Blessed is the Coming Kingdom of Our Father David!

Advent and the First Sunday Gospel Reading

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith.

Alone.

And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg.

The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark chapter 11 verses 1 through 10. As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of His disciples saying to them, go to the village ahead of you and just as you enter it you will find a colt tied there which no one has ever ridden.

Untie it, bring it here. If anyone asks you why are you doing this, tell him the Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly. They went and found a colt outside in the street tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, what are you doing untying that colt?

They answered as Jesus had told them to and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, He sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road while others spread branches that they had cut in the fields.

Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David. Hosanna in the highest. In the name of Jesus.

Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David. Hosanna in the highest. This is our text. Hosanna, it's from a Hebrew word and it means, listen to this, it means literally save, save now or help now or it could also mean save we pray thee.

It's a petition to God. Save us now. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. This is Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. So last Sunday, that was the final Sunday of the church year. And like the end of the world itself, it ends with Jesus' return in glory to judge the living and the dead.

Now the operative words in that sentence were in glory. That is describing Jesus' second advent. But now it's the season of advent. It's a brand new church year. By the way, happy new year to everybody.

Happy new year.

Yeah.

It's brand new church year.

Yeah.

We have to do things like that just to keep the people on your toes. So we'll be talking to you all afterwards. Find out what your new year's resolutions are. Not like those work anyway.

Okay.

The Meaning of Advent and Christ’s First Coming

So advent, and by the way, it comes from the Latin word adventus and it means coming. And so during this season, it's a brand new church year. We're not looking at Jesus' second advent, but preparing, anticipating, and meditating on Jesus' first advent.

And Jesus' first advent was not in glory. And our text, which is the same text we hear on Palm Sunday, reminds us that Jesus came to us humble and lowly. He was not riding a war horse. This is kind of an important fact.

In fact, Martin Luther, preaching on this text, said this. This gospel encourages and demands faith for it prefigures Christ coming with grace, whom none may receive or accept save he who believes in him to be the man and has the mind as this gospel portrays in Christ.

Nothing but the mercy, tenderness, and kindness of Christ are shown here. And he who so receives and believes in Jesus in this way is saved. He sits not upon a proud steed or an animal of war, nor does he come in great pomp and power.

Instead, he's sitting on a donkey, an animal of peace fit only for burdens and labor and a help to man. He indicates by this that he comes not to frighten man or to drive and crush him, but to help him and to carry his burdens for him.

And although it was the custom of the country to ride on donkeys and to use horses for war, as the scriptures often tell us, yet here the object is to show that the entrance of the king shall be meek and lowly.

There is no armor present, no war cry, only songs and praise, rejoicing and thanksgiving to the Lord. Now, sin naturally makes a timid conscience, which fears God and flees from him, as Adam did in paradise, and cannot endure the coming of God, the knowing and the feeling that God is an enemy of sin and severely punishes it.

Hence, it flees and is afraid. But in order that such delusion and timidity may not pursue us, he gives us the comforting promise that this king comes meekly, as if he would say, do not flee, do not despair, for he does not come as now he came to Adam or to Cain or at the flood or at Babel or at Sodom and Gomorrah, nor as he came to the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.

No, he comes not in wrath. He does not wish to reckon with you and demand his debt. All wrath is laid aside. Nothing but tenderness and kindness remain. He will now deal with you so that your heart will have pleasure, love, and confidence in.

Him.

What a beautiful way of thinking about this. Jesus riding on a donkey, showing that he's come meekly, not to deal with us harshly, but to carry our burdens and to forgive us our sins. Well, now what's interesting here, as I was preparing for this sermon, one of the things I always find fascinating is how the Old Testament prefigures typologically Jesus and his life in different aspects and types and shadows.

And a real quick question here, just Old Testament history. Who was the son of David who became king after David? Solomon. Solomon. And it's absolutely fascinating that the son of David, when he becomes king in the Old Testament, when you read the story, it sounds a lot, the details prefigure what we heard in our gospel text this morning, when Jesus, the son of David, comes into Jerusalem in order to be king.

Solomon’s Coronation as a Type of Christ

So let's take a look at 1 Kings chapter 1. I want to show this to you because it's just that good. First Kings chapter 1. Now, I'll be reading from the English Standard Version. Pew Bibles are NIV, so I apologize for the mix match, but I thought it was important to use the ESV here.

And if you have a Bible that you can turn on, you can turn it on too. So here's what it says. First Kings chapter 1, verse 1, when King David was old and well advanced in years, he could not keep warm when they put covers over him.

So his servants said to him, let us look for a young virgin to attend the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our Lord, the king, may keep warm. Apparently they didn't have space heaters back then, so they used women for these tasks.

A little odd way of using a woman, but okay. So then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful girl and found Abishag, a Shunamite, and brought her to the king. The girl was very beautiful. She took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no intimate relations with.

Her.

Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, I will be king.

Really?

You can just put yourself forward and say, I'm going to be king. Now it's interesting to note here that he's the brother of Absalom. Absalom tried this and it didn't go well for him. In fact, he ended up inciting a coup d 'etat against David.

David had to go into exile for a little bit. And it resulted in Absalom's death. So it's rather fascinating. Now notice here that Adonijah acts the way the world would expect somebody who wants to be king to behave, right?

Here's what it says. I will be king. So he got chariots and horses ready with 50 men to run ahead of him. His father had never interfered with him by asking, why do you behave as you do? He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom.

Adonijah conferred with Joab, the son of Zariah, and with Abiathar, the priest, and they gave him their support. But Zadok the priest, Ben-Ani, the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, and Shimei and Re and David's special guard did not join Adonijah.

Real quick historical note. You've heard of the Sadducees, right? That's kind of a English way of saying this. In Hebrew, the Zadokim, they're basically a priestly group and they trace their lineage back to Zadok, the Zadokim, Zadok who's mentioned here, same guy.

So this is Zadok of Sadducee fame. Just historical note. Adonijah sacrificed sheep, cattle, fattened calves at the stone of Zoheleth near En-Rogel. Notice that this usurper, this guy who's putting himself forward as king with war horses, chariots and 50 men in front of him.

He now cloaks his ambition with religion, sacrifices to the Lord. Oh, how pious this man is. This is a false religion and this is a man who, he's not humble. Instead, he is quite arrogant, following in the same sin as his brother did, but he just was shrewd enough to wait until dad's about ready to crump.

So he sacrificed sheep, cattle, fattened calves at the stone of Zoheleth near En-Rogel. He invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah who were royal officials, but he did not invite Nathan the prophet, or Ben-Aniah, or the special guard, or his brother Solomon.

I wonder why. So then Nathan asked Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has become king without our Lord David's knowing? Now then, let me advise you how you can save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.

Yeah, that's not a, that's not an overstatement. Common practice back in the day is that when somebody becomes king, no matter how they get there, first thing you do is you kill any rivals and their family.

Make sure there's nobody to rise up against you. So Solomon and Bathsheba are in danger of losing their lives. Go to the king, David, say to him, my Lord, the king, did you not swear to me, your servant?

Surely Solomon, your son, shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne. Why then has Adonijah become king? While you are still there talking to the king, I will come in and confirm what you have said.

So a little bit of intrigue here. Bathsheba went in to see the aged king in his room where Abishag, the Shunammite, was attending him. Bathsheba bowed low and knelt before the king. What is it you want?

The king asked. She said to him, my Lord, you yourself swore to me, your servant, by the Lord, your God. Solomon, your son, shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne. But now Adonijah has become king, and you, my Lord, the king, do not know about it.

He has sacrificed great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the king's sons, Abiaphar, the priest, and Joab, the commander of the army, but he has not invited Solomon and your servant.

My Lord, the king, the eyes of all of Israel are on you to learn from you who will sit on the throne of my Lord, the king, after him. Now that sentence is pregnant with prophetic significance. Let me read it again.

The eyes of all of Israel are on you to learn from you who will sit on the throne of my Lord, the king, after him. Who will sit on the throne of David?

Who will?

Well, Solomon, not forever, but one of David's sons has promised to sit on the throne of David forever. We continue. Otherwise, as soon as my Lord the king is laid to rest with his fathers, I and my son Solomon will be treated as criminals.

While he was still speaking with the king, while she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet arrived, and they told the king, Nathan the prophet is here. So he went before the king and bowed with his face to the ground.

Nathan said, you have my Lord the king declared that Adonijah shall be king after you and that he will sit on your throne? Today he's gone down and sacrificed great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep.

He's invited all the king's sons and commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest. Right now they are eating and drinking with him and saying, long live King Adonijah. But me, your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaniah the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon, he did not invite.

Is this something my Lord the king has done without letting his servants know who should sit on the throne of my Lord the king after him? Then David said, call in Bathsheba. So she came into the king's presence and stood before him.

Then the king took an oath. As surely as Yahweh lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, I will surely carry out today what I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel. Solomon, your son, shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place.

Real quick question. What does Solomon mean? The word, the name. Well in Hebrew it's pronounced shlomo, does that help?

Peace.

That's right. That's right. We get very close to the word shalom. Solomon means peace. This is significant in this story as well. It prophetically, typologically points us to Jesus, who is the prince of peace, right?

All right.

King David said, call in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Ben-Ani the son of Jehoiada. When they came before the king, he said to them, take your Lord's servants with you and set Solomon, my son, on my own mule, and take him down to Gihon.

Interesting. Solomon doesn't ride on a war horse either. David puts him on a mule. This is very unusual, extremely unusual. Notice how Abiathar acted, war horses, chariots, 50 men. Not Solomon. He's put on a mule.

And take him down to Gihon. There have Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, anoint him king over Israel. Blow the trumpet and shout, long live King Solomon. Then you are to go up with him, and he is to come and sit on my throne and reign in my place.

I have appointed him ruler over Israel and Judah. Ben-Ani, the son of Jehoiada, answered the king, Amen. May the Lord, the God of my Lord, the king, so declare it. As the Lord was with my Lord, the king, so may he be with Solomon to make his throne even greater than the throne of my Lord, King David.

So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Ben-Ani, the son of Jehoiada, the Karathites, the Pelathites, went down and put Solomon on King David's mule and escorted him to Gihon. Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon.

Then they sounded the trumpet and all the people shouted, long live King Solomon. And all the people went up after him, playing flutes and rejoicing greatly so that the ground shook with the sound. Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they were finishing their.

Feast.

And on hearing the sound of the trumpet, Joab asked, what's the meaning of all that noise in the city? Even as he was speaking, Jonathan, the son, Jonathan, son of Abiathar, the priest, arrived. Adonijah said, come in, a worthy man like you must be bringing good news.

Not at all, Jonathan answered. Our Lord, King David, has made Solomon king. The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Ben-Ani, the son of Jehoiada, the Karathites, and the Pelathites, and they put him in the king's mule, and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet had anointed him king at Gihon.

From there they have gone up cheering, and the city resounds with it. That's the noise you hear. Moreover, Solomon has taken his seat on the royal throne. Also the royal officials have come to congratulate our Lord, King David, saying, may your God make Solomon's name more famous than yours and his throne greater than yours.

And the king bowed and worshipped on his bed and said, praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has allowed my eyes to see a successor on my throne today. At this, all of Adonijah's guests rose up in alarm and dispersed, pregnant prophetically,.

To be sure.

Christ’s Kingdom Is Not of This World

So fast forward several hundred years. There's Jesus riding into Jerusalem, and they're shouting, Hosanna, right? Well, like Adonijah and his guests, Satan, on the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem, Satan rose in alarm, and he ended up dispersing.

The true king, the seed of the woman, promised all the way back in the Garden of Eden, the one who would crush the head of the serpent and set Satan's captives free, he had finally.

Arrived.

Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father, David, Jesus, son of God, son of David, king of kings has arrived, and he didn't come to set up an earthly kingdom, not in this cursed.

Creation.

And this is what Jesus says when he's on trial before Pilate. Let's talk about this kingdom business. In John chapter 18, starting at verse 33, it says this, Pilate entered his headquarters and again called Jesus and said to him, are you the king of the Jews?

Good question. Jesus answered, do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about.

Me?

Pilate answered, am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests, they've delivered you over to me. What have you done? Jesus answered, get this, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be delivered over to the Jews, but my kingdom is not from the world.

So then Pilate said to him, so you are a king. Jesus answered, you say that I am a king for this purpose I was born, and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth, and everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.

So Jesus did not come to set up an earthly kingdom, and this is important because over and again many errors that crop up in Christianity try to pull the future kingdom into the present, and oftentimes it goes something like this, at least in our context.

Somebody will say, well, you are a Christian, that means you are a son or a daughter of.

The king.

You are a prince or a princess, therefore you have all the rights as a prince or princess in the kingdom, and you can decree and declare for yourself health and prosperity, all of which we say, Jesus' kingdom is not of this world.

In this world, Jesus calls his citizens, his subjects, to take up their cross, deny themselves, and follow him. That's the kingdom that we're called to. Augustine, writing about this fact, says,. For Christ was not the king of Israel so that he might exact a tax, or equip an army with weaponry, or visibly vanquish an enemy.

He was the king of Israel in that he rules minds, in that he gives counsel for eternity, in that he leads into the kingdom of heaven for those who believe, hope, and love and trust in him. Luther in the large catechism, in talking about Christ's kingdom, says this, when we pray, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

He says, Here we ask that his kingdom, Jesus' kingdom, may come. Just as God's name is holy in and of itself, yet we pray that it may be holy among us, so also we pray that his kingdom comes, it comes of itself without our prayer, and yet we pray that it may come to us.

That is, that we ask that it may prevail among us and with us so that we may be part of those among whom his name is hallowed and his kingdom flourishes. So what then is the kingdom of God? Well, the answer is simple, simply what we learned in the creed, namely that God has sent his son, Christ our Lord, into the world to redeem and to deliver us from the power of the devil and to bring us to himself and to rule us as a king of righteousness, life, and salvation against sin, death, and an evil conscience.

To this end, he also gave his Holy Spirit to teach us through his holy word and to enlighten and strengthen us in faith by his power. The kingdom of God is the kingdom of the forgiveness of sins here and now, not in glory, but in meekness and humility.

Jesus himself in Mark chapter 1, after John the Baptist was arrested, says this, says that Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God, and he said the time has come, the kingdom of God is near, repent and believe the gospel.

The kingdom comes through repentance and the forgiveness of sins, not in glory, but on your knees, begging for mercy and forgiveness. Therefore, he who is under King Jesus cannot be harmed. They cannot be harmed by either sin, death, hell, Satan, man, or any other creature.

And so we, along with the crowd, we add our voices to the crowd and we say, Hosanna, save us now, we pray you. Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father, David.

Hosanna, save us, we pray, in the highest. See your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. He has heard your hosannas and he is mighty to save. And he, as our epistle text says, he will keep you strong to the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our king keeps you blameless, keeps me blameless. For we are clothed in his royal robes, sinless righteousness imputed to us by faith. So he will keep you strong. He will keep you blameless until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And God, who has called you into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ, he is faithful and he will accomplish what he has promised. In the name of Jesus, amen.

Closing Announcements and Benediction

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