced to go on the run. God’s
faithful people are encouraged. Joy breaks out. Gloom and despair come to an
end.
But
when exactly does Christ show up? Many people know of only one time when He came,
namely, two thousand years ago, when He was born in Bethlehem, lived his life
in Galilee and Judea, was a pretty decent chap and taught others to be so too, and
was crucified under Pontius Pilate. And they assume that was all. These people
know that Napoleon and Michelangelo and Shakespeare came only once, and so they
assume that Christ came only once and will never return. But they don’t even
understand why Christ came the first time. They assume He was just an ordinary
man, living an ordinary life and trying to do a little good in this world.
Now
we Christians ought to know better. Christ had more in mind than just going
through the normal human lifecycle from birth through childhood and adulthood
to death. Instead, He came to deal with the ugliness of sin in human life. For
it is sin that makes our life a drudgery. It isn’t being born that is the
problem, but being born with a sinful nature, where our vices seem to be as
much a part of us as our skin and bones. It isn’t childhood that is the
problem, but rather the fact that even as adults we behave all too often as
bratty children, who gossip about our peers, are mean to those we dislike, and
want our way and want it now. It isn’t work that is the problem, but rather the
fact that our work is easily frustrated. We labor and build, only to see things
decay over time. We expect help from our coworkers, but receive none. It isn’t
marriage and family that are the problem, but the way that this institution
created by God has been turned into a place where we fight and claw against the
people whom we ought to love the most. In short, every facet of human life has
been ruined by our sin and that of others.
Life
wasn’t supposed to be this way. God had created a beautiful world, but we have
marred it by our sin. It is as if we had been invited to the most wonderful
party we could imagine, a party that we had been dying to attend. But once we
show up, we start quarreling with others and they put up a fuss. The party ends
with all the guests being hauled to the police station and spending the night
in the pokey. That is the real world, life as it is lived in this sinful,
fallen world.
Christ
came to deal with the sin in this world. That meant that He had to do
everything right that we had done wrong. This was no vacation Christ was on. It
was work. That is why He came into Jerusalem on a donkey rather than on a horse
or in a chariot. It was the ancient equivalent of driving into town on a
forklift or in a work van rather than in a limousine. Christ meant business. He
was on His way to Jerusalem to die on the cross, bearing all our guilt. But
Christ didn’t leave anything undone. He completely atoned for all the sins of
every last human being who would ever live. There was no sin overlooked. That
sin that you think is too small and not worth being atoned for by Christ—well,
it was dealt with by Christ on the cross. That sin that keeps you up at night
and that you think is too big for God to forgive has also been dealt with once
and for all on the cross. There isn’t a sin or sinner that was overlooked.
Therefore, do not stubbornly cling to your own sin. Do not continue in the old evil
ways, as if sin were really no big deal and it didn’t matter what you did.
Instead, see the enormous cost of your sin: it drove the Almighty Son of God to
have to take on our flesh and be led even into death. At the same time, though,
trust that God has indeed removed your guilt and forgiven you. Trust with all
your heart that you are now dear to Him and that He wants to live with you
forever.
If
you understand that this is why Christ came the first time, you will also
understand why He will come a second time. The first time around, it was all
work for Him. He died on the cross and rose again so that repentance and faith
could be proclaimed to the nations. But when He returns, He will gather all
those who trust in Him into His kingdom. We will bow before Him with as much
eagerness and excitement as that crowd did on the first Palm Sunday. But if our
Lord looked majestic on that day, it will be nothing like His glory on the
final day, when His face will shine like the sun. If you think that the throng
that stood outside Jerusalem on Palm Sunday was a sight to behold, wait until
you see the countless millions or billions who will greet Him with joy on the
Last Day.
Not
everybody appreciated Christ’s first coming. The Pharisees told Jesus to keep
His disciples in line and to stop them from praising Him. But He told them, “If
[the crowd were] silent, the very stones would cry out.” Well, on the
Last Day, the stones and the hills and all of creation will cry out,
acknowledging their Lord and King. Even the Pharisees, atheists, and every
other person with a heart of stone will have to acknowledge “that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” and bend their knee
before Him.
Therefore,
we do well to worship now the Lord Jesus Christ and His Father who sent Him and
the Holy Spirit whom Christ sends. We do well to worship them as the Holy,
Blessed Trinity. We will do this for all eternity, and so even now we should
begin to delight in doing this. After all, what could be dearer than loving the
one who loves us so much? And that leads us to consider one more coming of
Christ. Wait, you say. How can there be another coming of Christ? He came once
long ago in humility and He will come again in glory, to stay with us forever.
So how can there be another coming of Christ? Well, that is the one coming most
often neglected: He comes to us whenever His Word is read, proclaimed, and
preached.
If
we neglect Christ as He comes to us daily through His Word, it will matter
little that He came long ago and it will bring us no joy that He will return.
But Christ comes to us through His Word so that we may believe in Him and live
a life full of faith and godliness until He comes in glory.
Do
not underestimate what happens when Christ comes to us through His Word. On
Palm Sunday He spoke a few words to His disciples, and they spoke those words
to the owners of the colt. All He said was to tell them, “The Lord has
need of it.” Without any further explanation, that was enough to get
the owners of the colt to release it. That is the power of His Word. Christ
didn’t have to be seen by those people. Instead, His words were authoritative
enough on their own.
His
words still have that power. That is because He is the Almighty Son of God, and
He is wherever His Word is. Now He can be resisted, much as the Pharisees
resisted Him during His triumphal procession into Jerusalem. In fact, our Lord
can be resisted all the way until He comes again in glory. But that is not how
He would like you to greet Him. Instead, He stands before you with forgiveness,
eternal life, and salvation. Therefore, embrace Him enthusiastically, just as
the crowd did two thousand years ago. Welcome Him and hail Him as the one “who
comes in the name of the Lord.” Call out, “Hosanna,” that
is, “Save us, please,” and hail Him as the one who came to Jerusalem to be your
Savior. In short, welcome Him as He comes to you today. Then you will be ready
for Him when He comes again in glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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