Text: Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesussent two of his disciples 2and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.'” 4And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”6And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
Prayer: May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our nearest Kinsman, the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Sermon: People of God, we are a people of time. Time is not meaningless to us. Time is not a countdown to doom; rather it is a countdown to restoration. By observing the Church Calendar, we are attempting to recover a richer, more biblical sense of time. Celebrating Advent and Christmas is a way of redeeming time. “To celebrate Advent is to take a stand against the corrosion of modern life.”[1] Time moves towards a goal. In this Advent Season time is moving towards the coming of Yahweh’s greater Son, Jesus Christ. This is why N.T. Wright says we live from Advent to Advent. In other words, we live from Christ to Christ. This is good news for us, but it is “bad news for idolaters, tyrants, and petty oppressors. When Jesus comes, the mountains melt like wax and flow like water; the valleys are split; for He comes to judge the earth.”[2] Christ is the center of human history and our attention in this season will be on the Comings of Jesus and His great coming into the world in human flesh.
This morning we examine a narrative from the Gospel of St. Mark. In Mark there is a well-known coming of Jesus. We call it his Triumphal Entry. The Triumphal Entry is one of the few events in Jesus’ life that is mentioned in all four gospels. It is highly significant as we elaborate on the nature of the Comings of Jesus. In many ways, the Triumphal Entry is a glorious picture of Christ’s first Triumphal Entry, as He entered this world, born of the Virgin Mary. There are two connections in this Triumphal Entry of Christ with the Advent of Christ into the world as an infant.
The first connection is found in verse 9. The crowds are shouting “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” This is an unmistakable expectation for the coming of the King. The crowds are expecting our King to come. They rejoice at His Advent. Similarly, in Luke two there is an expectation of the shepherds for the arrival of the King; there is also the expectation of Herod who did not rejoice in the Advent of Christ, but who feared the Coming Messiah. There is a connection of expectation uniting these two Advents. When Jesus comes He comes to bring blessings and peace to those who wait for Him and fear for those who wish He would never come. Continue reading “Sermon: Mark 11:1-10; Advent”