“Behold, Your King is Coming to You” Advent 1 Matthew 21:1-11

“Behold, Your King is Coming to You” Advent 1 Matthew 21:1-11
Vicar Darren Harbaugh

Introduction: A Royal Event
While at Cambridge, I saw Queen Elizabeth. Crowds flocked to catch a glimpse of her. It is fascinating to see how the British regard their royalty. The press is speculating that Prince William will have the most extravagant wedding ever. And can’t even imagine what the coronation ceremony for the next monarch will be like, probably a public spectacle unlike any other.

I. A. Jesus’ royal entrance was public
Our gospel reading from Matthew tells of a royal public spectacle; Different from the crowning of a British monarch, but still involving a bit of pomp and circumstance. Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. A huge crowd lays cloaks on the road before him along with branches they’ve torn from trees. They shout praises. The event shook the city. It was an incredible act, recognizing Jesus as the Messiah. But, we know the rest of the story – A week later, the holy city of Jerusalem ended up murdering its Messiah as it had murdered its prophets who foretold of one who would come to bring salvation. From acclamation and acceptance to condemnation and rejection in the span of a week. Why did this happen?

It is significant that Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is public. It would have been possible for Jesus to arrive without drawing attention to himself. But He did not come to slip quietly into the city.
What’s happened to the secretive Jesus? Remember him? Throughout the Gospels Jesus heals somebody then says, “Shhh! Don’t tell anybody.”

Here in Matthew 21, The crowd is screaming, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” But Jesus does not tell the crowd to pipe down.
Hosanna by the way means “Save us now! Indeed, Jesus is now there to save them. The time to be quiet is over. The hour of salvation has come.

B. It was provocative
Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem was also provocative. Jesus didn’t normally ride around on donkeys. In the Old Testament, the royal heir rode a donkey. Jesus was presenting himself as the Son of David. His arrival is deliberately dramatic, designed to draw attention and provoke people to think about his claim to be the messiah. It is a challenge for the people to recognize their king, but Jerusalem does not rejoice. Rather, the event shook the city.

C. It was humble
Jesus did not fit their expectation of what a king should be like, because above all, Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was humble.

Many expected the Messiah king to come in power and destroy political enemies, but as R.T. France writes: “This meek and peaceful donkey rider is not a potential leader of an anti-Roman insurrection.”
As King, Jesus is victorious, yet meek. He rides a donkey rather than a war horse. His kingdom is one of peace rather than coercion. Mounted on the son of the pack animal, Jesus comes as the meek suffering servant who will take away our weakness and bear out diseases. The messiah king of Israel will rule by virtue of his humble suffering and death. Jesus chose to portray himself in this way as he approached the city. This prepares us for a kingship that will be established without violence and through submitting to the will of enemies.

Jesus says in Matthew 20. “You want to be great? You must become a servant. You want to be first? You must be a slave. The son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

These words cause us to examine ourselves. What is your expectation of what Jesus should be like? It is no secret who Jesus is. Nor is it a secret what his kingdom is like. Do you worship and follow the humble suffering servant? Jesus challenges us to recognize him as king on His terms, a king hidden in the suffering of the cross. Our king chose the path of rejection and pain. Too often, we choose our own path; establish our own kingdom - one of comfort and ease. We fashion the Christian life in our own image. We want God to be our cosmic Sugar Daddy, giving us whatever we want. We ignore God when it is uncomfortable - when we are out of our comfort zone. We are called to serve our neighbors, our friends, our family, but we serve ourselves. We collect possessions and hoard our time. You and I find security, meaning and significance in ourselves, in the kingdoms that we have created for ourselves, and in our processions rather than in Christ alone.

But we are not left on our own. As Richard Lenski writes, “Jesus is a king like none other. His kingdom not of this world. The subjects of other kings come humbly to their king, this king comes humbly to his subjects. Other kings take all that they have from their people. This king gives all that he has to his people
Luther says “Christ is a peculiar king; you do not seek him, he seeks you. You do not find him. He finds you, for the preachers come from him not from you, their preaching comes from him not from you, your faith comes from him not from you, and all that your faith works in you comes from him, not from you.

III. Jesus, our Messiah King, makes his entrance among us now.
Behold, Your king is coming to you. As Jesus rode publicly, provocatively and humbly into Jerusalem. He comes to us this way even now.

A. His coming is public through Word and Worship
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem did the people know that they were shouting a messianic enthronement psalm? Who knows what they had in mind. But it shows the power of God’s Word. That is why we sing God’s words back to him in the liturgy. Even though we pray the liturgy week after week, we will never exhaust the depth of God’s own word sung and spoken back to him. Those pilgrims in Jerusalem sung the Word of God – “Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” - as they threw down their coats and tore down branches to line the path of Christ their coming King, who was coming to lay down his own body and shed his own blood on the cross for the forgiveness of their sins.

We, pilgrims in this particular place, sing the same word of God in our Service of the Sacrament Look at pg __ in your service folder. “Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” - We sing as our king comes to us, in a way that no less real then when he entered Jerusalem on a donkey. Christ comes to us through His Word and He comes us physically, even now, in his body and his blood.

Jesus, whose name means “The Lord is Salvation”, brought salvation by his suffering and death on the cross. We cry, “Hosanna!” meaning “Save us now!” And he does save us. Look at page ___. “Drink of it all of you; this cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sins.” Our sins are forgiven because our Lord came humbly as a child into this world, rode humbly into Jerusalem and continues to come to us in an ordinary and humble fashion. Through the ordinary words of an imperfect human and through the ordinary and humble means of bread and wine. To some, it is a shock and an offense to reason to claim that the God of the universe should reveal himself in such a mundane and ordinary way.

B. His coming is provocative, defying human reason
C. His coming is humble, in ordinary, simple means of Bread and Wine
I’m sure that it was a shock and an offense to reason that a king should come born in a manger, born to humble ordinary people; or that the king should come riding a donkey - a simple, ordinary beast of burden.
This is no offense or shock, but rather this is the greatest comfort. Behold, your king comes to you now, humble and in a simple, ordinary way.

Our king defies expectations. Pain and suffering are bad, right? What king would suffer and die to bring salvation? Ours. Jesus came to earth as a human and bore the burden that we bear every day. He endured temptation. He endured the daily grind and pressures of life. He dealt with rejection and pain and sorrow. He felt all the normal ordinary human emotions.

We all have heavy burdens. But our King who rode a beast of burden, and who bore all our burdens upon the cross promises rest. Behold, your king is coming to you, right now as I speak, offering you blessings of life, salvation and peace. Amen.