Luke 19:28-40 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
First Sunday of Advent Sunday, November 28, 2021 “When the Lord Comes Near, He Humbles Himself”
Have you noticed anything strange about our worship service today? We certainly have a few new things today, some things that we are doing a little differently—things like getting brand new hymnals and having them in the pews and using them for the songs—but I wouldn’t really call that strange. It is a brand new church year, but that happens around this time every year. But I do wonder whether anyone found it strange that we read the account today of Jesus riding into Jerusalem. I realize not everyone would look at that quite the same way that I might as a pastor. I don’t expect that most of our members or guests in worship would know each week of the church year what the Gospel will be. On the other hand, I suspect that some of you may well associate this reading with a different Sunday of the church year. Not the First Sunday of Advent, but Palm Sunday, the Sunday right before Easter. The spreading of palm branches by the people when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey is what gives its name to that Sunday. So, is it a little strange to be looking at a Palm Sunday lesson on the First Sunday of Advent? I guess you could call it strange. It is different for us. I don’t want to get too lost in these details, but that is one of a few changes made to the lectionary, the selected readings for each Sunday, in the new hymnals that we are now using. And really, that choice was made because it goes back to a lesson historically used in lectionaries for the First Sunday of Advent. And while it might be a little unusual to us to look at the Palm Sunday ride on this particular Sunday, it is certainly a fine place to look to learn about how God comes near his people. And it is certainly a fine place to see how the Lord humbles himself when he comes near. There is no doubt that what we see from Jesus in his entry into Jerusalem is him humbling himself. He rides a lowly beast of burden, a donkey. It doesn’t even belong to him; he’s borrowed it for the ride. He doesn’t receive any formal welcome by the leaders of the city or of the nation. It’s just him and his disciples. The welcome is the impromptu cheering of the crowds. That welcome is humble because it is far less than he deserves. And there are reminders throughout this account of the sort of welcome Jesus deserves. There are glimpses of the almighty power that belongs to him as true God over all. He makes predictions for his disciples about what they will find when they look for the donkey for him to ride, and everything happens just as Jesus said it would. And then Jesus climbs on the donkey that had never been ridden before, and he rides it through the narrow streets with the loud crowd. I am no expert on donkeys, but that’s not what one would expect from a previously unridden work animal. Jesus didn’t need to be humble. He was in control of everything at every moment. The people, the crowd, shouted his praises. They shouted, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” They knew this was someone special. They knew this was a big occasion. Perhaps they didn’t even quite realize how special it was, but their words rightly referred to Jesus as the one whom God had sent, the Messiah, the Christ. They recalled all of the miracles that Jesus had become known for. They praised God, and Jesus deserved every word and more. He didn’t need to be humble. In fact, when the Pharisees wanted Jesus to put a stop to what was happening, he told them that if the people were quiet, the stones would cry out. That’s the power Jesus had at his disposal. He did not need to be humble. That’s quite a contrast from us. Jesus humbled himself when he didn’t need to. We are prone to refusing to humble ourselves when we ought to. You’ve probably met the person who thinks he or she is always right and always knows best. The person who thinks that their opinion should be shared by or imposed on everyone else. You’ve probably met the person about whom you can’t help but think that they need to be taken down a level. But as easy as it is for us to see those faults in others, we really ought to realize how we share in those same issues. We are born with a selfish nature and we hang onto it throughout our lives. We are so generous in giving ourselves the benefit of the doubt, but so slow in giving it to others.
And the God who created us to love and serve him and to love and serve others has every right to judge and condemn us. We might expect God to come near and humble us. But God comes near and humbles himself. You see, Jesus didn’t need to be humble, but we needed Jesus to be humble. That’s why he came near to his people in the way that he did. His whole life was like this, and his ride into Jerusalem encapsulated this truth. This was God himself from eternity who had become a true human being to live on earth with us. He humbled himself. This was a king. He deserved every bit of pomp and circumstance, every bit of royal fanfare and recognition. But he was a lowly king, a humble king. He rode on a donkey instead of a fine and fancy horse. He was accompanied by his disciples instead of legions of angels. He humbled himself. He made it clear all along that his kingdom was a spiritual kingdom. He was interested in something much more important than politics and policies. He was interested in salvation for people, in saving them from their sins, in rescuing them from the destruction and condemnation that they deserve. And so, for us, he humbled himself all the way to his death. That’s ultimately why Jesus was making his way into Jerusalem. That was his royal business there. He was a king fighting a battle, but he wasn’t fighting it with soldiers and weapons against the rulers of the land. He was fighting against the devil and sin and death. And his weapon was his humble, loving service, his perfect and holy life, and his innocent suffering and death. He didn’t need to be humble, but we needed him to be humble. If he had not humbled himself in this way, we would have had no hope. And now he wants people to know. When Jesus said that even the stones would cry out, it wasn’t because he needed the praises. It wasn’t because he needed to feel better about himself. It was because he wanted people to know the truth about who he was and what he was doing. He was the one who had come in the name of the Lord, the one who would bring peace and heaven. When Jesus came, he came humbly, and he still comes to his people in humble ways. He comes through preaching and teaching, and that work is done by sinful human beings. Jesus comes in the water of Holy Baptism by the power of God’s Word of promise. He comes in a special meal that feeds us with his true body and blood for forgiveness. He comes through lowly people who tell other lowly people about him, about the one who lowered himself for all of us. And that means that he has given us opportunities. He gives us the chance to serve him by setting aside our politics and opinions and serving others. He gives us the chance to tell others about the hope that we have in Jesus. He gives us opportunities to support pastors and teachers and training schools and missionaries focused on sharing God’s Word with others, near and far, right now and in generations to come. And there is an urgency to the opportunities before us. We can’t begin this Advent season and consider the Lord coming near to us without thinking about how Jesus will come back again. He’s given us the promise in his Word. He is coming back, and he won’t be riding a donkey. He will be riding on the clouds. He won’t be accompanied by only his disciples. His army of angels will be with him. He won’t come to humble himself to die for us. He will come in all his power and glory to be a judge. And you will be ready for him because he humbled himself for you and because God led you to humbly receive his forgiveness. It may seem strange to you that we are considering the ride into Jerusalem on the First Sunday of Advent. I will be honest with you and let you know that it is a little strange for me. And I suppose there will be some other strange things as we get to know our new hymnals and lectionary and their related resources better. But the beauty of those books and of our worship services throughout the year is that they point us to Jesus. They teach us about who he is and what he has done for us. They remind us of his promises and his love. They tell us that when our Lord comes near, he humbles himself for our sake and that one day he will share with us his glory. May God keep us in that amazing grace.
The Text: Luke 19:28–40 (EHV) 28After
Jesus had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29As he came near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples ahead, 30saying, “Go to the village ahead of you. When you enter it, you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you will say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” 32Those
who were sent ahead went and found things just as he had told them. 33As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34They
said, “The Lord needs it.”
35Then
they brought the colt to Jesus. They threw their robes on the colt and set Jesus on it. 36As he went along, people spread their robes on the road. 37As he was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began to praise God joyfully, with a loud voice, for all the miracles they had seen, 38saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39Some 40He
of the Pharisees from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
replied, “I tell you, if these people would be silent, the stones would cry out.”