Sermon - Ad Te Levavi 2022 - Matthew 21:1-9

Jesus Christ the King of Kings and Great Bishop,circa 1600

Jesus is our King

1. He rules over us with gentleness

2. He has come to save us.

Happy new year dear christians! This world orders the days, seasons, and years by the movement of the sun and the moon in the sky. We christians however order our days not by this creation, but according to the Creator. The Christian year of grace doesn’t follow the sun in the sky, but follows the Son of God, Jesus, our Redeemer and Savior, our King who comes to save us. So the Christian year begins with Advent, four Sundays with which to prepare our hearts for our coming King. Today we reflect upon the profound reality that Jesus is our King. As our King He rules over us with gentleness and He has come to save us.

In recent years the idea of a monarchy and having a king has been becoming increasingly popular. Part of the appeal is, I would guess, the result of romanticized kings in books and movies. Like the ancient Israelites who demanded earthly kings, many underestimate the depravity of sinful humanity, and that even the best of kings are still fallen sinners. But the appeal of monarchy is not only the result of fantastical stories, it’s also the result of seeing what it’s like living in a world with hardly any kings. 

If you live in a monarchy then a bad king makes life bad and a good king makes life good, it’s pretty straightforward. But if you live in countries ruled largely by the people, like ours is, then you rely entirely on the goodness of your fellow citizens to have a good country. Since our country is not mostly composed of Christians, that means we are ruled by non-Christians who don’t share our beliefs and values. Thus, a Christian king sounds far more appealing than mob-ruled, non-Christian, democracy.

Afterall, mobs are easy to sway since they operate by groupthink. One day the mob may be on the side of good, the next day on the side of evil. We see that in today’s text. The mob begins holy week on the side of good: “Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”” But just a few days later, on Maundy Thursday, a great crowd with swords and clubs came to arrest Jesus who was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. On Good Friday the crowd demanded to release Barabbas and destroy Jesus, crying out “Let Him be crucified!” Pilate delivered Jesus over to crucifixion because he was afraid of the crowds rioting.

But a king brings order amidst chaos and isn’t controlled by the crowd but controls the crowd. A wicked king controls the crowd with an iron fist for evil purposes, and a good king controls the crowd with gentle firmness for the sake of peace. Jesus is not just a good king, but He is the King and in His goodness He rules us with gentleness. 

“Behold, your King is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.” Jesus is our King who comes to rule us in humility, gentleness, and meekness. Now, typically we use those words to describe someone who is a pushover, someone nice and compromising, someone weak enough whom we can control. But that’s not what the Bible means when it calls Jesus humble, gentle, or meek. King Jesus isn’t gentle in the sense of being weak, but in the sense of demonstrating power without undue harshness. Remember, King Jesus is God almighty and His strength and holiness are unfathomably great! Any interactions in which He doesn’t simply destroy us sinful human beings by His great power, He is displaying tremendous gentleness.

The entirety of Jesus’ earthly life demonstrated what kind of gentle rule and authority He chooses to exercise over us. The virgin birth in a barn as a human like us, growing up in a simple carpenter’s house, clothed in ordinary robes, entering into Jerusalem riding on an immature donkey; all of these things exemplify His gentleness toward us. He came with such gentleness that most didn’t even realize the King of glory had entered into His dominion! “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed.”

Jesus came with such gentleness out of love for those whom He created. He could’ve come with another flood to drown the world or with fire and brimstone to consume the world, but He didn’t. “For God didn’t send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” King Jesus has entered into His kingdom and reigns over us with gentleness in order to save us.

The crowd probably didn’t fully realize the truth of what they were saying when they greeted Jesus with shouts of hosanna. “Save us,” they said! Kings were often greeted with pleas of hosanna. But what the people usually wanted was some type of earthly comfort or pleasure; lower taxes or rescue from enemies. But the salvation which our King Jesus came to bring us wasn’t so lame. Rather He came to atone for our sins, purchase us from the devil, and redeem us from eternal death.

Because Jesus came to save us from our sins and spare us from the wrath of God, He had to come in such lowliness and humility. Jesus didn’t come with pomp and circumstance because He didn’t come to set up an earthly kingdom. We usually just want kings to lower our taxes and make our daily life more pleasant, and that’s fine, but Jesus is our King who came to give us much more than that. He came to rescue us from the perils of hell, and in order to do that He needed to be sacrificed for the forgiveness of our sins. Normally success for kings means that they don’t die in battle, but for King Jesus success meant that He died. “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.”

Thus Jesus reigns over us as our King with gentleness and in order to save us eternally. He reigns over us in ways often imperceptible to those who reject Him.  He still doesn’t come with pomp and circumstance, although we Christians certainly recognize that He is worthy of all honor. Our King rules over us and comes to us in all of His royal power in the words of the Gospel. Talk is cheap they say, anyone can open their mouth and blabber as much as they like, and yet the power of the Gospel gently comes in words simply spoken. With spoken words and water Jesus comes in the sacrament of baptism. Water doesn’t look like much, the most common element on earth, and yet by water and the word we enter into God’s kingdom. Most earthly kings eat feasts of rich and fancy food, but in the feast prepared by our King we don’t fill up bellies with delicacies, rather our very souls are nourished with the body and blood of our King. The world sees some meager bites of bread and sips of wine, but for us it is the most precious treasure in all the world. So in humble ways, unseen by outsiders, King Jesus rules over us and saves us. 

So as we embark upon a new Christian year, let us be loyal subjects to our King, instead of an unruly mob easily swayed by groupthink. Let us gladly greet Him and welcome Him into our hearts when He comes by means of word and sacrament. Let us live lives of devotion to Him, submitting ourselves beneath His righteous rulership. Remember, He is a gentle King and always reigns over us for our good, so submission to Him is always in our favor. Since His graces are new every morning, let us begin each day anew with Him, forsaking our sins and kneeling to Him in prayer. Afterall, when we pray songs of Hosanna in the Sanctus, He immediately hears and answers our prayers by delivering us from the chains of sin which have bound us. Blessed is our King, He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!