The contrasts of Christ’s Advents

Sermon for Ad Te Levavi – Advent 1

Jeremiah 33:14-18  +  Romans 13:11-14  +  Matthew 21:1-9

“It’s high time to awake out of sleep,” St. Paul wrote in today’s Epistle, because the King is coming. His Advent—His arrival—is nearer now than when you first believed. This short, four-Sunday season of Advent is a season of preparing—preparing, not for Christ’s first Advent when He came into the world some 2,020 years ago, that would be silly; you can’t prepare for something that’s already happened—but preparing for the King’s arrival at the end of the world. For that, we must all be ready. And to be ready, unlike the world around us that focuses on eating, drinking, and being merry, the Church places a special focus on repentance during this season. That’s why you see purple on the altar.

Still, just because we’re focused on Christ’s second Advent doesn’t mean we forget about His first. Today’s Gospel is all about Christ’s coming to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, at the beginning of Holy Week, as He was about to wrap up the time of His first Advent and bring it to its perfect fulfillment in His death and resurrection. This morning we’re going to focus especially on the contrasts of Christ’s advents, His advent on Palm Sunday and His advent at the end of the age.

The first contrast we notice: He came the first time in humility, riding on a donkey; He’ll come again in great glory, riding on a cloud. It had to be that way in order for our King to show us who our God is. He is a God who humbles Himself, who lowers Himself down to our level, and then even further down, to the level of the lowliest criminal and the most hated Teacher the world has ever known, because that’s what it took to save our lowly, sinful race: the humiliation of God so that man could be lifted up out of sin and shame and death. But when He comes again, it won’t be with gentleness and lowliness; it will be with glory and power, as the mighty King, riding on a cloud to bring judgment on the world.

That’s another contrast. He came the first time to be judged; He’ll come again to judge. King Jesus rode into Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week, knowing that in five days’ time He would be standing before the Jewish Council, before Pontius Pilate and before King Herod to be judged and condemned to death. He allowed the world to judge Him. He took on Himself the condemnation and the death sentence that you and I deserve so that we wouldn’t have to face eternal death and condemnation in hell. And as a result, we now live in a time of grace, when God offers His enemies forgiveness and salvation through faith in Christ, even as the unbelieving world continues to judge and condemn Christ and His Christians. But when He comes again, the world won’t be allowed to judge anymore. He will be the Judge, and He will bring final and eternal condemnation on all His enemies who have still rejected Him and mistreated His Christians.

The first time Christ came as King to sit on an invisible throne; the next time He will come to sit on a glorious throne. We talked about this a couple of weeks ago. We heard in the Gospel, Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you. And we heard in our First Lesson from Jeremiah, In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David A Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. Jesus did execute judgment and righteousness in the earth as King. He still does, in fact. But not from a position of secular authority; He didn’t come to kick kings off their thrones or judges off their benches or presidents out of their White Houses. He ruled spiritually, in the hearts of men. And when He sat down at the right hand of God the Father, He began His rule over the affairs of the world in secret, behind the scenes, so that He is even now doing what is just and right, even as He uses the wickedness of men and even of the devil to accomplish His good purposes. He hides His rule behind the Means of Grace and the ministry of the Word, forgiving sins, but through humble ministers who speak absolution; justifying sinners, not in a visible courtroom, but in God’s invisible courtroom, through Word, water, bread and wine; condemning sin, through preaching. Christ’s rule is mostly invisible to us. But when He comes again, He will judge openly. He will speak to us openly. He will execute righteousness openly. And wickedness will no longer be allowed to prosper.

Jeremiah also prophesied, In those days Judah will be saved, And Jerusalem will dwell safely. The first time Christ came to bring salvation and safety to His people first, by making atonement for their sins, and second, by bringing people to the safety of faith in Him who even now makes us safe from the accusations of the Law, from the power of the devil, and from the sting of death. But when He comes again, He will bring salvation and safety to His people in a different way, by completely removing sin from us, and by removing us from the presence of the devil and of the wicked. There will be no more death or dying, no more sin or sinning, no more enemies who can hurt or harm us when He comes again.

For now, there is still sin in the world, in Christians, too, as we struggle against our sinful flesh. The first time, Christ came to begin His Church’s cleansing; when He comes again, He’ll finish His Church’s cleansing. You heard Paul say to the Romans, The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. There is Jesus, through the Apostle Paul, cleansing His Church’s behavior. The flesh is still with us and would gladly walk in works of darkness, in revelry and drunkenness, lewdness and lust. But Christ our King is cleansing us through His Word and Spirit, giving us strength and zeal to fight against the flesh and to live as children of the light. That’s still part of the work of His first Advent. But at His second Advent, He will cleanse His Church perfectly, and we will put on the Lord Jesus Christ perfectly, with no more sin to weigh us down.

When Christ came the first time, He came to enter the city of Jerusalem, as you heard in today’s Gospel, the city made up of believers and unbelievers, the city that would eventually reject Him and be destroyed. But when He comes again, He will bring with Him the New Jerusalem, the home of righteousness, the dwelling place of believers only. As John wrote in the Revelation, Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

When Christ came the first time, the multitudes sang His praises. Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest! We still sing those praises, and the same will be true when Christ comes again. But there is still a contrast we can observe. When Christ came the first time, the people sang His praises with partial knowledge of their King, not really understanding just who Jesus was or what He was about to do for them. Even now, as Paul says to the Corinthians, we only know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away…For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. When Christ comes again, we who have believed in Him now will sing our Hosanna’s with a full knowledge of our King and of His great love for us. If the crowds outside of Jerusalem could sing, Blessed is He, how much more loudly can we sing it, who know Him better? And how much more loudly still we will be sing it when we know Him perfectly, when He comes again?

Let these contrasts between Christ’s first and second advents serve to work repentance in you, and faith, and love, and eager expectation of His coming. And as we spend this little season preparing for that coming, you’ll find that it also turns out to be the best possible preparation for celebrating the beginning of His first Advent, even His coming at Christmas. Amen.