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“Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”

᛭ INI ᛭

New Church Year—it’s Advent! “Christ has come; He comes now; He will come again.” That’s what Advent’s all about. The LORD arrives in a way that only He can. He comes to do what only He can, and when He comes, He claims what’s His, He conquers what’s His, takes possession of what’s His.

He does this for Jerusalem, riding in to claim His throne, His cross, to save. He does this for you, taking possession of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. He does this for your life. There He reigns, having need of you, in all that you do each and every day for those around you.

Each in its own time, its own way: Donkey into Jerusalem to die and rise, Word and Sacrament to you to kill and raise you, you out into your daily life “in fervent love toward one another.”

(I. The Lord takes possession of “Jerusalem.”)

Christ the King arrives at Jerusalem one last time. He arrives in a way only Christ knows how. He comes in a way peculiar to us Gentiles, but in a way that the Jews recognized. They knew Zechariah’s prophecy, but they also knew that Christ arrived like Solomon, for David had commanded: “Have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and take him down to Gihon. There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel; and blow the horn, and say, “Long live King Solomon!’ Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.” (1Kings 1) That’s why the crowd around Christ sang “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

Christ arrives and takes His throne and His Kingdom. He claims His bride, the Church, redeeming her from all her sins, rescuing her from the devil, the world’s prince. Christ gives Himself up, as the hymn sings: “Ride on, Ride on in majesty! In lowly pomp ride on to die.” (LSB 441) He comes lowly, to do what no false god would ever do: die. He dies for the sins of His people, but not only for the sins of His people, but to die for the sins of all people everywhere.

So, “the Lord needs” a donkey and her colt. “The Lord [also] needs” thorns for a crown. He needs to be despised by mankind and rejected by His people. He needs a cross. He needs the sins of His people. To die he also needs flesh and blood, so as we begin another Church Year we’ve got one eye on Calvary and the other on Bethlehem; one eye on the crucifix, the other on the manger—both filled with the “Son of David,” the Son of God, ransoming, redeeming His bride, taking possession of His throne and kingdom.

(II. The Lord takes possession of you.)

The Lord comes humbly on a donkey to redeem His Church, which includes you and me, for we are members of His body by faith, by baptism, and by the Supper of His body. So Advent isn’t just about Christ arriving some 2,000 years ago—born in Bethlehem or riding a donkey into Jerusalem. He also arrives now. This isn’t just some nice idea. He actually comes to take possession of individual people, to claim you as His own. He comes to rule and reign in every aspect of you that makes you, you—your heart, your soul, your mind, your strength.

On our own, heart, soul, mind, and strength are at odds with Christ. In and of themselves they’re rebellious. Apart from Christ conquering them, they’d forever remain Christ’s enemies. Human beings apart from Christ working on them, giving them life, taking possession of them, are dead in trespasses (Eph 2) and sons of disobedience (Col 3), are under the power and influence of demons (Eph 2) and in the kingdom of the devil (Col 1), their hearts are desperately wicked (Jer 23), their imagination is evil from their youth (Gen 8), their bodies are conceived and born sinful (Ps 51). “All are conceived and born sinful and are under the power of the devil until Christ claims us as His own.”

He does. “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5) But it’s not just cross and death. It’s bringing those things to bear personally on each heart, soul, mind, and strength. ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly’—plain water; human words; an unworthy servant; bread and wine. In all these ways Christ arrives, His redemption arrives, His holy Spirit arrives not for Jerusalem, but for you.

His baptism saves you (1Pet 3) and brings you into His kingdom. (Col 1) He caused the Bible to be written so that human words are His Words so that you’d be wise unto salvation (2Tim 3), that you’d be given the mind of Christ (Phil 2), that you’d think on heavenly and not earthly things. (Col 3) He sends a preacher to preach “repentance and the forgiveness of sins,” (Lk 24) to teach “the whole counsel of God,” (Acts 20) and to give peace to your soul by forgiving your sins (Jn 20). He gives strength to you—body and soul—through the medicine of eternal life, His body and blood given and shed for you to eat and drink for the forgiveness of your sins. Since heart, soul, mind, and strength need redeeming, no wonder He delivers forgiveness in so many ways!

(III. The Lord takes possession of your life.)

The Lord arrives humbly. He rode a donkey into Jerusalem. He rides plain water, human words, an unworthy servant, and bread and wine. But the Lord isn’t done. Taking possession of your heart, soul, mind, and strength isn’t some nice idea only. No, He takes possession of your whole life, using your heart, soul, mind, and strength for His glory and purposes. He rides humbly, using the likes of you! “The Lord needs” not just donkeys, not just water, words, bread and wine. “The Lord [Christ] needs” you. As David confesses of himself, and you do too by faith, “Lord, I am like a beast before You.” (Ps 73)

Christ needs you, fathers and mothers, to serve your children, not only with food and clothing and a place to live, but even by having Christ ride into your homes and your kids’ hearts by actually reading the Bible and praying together. Children, Christ needs you, to honor your parents. He needs each of us in all the various places He’s ridden us—our jobs, our friendships, our families. As Paul says today: “[The commandments] are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” So also Paul says, “Be clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” Lest you be a beast ridden not by Christ but by the devil…

So we are in constant need of Christ arriving anew into our hearts. For the “spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak.” Because the sinful flesh hangs around our necks and hearts, daily and much “you don’t let Christ’s love have its way with you, so your love for others has failed, there are those whom you have hurt, those you’ve failed to help. Your thoughts and desires are soiled with sin.” This is the reason to read your Bible daily, seek out preaching and Absolution, to take the healing medicine of the Sacrament, for you “still have flesh and blood. [You] should believe what the Scriptures say of it in Galatians 5 and Romans 7.”

(Conclusion.)

New Church Year—it’s Advent! “Christ has come; He comes now; He will come again.” That’s what Advent’s all about. The LORD arrives in a way that only He can. He comes to do what only He can. When He comes, He claims what’s His, He conquers what’s His, takes possession of what’s His.

He does this for Jerusalem, riding in to claim His throne, His cross, to save. He does this for you, taking possession of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. He does this for your life. There He takes over, having need of you, in all that you do each and every day for those around you.

Each in its own time, each in its own way: Donkey into Jerusalem to die and rise, Word and Sacrament to you to kill and raise you, you out into your daily life “in fervent love toward one another.”

᛭ INI ᛭