In Nomine Iesu!
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Sermon Text: St. Matthew 21:1-9
“And the multitudes that went before Him, and that followed, cried, saying, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.’”
Prayer in Pulpit before Sermon:
Almighty and Everlasting God, Who hast led Thy dear Son + Jesus Christ through suffering and death to Thine eternal glory, and hast exalted Him at Thy right hand to be Lord of lords and King of kings: we beseech Thee, grant us Thy good Spirit, that with willing hearts we may receive Him as our King, and follow His example of true humility, that, being made perfect through sufferings, we may enter into eternal glory; through the same + Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior + Jesus Christ. Amen.
My dear friends, the Gospel for today from the Apostle and Evangelist St. Matthew is the only Sunday Gospel reading that is repeated in the Church’s year. There are some that come close. For example, we get both miraculous feedings with bread and fish of our Lord. But this is not the exact same text, for one is the feeding of the five thousand, which we heard a couple of weeks ago, and the other is the feeding of the four thousand, which is in the Trinity season. The healing of the ten lepers also occurs twice in the Church’s year. But again, one is appointed for the Trinity season, and the other is for a Day of General or Special Thanksgiving. So, the healing of the ten lepers is only on one Sunday. This Gospel reading from St. Matthew, the 21st chapter is the only Gospel that is repeated on a Sunday.
What does that tell us? It tells us it is important. This Gospel is so important that it occurs twice within the Church’s year. We hear this Gospel on Ad te levavi, the First Sunday in Advent, and on Palmarum, the Last Sunday in Lent. It both cases this text represents the coming of our Lord + Jesus, the Christ. On the first day of the Church’s year, Ad te levavi, the First Sunday in Advent, our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem represents His Incarnation—His coming to us by taking upon Himself our flesh, but without sin. The Church’s year begins with our Lord + Jesus coming to take upon Himself our flesh so that He might fulfill perfectly the Law of God which we break daily and often. He comes to be the One to perfectly fulfill the whole will and Law of the Lord God.
This is met by the crowds of Jerusalem with the shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” The Church’s year begins with the shouts of “Hosanna!” Hosanna means “save now.” Therefore, we begin each Church’s year with the cry to our Lord + Jesus to save us now from sin. He saves us by taking upon Himself our flesh and perfectly fulfilling the Law of the Lord God.
A similar thing takes place today on Palmarum, the Last Sunday in Lent. Our Lord today is also coming to His people. He comes to Jerusalem triumphantly. In Advent He came in our flesh to perfectly fulfill the Law on our behalf. Today, having perfectly fulfilled the Law, He comes to offer up His life as a ransom for ours. This coming today represents our Lord coming to endure His Passion—the same Passion we heard from the Gospel of St. Matthew just a few moments ago. He has perfectly fulfilled the Law, and now He comes to be the perfect, once and for all time sacrifice for us upon the tree of the holy cross. He pays the penalty of our sins by taking upon Himself our death. He took upon Himself our flesh to fulfill the Law, and now He takes on our punishment to be the payment for our transgressions.
This is why our Lord + Jesus, the Christ came. He came to be our ransom from sin and death. This warrants a triumphal entry. It deserves to be met by crowds shouting acclimations of praise. We sing, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” By His death He saves us from death. Therefore, we shout, “Save us now, O Lord + Jesus Christ.” But we sing not only “Hosanna,” but “Hosanna in the highest!” Save us now, O Lord into the heights of Heaven. Save us from the lowest depths of the earth to the highest heights of heaven. Save us now in all the earth. He saves us by offering up His life as a perfect, spotless, sinless sacrifice for us. He is the innocent Lamb of God without blemish—the perfect sacrifice for our sins and the sins of all mankind.
He comes triumphantly into Jerusalem today to bear our sins upon the tree of the holy cross. Therefore, He deserves our shouts of “Hosanna in the highest!” That our Lord comes triumphantly into Jerusalem representing both His Incarnation and His Passion is why this Gospel is the only Sunday Gospel repeated in the Church’s year. This is why it is important to the Church. This is also why we sing these words every Sunday, and every time we gather together for Divine Service. We sing these words in the Sanctus before we hear the Words of Institution, and receive our Lord’s true and substantial Body and Blood in, with, and under the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper.
The Church in her worship hears every time we gather to receive the Blessed Sacrament of our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. When we hear it in the Divine Service it represents something else. It again represents our Lord’s coming to His people. Only this time He does not come to fulfill perfectly the Law, because He already has. He does not come to offer up His life as a sacrifice for ours, because He has already accomplished that. He comes triumphantly to be with His people and open up the gates of Heaven for us. At the beginning of the Church’s year, He came to the shouts and acclimations of the crowds with shouts of “Hosanna in the highest!” Today, He comes to the shouts and acclimations of the crowds with shouts of “Hosanna in the highest!” He comes in the Divine Liturgy to us today again with crowds singing “Hosanna in the highest!” And make no mistake, even though there may be few people here physically, the crowds of Heaven join us today in singing our Lord and Savior’s praise.
For when we come to this altar and kneel before our Lord and receive His true and substantial Body and Blood in bread and wine, we join the whole host of Heaven around this altar. The gates of Heaven are opened wide and all the angels, and archangels, and all the company of Heaven join us in eternity to sing our Lord’s praises. We sing our Lord’s praises on this side of Heaven giving Him thanks for fulfilling perfectly the Law of God and for offering up His life as a ransom for ours so that we might feed upon His Body and Blood in bread and wine. For by this meal we receive the gifts that He won for us by taking upon Himself our flesh and offering up His life as a sacrifice for us. We receive the remission of all of our sins.
Where there is forgiveness of sins, there are also eternal life and salvation. Therefore, my dear friends, it is meet, right and salutary that we sing, “Hosanna in the highest” before we receive this Blessed meal, for by it our Lord + Jesus, the Christ, saves us now. He saves us by implanting into our hearts the faith to believe that what He offers, we receive. He offers the remission of our sins, and we receive not only remission of our sins, but also eternal life and salvation. Our loved ones who have died in the faith have already received the reward of eternal life in Heaven. They sing our Lord’s praises as they join us at this meal on the other side of eternity. We too will join them there in that blessed place. For by this meal, we sustained in the one, true faith. Through this meal, our Lord + Jesus continues to come to us. He comes as the spotless Lamb of God to offer us His true and substantial Body and Blood in bread and wine for us Christians to eat and drink.
Therefore, my dear friends, let us give thanks to our Lord and Savior, + Jesus, the Christ, for He comes to us once again. He came in our flesh at the beginning of the Church’s year. He comes today, at the beginning of Holy Week, to lead us to His cross and Passion. And He comes in His blessed Sacrament to offer the gifts He won for us upon the cross. Let us join the whole host of Heaven and sing His praise. Let us shout and sing, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” For our Lord and Savior comes today to save us now from sin, death, and the power of the devil. He is worthy of all shouts of praise and acclimation. He is worthy of having the boughs of olive and palm trees spread before Him. For the King of our salvation has come to us and won for us forgiveness, life, and salvation. Thanks be to Him! In the Name of our Lord + Jesus, the Christ. Amen.
Prayer in Pulpit after Sermon:
Almighty God, be pleased to accompany Thy Word with Thy Holy Spirit and grant that Thy Word would increase faith in us; bring into the Way of Truth all such as have erred; turn the hearts of the unrepentant; and for sake of Thy Name grant succor to all heavy hearts and those who are heavy-laden, that they may through the mercy of the Lord + Jesus Christ be relieved and preserved so that they succumb not to the temptation of despair but rather that they gain the victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil; through the same + Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with the Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
The Votum:
The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!
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