The text for our meditation on God’s Holy Word is the Old Testament lesson appointed for Palm Sunday. I bring you grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
During the Rite of Confirmation these two young ladies will publicly affirm their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and confess that what our Lutheran Church believes and teaches—is also their personal confession of faith.
And they will make three solemn promises: that they will hear God’s Word and receive the Sacrament of the Altar regularly—that they will live their lives according to God’s Word—and that they will suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from the confession and faith of this church.
In other words, very simply, they will promise to follow and serve Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior throughout their days.
Each of us who are confirmed members of this congregation have made the same confession and the same promises. And this promise to follow and serve Jesus impacts every part of our life for it calls us to yield ourselves and our will to him completely.
God wants us to know it is not a burdensome, hardship to serve this king-- but a joyous, fulfilling pleasure and the only way to an abundant life full of God’s blessings. In fact, it is what we were created and redeemed and sanctified to do.
That is why it is such a blessing that God speaks to us in his word today to remind us all what kind of king this Jesus is, whom we have promised to follow and serve as Lord and Master throughout our days. Zechariah writes:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Just picture in your mind’s eye what you would expect to see as trumpets were sounded and red carpet unrolled and banner unfurled and attendants cry out: the king, the king! And ornate carriage or expensive limousine would arrive. A distinguished man with medals on his chest and a sword on his side and a crown on his head would come forth. The king, the king! We think we know how that scene plays out.
Rejoice greatly! Shout aloud! The king! And there he is: obviously a peasant—with the hands of a worker—riding upon a donkey, his feet just off the ground. All of the trappings of earthly power and might were nowhere to be seen that day Jesus rode into Jerusalem and so the only way to recognize him for the king who he truly was--was by faith. It had always been that way concerning the King we serve.
This king was not born in a palace but a stable. His parents were not royalty but peasants. He was not trained in the arts of war and statecraft but in carpentry. His only earthly crown was one woven from thorns and the only time his royal status was acknowledged by the rulers of the world was in ridicule when they hung a placard above his head proclaiming him the king of Israel as he died upon the cross.
And yet, there must be no doubt—Jesus he is a king—the King of kings and the Lord of lords—he is the ancient of days and the living God of the universe and the One to whom all of heaven and earth must bend the knee. But as great and powerful and majestic as he is, he came into this world in humility so that we might be saved. Paul writes that
Jesus did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
The king that these girls commit themselves to today and for the rest of their lives—the king we serve as our master and Lord-- is not a tyrant or dictator who demands obedience while we cower in fear—but a humble king, who, though he is God in flesh, laid down his life for us upon the cross bringing us salvation from sin and death and bestowing upon us his own righteousness as a gift.
When we hear from Zechariah that Jesus is a righteous king, we naturally think of his holiness--that he cannot abide with sin in any form or degree. And we think of his expectations of us—that we too serve must him in holiness and righteousness. And that’s true.
But the really good new about this king is that, his holiness and righteousness do not stand as an insurmountable barrier between us-- because he has bestowed his life upon us as a gift. This is what he came to do—to make a way for us to have a place in his kingdom as his people and destroy the enemies that would ruin our lives. Zechariah writes of the battle he would wage and the peace he would bring for his people:
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Girls, when we look at you, we look back, and we remember our own confirmation many years ago and the promises we made. But we also look forward-- because we know that you are a part of a future that most of us will never see.
And I know that I’m not the only parent or grandparent who feels a little bit of trepidation as I think about what lies ahead for your generation, because the picture of the future that we get from the media is so uncertain and even frightening.
We know our nation is going through difficult economic times and just this week began paying out in Social Security more than it took in. We saw in the news where North Korea has torpedoed a South Korean ship. And it was reported that, for the first time in our history, this generation of kids-on average- will not live as long as their parent’s generation due to poor diet. All of this makes for a frightening, uncertain future.
So it was for the people of Zechariah’s day. They had just returned from slavery in Babylon and these should have been the greatest days of their lives-except they weren’t. They didn’t have money to rebuild their city and homes. They were surrounded by enemies bent on their destruction. The very fabric of their culture was coming apart at the seams. And when they looked ahead at the future they were afraid.
But God promised them that those days would not endure—that their enemies would not win out—that the coming King would make peace. And so he did. The Bible says of Jesus that
he himself is our peace who has reconciled us to God through the cross—preaching peace to those who are far off and to those who are near so that we can all have access to the Father.
Now at first glance, the sacrifice of Jesus may not seem to have solved anything at all in terms of the world itself. After all, history went on as before after Jesus’ death and resurrection. But it made—and continues to make—all the difference in the world.
Because our king is the Prince of Peace who has made peace between us and God, no matter what happens to us in life—no matter what hardships we face—no matter what happens from day to day in the world—no matter what the future holds--we know that things are eternally right between us and God—and that what really matters—our salvation—is safe and secure in the Lord’s nail-scarred hands.
But there is even more. Not only is there peace between us and God but in Jesus the way has been made for peace between us and others—and the victory over the powers of evil and death that was won on Calvary-- will one day encompass all the world as our King stands upon the earth, punishes evil once and for all, and welcomes his people into his eternal kingdom of peace and plenty.
Until that day, the blood of Christ that has brought about the peace that now exists between us and God, is given to us again and again in Holy Communion as an enduring, tangible promise that we are a part of Jesus’ kingdom right now. Zechariah writes:
As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
Almost two thousand years before these words were written by Zechariah, God made a promise to Abraham to bless the world through his offspring—that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. That covenant was sealed by the shedding of blood. God renewed that covenant with Moses and once again it was sealed by the shedding of blood. Every day in the temple God’s promise to forgive and restore mankind was renewed again and again in the shedding of blood.
And so it went in salvation history until one night two thousand years ago when Jesus ate the Passover meal with his disciples and he took bread and blessed and broke and gave it to them saying: this is my body. And he took the cup, and after he gave thanks he gave it to them saying: this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many.
What the shed blood of beasts had been pointing to for thousands of years-- was fulfilled in the shed blood of God’s Son—our Savior King, Jesus Christ. God’s covenant of love and forgiveness was no longer a promise—but was fulfilled in Christ’s death and resurrection. It is that same shed blood of Jesus Christ that made God’s covenant of love and forgiveness an accomplished reality, that is given to us in Holy Communion.
Throughout your life of faith, you can come to Holy Communion again and again and be assured that you are a forgiven child of God—that what Christ did on the cross for the world was done for you personally and individually. And eating his body and drinking his blood in faith, you can be confident that the King will grant you a place in the great marriage feast of the lamb in his eternal kingdom.
It is that promise of eternal life—sealed in Jesus’ blood—that makes us people of hope no matter what we encounter in the future. Zechariah writes:
Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.
Our King once said, I have come that you might have life and have it to the full. The life of faithful service to Jesus that you girls commit to today—and that I hope all of us will re-commit ourselves to--is anything but an unpleasant burden. It is a life of full of God’s richest blessings. Everything and more that was lost in mankind’s fall into sin has been restored to us through faith in Jesus and that promise transforms our life-- no matter where life takes us—and gives us hope--because our eyes of faith are always fixed upon a future full of God’s blessings to us in Christ our King.
May God grant that all of us—and especially you girls—would rejoice in your King all the days of your lives! Amen.
And now may the peace of God keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
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