Title: “The King
Comes”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from
God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text for this morning’s sermon is the Gospel text, read a few moments
ago.
You
know how the story goes. A king leaves
his city to go into battle. He rides out of the city upon his mighty steed,
decked in armor from head to toe. He
departs his people with shouts of joy, determined to vanquish all his enemies.
He meets on the field of battle. The skirmish is hard fought, yet in the end,
his enemies lie under his feet; and now, the whole of the kingdom raises a
shout of victory to their conquering king who comes to them in majesty and
awe. They cry out shouts of joy to the
victorious king who comes in their midst.
They
shout because the enemy is dead but their king lives. They shout because of the grand pomp that
surrounds the king’s return to his city.
They shout because they share in their king’s victory. The enemy is dead, their king lives, and
since the enemy lies in defeat, they shall live also under the protection of
their king who comes to them in mighty estate.
That’s
what a king does. He defeats the enemy
and returns in glory. He goes out to
battle with sword and shield and kills the enemy, but does everything he can to
avoid death himself.
But not our
King. Not our King Jesus. No, our King has it all wrong. Our King doesn’t look at his enemies with
detest and hatred but with compassion and love.
Our King doesn’t regard his enemies with the eyes of bloodlust, but with
the eyes of mercy. Our King comes not in
pomp and circumstance, but in lowliness and humbleness. Our King
rides into battle with His enemies contained within His compassionate
mind.
And who is our
King’s enemy? In part, His enemy is
us. Our sinfulness has counted us
opposed to God; on the wrong side of the battle line marked “holiness and
evil.” Those who aren’t holy, perfect,
and righteous in every way are enemies of God, and that’s you, me, the
world. Paul writes in Colossians 1 “And you, who were alienated and enemies
[of God] in mind, doing evil deeds.” How have you made yourself an enemy of
God? What evil deeds have you done? “Have you been disobedient, unfaithful, or
lazy? Have you been hot tempered, rude,
or quarrelsome? Have you hurt someone
by your words or deeds? Have you stolen,
been negligent, wasted anything, or done any harm?” What idol have you fashioned into a god that
you have feared, loved, and trusted? Our
God is a jealous God. Repent. For we have all rebelled against our
King. We’re abused His grace and
mercy. We’ve not trusted in Him alone,
but in ourselves, our stuff, and others.
A righteous and fair king should have no
tolerance for those who do evil. A
righteous king should have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to his
enemies. A righteous and fair king
should show no mercy to those who rebel against him. A righteous and fair king should come into
the midst of his enemies and cast into fire forever those who do evil. It’s what we deserve. It’s what we, by all rights, should
receive. A righteous and fair king would
do it and he’d be in the right. But not
our King. No, our King has it all
backwards.
Our King comes
into His city, not on a mighty steed of His own, but on a donkey that’s
borrowed. Our king comes into His city,
not to curse his enemies, but to cry out, “Father, forgive them.” Our King comes into His city not to fight with his enemies, but to fight for them.
Advent-
it means coming. Our King comes to you
and for you in His manger. Our King
comes for you on a donkey. Our King
comes for you on the cross. Our King
comes for you under bread and wine. And
our King shall come, on the Last Day, to gather you, body and soul, into His
eternal paradise.
That’s not how a
king is supposed to treat His enemies. He’s not supposed to come to them and
save them. But our King, instead of
killing His enemies, is killed for them and lays down His own life for them….
He lays down His life for you, that He would no longer call you His enemy, but
dearest friend, brother, and sister.
He comes for
you. He comes to fight for you, His
enemies, so that you would never die, but that you would live and live for
eternity. He comes not to throw you down
in defeat, but to win for you peace with the Father. He comes for you, not armed with a sword and
shield, but with a cross and nails. This
is how our King regards us, who so often are in open rebellion against
Him. Us, whose sinfulness separates us
from God. Yet, He comes for you, riding
into Jerusalem so that He would be placed on the cross. He comes for sinners. He comes for you, me, and the world.
Our King goes to
do battle on Calvary, and does battle by surrendering Himself and His own life;
taking upon Himself, your hot temper, your unfaithfulness, your idolatry, and
dies for them. That the Father would no
longer count them against you, for they’ve already been counted against our
King for you. And do you know what that
means? Peace. Peace has been made
between you and God, because Jesus has already reconciled us to the Father with
His own blood. Our Father’s burning wrath
has been stayed because it has already been poured out on His own Son in Your
place.
And so,
rejoice! We can do no other that to
shout along with the crowd in the text with a loud voice, “Blessed is the King who comes in the Name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the
highest!” There is peace in heaven,
not because of anything we have done, but because our triumphant King entered
into His creation, rode into Jerusalem, was placed on a cross, and was raised
again! All for you!
But, as in the
text, there are those who would have us keep silent. Luke records, “And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, ‘Teacher, rebuke
your disciples.’ He answered, ‘I tell you,
if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.’” There are those who would have us deny
that our Jesus is King; have us keep silent about our King who has laid down
His life for you, that you, His enemies, would be given victory over sin death
and the grave. The world doesn’t know of
this peace that Christ has won of them.
We must tell them. For this news
is so great that even the rocks, stones, and all creation can’t help but to cry
out in triumph for the King who has won peace between you and God.
You know how the
story goes. A king is supposed to go out
and slay his enemies, but not our King.
Our King lays down His life that His enemies would live. This is for you. Peace in heaven is made, and your life secure
is your humble King who has lived, died, was raised, and is coming again for
you. Amen.
The peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus,
unto life everlasting. Amen.
Rev. Mark Chepulis
Rev. Mark Chepulis
