Blessed Is He That Cometh

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 Thy Son, Jesus Christ, 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, we are once again presented with the scene with which we began the Church’s year. On the First Sunday in Advent, Ad te levavi, we heard about the multitudes welcoming our Lord + Jesus into the city of Jerusalem. This text placed in the context of Advent highlighted that our Lord and Savior was coming to us. That is what Advent means, “to come.” The Church’s years begins with our Lord and Savior coming to us poor, miserable sinners to redeem us from sin and death by taking upon Himself our flesh and offering up His life as a ransom for ours.

Today, on the Last Sunday in Lent, Palmarum, the Sunday of the Palms, Palm Sunday, we are once again presented with our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. In Advent the focus was upon our Lord’s arrival. Today, our focus is on our Lord’s reception by the multitudes as King of king and Lord of lords. The Son of David has come to be the Savior of His people. The crowds rightfully are jubilant. The long-promised Messiah, the Christ of the Lord God, has come to redeem and save His people. This is why the multitudes celebrate our Lord’s arrival into Jerusalem in this manner. The Apostle and Evangelist St. Matthew tells us that, “The most part of the multitude spread their garments in the way; and others cut branches from the trees, and spread them in the way.” They welcomed the Lord + Jesus with jubilation and celebration. They even sung His praises with shouts of, “Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.” Proclaiming Him to be the promised Messiah.

When we processed in as a parish singing, “All Glory, Laud, and Honor” we mimicked this celebration of the multitudes in the Gospel reading from St. Matthew. We shared in their celebration and jubilation. We carried our palm branches and sang in adoration of our Savior and Redeemer. Our Lord and Savior has come also to us today by His means of grace. He has come by His Word and His Blessed Sacraments. Multitudes welcomed Him into Jerusalem, thousands upon thousands. But He is no less present with us few worshipers, for He has promised that He is wherever two or three gather together in His Name. We are not here today to worship a vacant Lord God. We are here in His presence worshiping a Savior Who comes to us through His blessed means of grace.

He is here in the preaching of the Word. He is here in the remembrance of our Holy Baptism as we make the sign of the holy cross and remember that we have been washed in the waters of life and washing of regeneration in the Holy Ghost. He is here in proclamation of absolution, for the pastor’s forgiveness is His forgiveness. He is here in His true and substantial Body and Blood given in bread and wine at this altar. He is even present among us few who share our trust in Him with one another.

Therefore, we can join our voices to the voices of the multitudes that welcomed into Jerusalem at the beginning of the week which led to His arrest, trial, mockery, suffering, death, and burial. He comes in triumph as a King riding on an ass, and on a colt the foal of an ass. He comes into the city of David, Jerusalem, the city of His royal ancestors to the shouts of praise and adoration. We sang our praise and adoration as we processed in with palm branches and the singing of a hymn. But we learn in the Evangelist St. Luke’s Gospel that while the multitudes sang His praise, our Lord + Jesus, the Christ was weeping. He wept over the coming destruction of Jerusalem. For He knew that the Jews would reject Him as the Messiah. They would remain in their impenitence and unbelief.

Indeed, by the end of this week, they would put on a mock trial, and hang Him on a tree to be crucified and killed. We heard all about his in the reading of the Passion History from St. Matthew’s Gospel. We will hear this account throughout this week from all four of the Evangelists. We will hear each of their Passion Histories, as well as the combination of all of their Passions in the Passion History on Holy Monday and Maundy Thursday. These events we will hear and experience throughout this week every day in the Divine Services coming this week. This serves as a reminder to us that it is our sins that have nailed our Savior to a tree. It is on account of our manifold sins and trespasses that our Lord and Savior + Jesus, the Christ suffers and dies.

He goes into the grave to pay for our sins. He does it willingly. He does it out of love for us. All of the praise and adoration that we sing today must lead to the cross, for it is only by our Lord’s work of atonement on the tree of the cross that we have a reason to rejoice this day at all. For without His suffering and death we would remain trapped in our sins and trespasses. We would remain trapped by Satan and death. Our Lord must enter into Jerusalem to the sounds of praise and adoration so that He might bear our sins upon the tree of the holy cross. This is why, my dear friends, we begin this Service on Palm Sunday with a processional and the carrying and waving of palms. This celebration must be rooted in the crucifixion of our Lord. His crucifixion and death are our atonement and life.

In order to celebration the gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation that our Lord + Jesus won for us on the tree of the cross, we must go to dark Gethsemane, and witness our Lord’s suffering and death. His Passion is the real reason we can celebrate today. This is why we have a greater celebration than the multitudes who welcomed our Lord into Jerusalem. They thought they were welcoming in a new earthly king; someone who would deliver them from the Romans, and take the place on the throne of King David and rule them forever. But our Lord’s rule is not an earthly rule, but a heavenly rule. He did not come to establish a kingdom on earth, but He came to establish an eternal Kingdom in Heaven.

This is why the shouts of praise and adoration by the multitudes in today’s Gospel pericope are really only a foreshadowing of the true celebration. Their shouts of “Blessed is He that Cometh” only point to our own celebration today. For we celebrate today not an earthly kingdom established by our Lord, but we celebrate that by His death and resurrection He has established for us an eternal Kingdom in Heaven. This means that even our procession and singing of hymns; our reception of His gifts of Word and Sacrament; our gathering together in His Name to receive His gifts are only shadows of things to come. Our procession today will one day join the celebration and procession of the multitudes upon multitudes of the host of the heavenly band. Indeed, they are here with us only in eternity. We will join them one day, and we will eternally sing the praise of the Pure and Holy, Lamb of God Who has suffered and died for us on the tree of the holy cross.

Therefore, my dear friends, let us give thanks, let us give all glory, laud and honor to our Redeemer King, for He has redeemed us from the bondage of sin and death, and opened up for us the gates of Heaven so that we may join all those who have gone before us in the faith; that we may join the angel hosts, and we may wear the white robes of salvation, and carry our palm branches in our hands, and sing the eternal Liturgy of the Lamb of God in His Kingdom. Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord. For He has come and offered up His life as and innocent sacrifice for us poor sinners so that He might redeem and save us from sin and death, and give to us forgiveness of sins and eternal life with Him in Heaven. May His Name be praised for ever and ever with all glory, laud, and honor. 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!