The Hour Has Come for the Son of Man to Be Glorified! (John 12:23)

Sixth Sunday in Lent Palm Sunday

March 24, 2013

Dear friends in Christ.

Imagine with me, for a moment, what it must have been like to be one of Jesus’ disciples.  Imagine what it must have been like to have Jesus come to you and personally call you to follow him; personally choosing you as a disciple.  For the past 2 ½ - 3 years you’ve been following him, listening to him preach and teach, watching him as he performed miraculous signs and wonders, being amazed as he drove out demons and brought the dead back to life.  For the past 2 ½ - 3 years you’ve been learning from him as he’s taught you about the kingdom of heaven and about himself, the Son of God—the Messiah for whom you had been waiting all your life.  Every day that you followed him you learned more and more about the kingdom of heaven.  Every day that you followed him you grew stronger and stronger in your faith.  Every day that you followed him you were prepared all the better to take the message of salvation to those who needed to hear it the most.  Then, suddenly, Jesus pairs you up with a partner and the two of you go out preaching and teaching the message about Jesus in the towns and villages where he was about to go.  You are given the authority to heal the sick and drive out demons.  You taste the success of sharing the message of salvation with your fellow countrymen, and you can’t wait to come back and tell Jesus all the experiences that you’ve had preaching and teaching in his name.

But lately something has been different.  Jesus has been traveling more and more as of late, and it is clear that he is making his way back to Jerusalem.  Even though the Chief Priests and the teachers of the Law have made it their mission to do away with Jesus, it is clear that you will make it back to Jerusalem for the Passover.  On Friday, you passed through Jericho, where Jesus suddenly stopped to tell a man named Zacchaeus that he had to stay and Zacchaeus’ house that day.  On Saturday you celebrated the Sabbath with your Savior, and later that evening you were part of a banquet given in Jesus’ honor.  It was a banquet at the house of Simon the Leper.  It was a banquet that Lazarus was at, the same Lazarus whom you had seen raised from the dead by Jesus.  It was a banquet that Martha served, and it was a banquet where Mary brought a bottle of expensive perfume and used it to anoint Jesus’ head and feet, drying her feet with her hair.  Though you grew indignant with Judas who thought that it was such a waste, you quickly changed your thoughts as Jesus’ rebuke echoed through the room, ““Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.” (John 12:7, NIV84)

On Sunday, you were part of the great procession of people traveling from Bethany to Jerusalem for the upcoming Passover.  As you approached Bethphage, you were one of the two disciples to whom Jesus turned and said, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it.’ (Luke 19:30-31, NIV84)  When you went, you found everything just as Jesus had described it.  You said what he told you to say, and they let you take the animals with you.  When you came back to Jesus, you placed your cloak on the donkey for Jesus to sit on and you went along with him, amazed by the celebration of the crowds with you.  Amazed at the people taking off their cloaks and laying them and palm branches in the road for him to ride over.  Amazed at the people shouting out, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”  “Blessed is He  who comes in the Name of the Lord!”  Amazed as you suddenly began to remember the words of the Prophet Zechariah “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." (Zechariah 9:9, NIV84)

On Monday, you were with Jesus when he went to look for fruit on a fig tree, found none and cursed it.  You were with Jesus as he entered the temple area “and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: “‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” (Mark 11:15–17, NIV84)

Now it was Tuesday, and you saw the tree that Jesus had cursed, the tree that had shriveled because Jesus had simply said, “May you never bear fruit again.”  It was Tuesday and you had been in the temple with Jesus all day.  You heard him teaching and preaching to the people there.  You heard him answer all the questions and challenges that the religious leaders brought to him either directly or indirectly.  You heard Jesus delivering warnings against the Scribes and proclaiming woes upon the Pharisees, look directly at them and say, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”" (Matthew 23:37–39, NIV84)

You went with him as he left the temple one last time, when suddenly Andrew and Philip came to Jesus and told him about some Greeks who were asking for the opportunity to meet with Jesus, see him and learn from him.  To which Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. 27 “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. 30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die." (John 12:23–33, NIV84)

How many times hadn’t you heard Jesus speak about his coming sufferings and death?  How many times hadn’t you heard him talk about it and not wanted to believe it?  How many times hadn’t you heard him talk about his impending sufferings only to hear him say, that the hour was not yet upon him?   But now, this time, Jesus says that the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified!

Though you did not know it, the hour of his glory was closer at hand than you would have realized.  Yet, if we take a moment to look at it we can see how Jesus was indeed glorified throughout his life, even as he humbled himself to keep God’s Law for us.  Yet, now, as Jesus speaks, he is looking forward to the glory of his suffering, the glory of his crucifixion, the glory, even of his death.  Though for us these may not seem like very glorious events, each one of these events meant that Jesus was fulfilling God’s plan of our salvation and bringing an end to satan’s power over us.  This was the glory that Jesus revealed in the Garden of Gethsemane as he clearly showed the soldiers that he was the one in charge.  This was the glory that Jesus revealed in his trials as he answered very few questions moving the trials along so that he would be found guilty and be put to death.  This is the glory that Jesus revealed before Pilate as it became very clear to him that Jesus had done nothing deserving of death.  This is the glory that Jesus revealed on the cross as he prayed for those who crucified him, as he fulfilled the scriptures, as he cried out for all the world to hear, “It is finished!”, and as he willingly bowed his head and gave up his life.

This is the glory that Jesus revealed in his resurrection from the dead to assure us that we have been set free from all our sins.  This is the glory that Jesus revealed to the women on Easter morning, to the disciples locked together in their room, to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and to all those to whom he revealed himself in those 40 days after his resurrection.  This is also the glory that the Lord continues to reveal each time his word is proclaimed.  For whenever the word of God is taught and we are convicted of our sins and moved to turn to our Savior for forgiveness, Jesus is glorified.  Whenever the Word is taught and people are called to faith in Jesus as Savior, Jesus is glorified.  Whenever we share our faith with those around us and tell others about the confidence that we have, our Savior is glorified.  Even today, as our children brought palm branches to the front of our church and laid them on the altar, Jesus, our Savior was glorified.

Though Jesus did willingly humble himself for us so that he might live in our place and keep God’s law perfectly for us, by his death and resurrection, he has indeed been glorified forever.  Let us give thanks to the Lord our Savior by growing in our faith through worship and the Word.  Though we must leave this joyful day and walk through the dark and sorrowful days of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, we do so, looking forward to the joy of Easter.  We do so, knowing that through everything our Savior did for us, the hour has truly come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace EvangelicalLutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Sing Praise to the King of Glory (Psalm 24:1-10)

Sixth Sunday in Lent Palm Sunday 

April 1, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

If there is one part of worship that I love more than the others, that part would be singing.  I love singing.  Ever since I was a little child I have loved to sing.  I love singing hymns of praise to our Lord each and every week.  I love singing the Psalms between the readings.  I even love singing the familiar melodies of the Liturgy!  I love singing in church because I know that as I sing, my praises are going up to the Lord who is the King of Glory!  I love to sing, and I know that you love to sing too.  For as I have often told you, I have the best seat in the house when it comes to just sitting and listening to you sing your praises to the Lord, the King of Glory!  And today is no exception!  For today, already, I have been overjoyed to hear your voices melding together in thanks and praise of Jesus our Lord, our Savior, our King of Glory!

Well, today, as we study the lesson before us, we don’t even need to take a break from singing our praises, because the lesson for our consideration this morning comes to us from the song book of the Old Testament.  Our lesson, this morning comes to us from the book of the Psalms; Psalm 24.  Now, I invite you to open your bulletins to the first two pages of the insert and we will read this Psalm responsively, just as we did at the beginning of the service.  We will read only the verse of the Psalm omitting the hymn. 

P:        “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

C:      for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

P:        Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? 

C:    He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.

P:        He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior.  Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.  Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

C:      Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

P:        Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

P:      Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty— he is the King of glory. (Psalm 24:1–10, NIV84)

What better song of praise could there be for us to study this morning than a song of praise written by King David himself!  It was David whom the Lord chose to be King over Israel.  It was David whom the Lord used to pen many beautiful Psalms about the coming Savior.  It was David and his line through whom the Savior was promised to come, and it was David whom the Lord inspired to write the beautiful words we have before us this morning.  Now, when King David wrote these words, it is very likely that he wrote them for the day when the Ark of the Covenant would be brought into Jerusalem for the first time.  Before this the Ark had been kept in the Tabernacle at Shiloh.  This was where Hannah had brought her son Samuel, when he was three years old, as she had promised the Lord when she prayed for a son.  This was where the Lord had called Samuel at night, and Samuel had run to Eli three different times before Eli had figured out what was happening.  This is where the Lord gave Samuel a message of Judgment against Eli and his family because Eli had allowed his sons to act in ways that were terribly disrespectful of the Lord.  And this is where the Ark of the Covenant had been until the day Eli’s two sons had taken it into battle against the Philistines.

I’m sure you remember the story from your Sunday School days.  Though Eli’s sons had brought the Ark into the Israelite camp, on that day the Israelites were thoroughly defeated by the Philistines and the Ark was taken into captivity for seven months.  Though they moved it from city to city, the Lord’s hand was so heavily against them that they finally sent the Ark back to the Israelites in a cart pulled by two cows that had just calved.  It came to the town of Kiriath Jearim where it stayed for the next 70 years, until David was King, Jerusalem had been taken, and all was ready to bring the Ark into Jerusalem. (see 1 Samuel 1-6)

Can’t you just imagine the procession that day!  Can’t you just see the Levites carrying the Ark on their shoulders as the Lord commanded, with King David and a procession of hundreds if not thousands of people coming to Jerusalem with the Ark of the Covenant?  Can’t you just hear the sounds of tambourines, harps, lyres, and trumpets being played in celebration of the Ark coming to Jerusalem?  Can’t you just feel the joy that radiated off all the people as the Ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark, (2 Samuel 6:2) was brought into the city?  Can’t you just imagine the procession of people singing the words of Psalm 24, singing to the Lord God, King of Glory, as the Ark approached the city?  Let’s read those words together again:

P:        “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

C:      for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

P:        Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? 

C:    He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.

P:        He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior.  Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.  Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

C:      Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

P:        Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

P:      Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty— he is the King of glory. (Psalm 24:1–10, NIV84)

Now, fast forward to Palm Sunday!  Can’t you just see all the people gathered around Jesus as his disciples cover the donkey with their cloaks?  Can’t you just see all the people as they spread their cloaks on the road and laid down palm branches in his path?  Can’t you just hear the songs the people were singing along the road as they traveled the few miles from Bethany to Jerusalem?  Though the Bible doesn’t say which songs they sang, other than the song of Hosanna to the Son of David as they saw Jerusalem and approached the temple, I can just imagine this crowd singing praise to their King of Glory with the words of Psalm 24 at some point before they began their shouts of Hosanna!  I can just imagine that because Psalm 24 was regularly read in the temple on the first day of the week.  Psalm 24 was a psalm that builds on the theme of the Lord’s coming for his people.  On that Palm Sunday, as Jesus, the King of Glory was riding to Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, I can just imagine someone in the crowd beginning to sing the words of Psalm 24 which we read again together,

P:        “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

C:      for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

P:        Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?  

C:    He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.

P:        He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior.  Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.  Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

C:      Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

P:        Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

P:      Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty— he is the King of glory. (Psalm 24:1–10, NIV84)

What better song of praise could there be for us to sing and to meditate upon today, especially as we Celebrate Palm Sunday!  For today, we are celebrating the fact that even though Jesus humbly rode into Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of a donkey, he rode into Jerusalem as the King of Glory!  Even though Jesus humbly road into Jerusalem following a path that would lead to utter humiliation, kangaroo courts, illegal trials, mocking, whippings, beatings, and finally crucifixion, he rode in as the King of Glory who came to free each and every one of us from our sins.  Just as the Lord had come to Jerusalem centuries before when the people welcomed the Ark of the Covenant, so also Jesus came to his people as the Savior who would free them from their sins.  Though we know the sorrow and the humiliation that will face as he is arrested, tried, convicted and crucified, we also know that he willingly did all this in our place.  Jesus willingly carried the weight of our sins to the cross so that we could be forgiven and live with our King in his glorious heavenly kingdom forever.

Thus, today, as we sing praise to Jesus, our King of Glory, we not only remember how he came to the earth to be our Savior, but we also look forward to the day of his returning.  We look forward to the day when we will see the glory our King returning on the clouds of heaven.  We look forward to the day when we will hear the trumpet blast of the angle and see the procession of Jesus with his angels and all those who have gone before us through faith in him.  We look forward to the day when we will stand before the Lord and as our lesson says, “receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God [our] Savior." (Psalm 24:5, NIV84)  We look forward to that day when we will be judged innocent of all our sins through faith in Jesus.  We will be declared righteous in the sight of our God.  It will be proclaimed that we have clean hands and a pure heart and we will be blessed to ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in the presence of our King of glory forever more.  This is the day we are waiting for, because we have already received all these blessings through faith in Jesus sour King of Glory!

Thus, today we have gathered to join our hearts and voices in praise of Jesus, our King of Glory.  We have gathered meld our voices together in praise and let them echo about our church in worship of the Lord our God!  So, as we close today, let us raise our voices in praise of Jesus our King of Glory by speaking responsively the words of Psalm 24 1 more time. 

P:        “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

C:      for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

P:        Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? 

C:    He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.

P:        He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior.  Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.  Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

C:      Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

P:        Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

P:      Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty— he is the King of glory. (Psalm 24:1–10, NIV84)

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

The Day the Lord Entered (1 Samuel 6: 2 Samuel 6; 1 Kings 8; Matthew 21(

April 17, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

Back in the days of BC, that is, Before Children, my beautiful wife, who was at that time my beautiful fiancée, introduced me to a man named James Burke. Now, if you are not familiar with him, James Burke is an English author and science historian who is probably best known for his ten episode documentary television series called Connections; a series which originally aired on PBS in 1979. In the series he took an interdisciplinary approach to the history of science and invention, demonstrating how various discoveries, scientific achievements and historical world events were built from one another successively in an interconnected way to bring about particular aspects of our modern technology. The series was noted for Burke’s crisp and enthusiastic presentation, his dry humor, historical reenactments and intricate working models.

The popularity of the Connections series led to the production of a new program entitled The Day the Universe Changed. While the show was similar to his original work, The Day the Universe Changed gave a more linear history of several important scientific events. Both series were incredibly interesting and even spellbinding as James Burke traced the connections that changed our world into what it is today. Yet, Burk is not the only one who likes to trace connections of different events and reveal how these events set other events into motion; for this is something that the Lord our God has done since the beginning of time. He is the one who has orchestrated the events of the world, so that they would finally lead to the day when the Lord entered.

What a day that must have been on that first Palm Sunday; the day when the Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem on the back of that colt. How amazing it must have been to hear the people shouting with joy, crying out with Hosanna to the Son of David! How incredible it must have been to have been part of that crowd laying down garments and palm branches as Jesus passed by. Though this was undoubtedly one of the greatest days when the Lord entered, it was not the first time, nor would it be the last! Turn with me, if you would to 1 Samuel 6, and we’ll take a look at another day that the Lord entered. Though 1 Samuel 6 is by no means the first record of the first time the Lord entered, it is a joyful celebration as well. In fact, if you are following along with the chronological schedule, you will find that 1 Samuel 6 is part of today’s scheduled reading. Now, as you are tuning, let me fill you in on the back ground. Eli is 98 years old. He has served the Lord in the Tabernacle for many years, and has trained Samuel to do the same. However, Eli’s two sons are wicked and did not fear the Lord or follow in his ways. Now, on one occasion, Israel went out to fight against the Philistines, one of the nations that they failed to destroy in the original invasion of the land. However on this day, Israel was defeated. So, after the defeat, Eli’s two sons bring the Ark of the Covenant into the camp superstitiously believing that the Lord would now have to fight for them because they brought him with them by bringing the Ark. However, rather than placing their faith and trust in the Lord, they placed it in the Ark and in the next battle, the Philistines completely route the Israelites and capture the Ark. Which brings us to 1 Samuel 6:

“1 When the ark of the LORD had been in Philistine territory seven months, 2 the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.” 3 They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it away empty, but by all means send a guilt offering to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand has not been lifted from you.” …7 “Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. 8 Take the ark of the LORD and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, 9 but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the LORD has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us and that it happened to us by chance.” 10 So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. 11 They placed the ark of the LORD on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. 12 Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh. 13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight. 14 The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. 15 The Levites took down the ark of the LORD, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD. 16 The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron. (1 Samuel 6:1-3, 7–16, NIV84)

How great the people’s rejoicing must have been on that day when the Ark returned to the people and the Lord entered Beth Shemesh. Though the ark had been captured and the glory had departed from Israel, the people rejoiced as the Lord’s presence, expressed by the Ark of the Covenant entered among them. The Lord had entered among his people and the people rejoiced in his presence. After the people had celebrated the day the Lord entered, the Ark was taken to the house of Abinadab, where it remained for many, many years; at least until the day the Lord Entered Jerusalem. Turn with me to 2 Samuel 6.

Now, as you are turning to 2 Samuel 6, let me set the stage for you. At least 20 year have passed (if not more) since the Ark was returned and the Lord entered Beth Shemesh and the house of Abinidab. In that time, the people had demanded a king and Saul had been anointed. Saul began to disobey the Lord, was rejected as King, and David was anointed to take his place. Saul had died in battle and David began his reign, conquered Jerusalem, waged war against the enemies of Israel and expanding their territory. After all this had taken place, the Lord entered into the city of Jerusalem. Take a look at 2 Samuel 6:
“1 David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. 2 He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark. 3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4 with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. 5 David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.” (2 Samuel 6:1–5, NIV84)

Now, along the way the cart bumped and one of the men reached out and grabbed hold of the Ark. The Lord’s anger burned against him and the Lord struck him down because of his irreverent act. Thus the Lord revealed his holiness and reestablished proper fear among his people. Even David was unsure about taking the Ark to his palace and it stayed with a man named Obed-Edom until verse 12: “Now King David was told, “The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. 13 When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, 15 while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets. 16 As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart. 17 They brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the LORD. 18 After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD Almighty. 19 Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes. (2 Samuel 6:12–19, NIV84)

On that day, as the lord entered Jerusalem, the people worshiped and praised the Lord. They offered sacrifices to the Lord and fellowship offerings in worship of their God. They sang songs and hymns and even danced in the presence of the Lord. Incidentally it seems that Psalm 24, our Psalm for today, may have been written by David for this very occasion, to be sung as the Ark was entering Jerusalem.

Yet there is one more day at which we want to take a look. Turn to 1 Kings 8. Now, in 1 Kings 8 we have David’s Son Solomon bringing the Ark of the Lord in to the Lord’s temple, which the Lord had commanded Solomon to build. Now that the Temple was completed, we learn in 1 Kings 8: “1 Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the LORD’s covenant from Zion, the City of David. 2 All the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month. 3 When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, 4 and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the Tent of Meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up, 5 and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted. 6 The priests then brought the ark of the LORD’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. 7 The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles. 8 These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt. 10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. 11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple. (1 Kings 8:1–11, NIV84)

Again the people rejoiced on the day that the Lord Entered and celebrated as they had before. However this day was different; for on this day the Lord revealed his glory to his people in a way he really hadn’t since the days of Moses. He revealed his glory in the cloud that filled the temple, showing the people that he had indeed entered among them.

Now, fast forward to today and feel the joy that filled the people on the day the Lord Jesus was entering Jerusalem. Imagine the joyful shouts of Hosanna to the Son of David as Jesus fulfilled the prophecy in Zechariah 9:1-10. Though sadly many of the people thought that Jesus was entering the city as a conquering hero, a political messiah bent on freeing Israel from the tyranny of the Romans, this time the Lord’s entrance was different. This time the Lord was entering in preparation for his death. In less than a week he would give himself over to death to forgive our sins. He would rise from death to assure us that our sins were completely forgiven, and then he would send us out with the message of salvation so this day could happen again and again. He would send us out with the message of his Word so that through the proclamation of the message of the gospel he would have countless opportunities to enter the heart of those who came to believe in him as their Lord and Savior who has freed them from even the guilt of their sins.

These are but a few of the connections that the Lord has laid out for us in the pages of the Scriptures. Though I may not be able to present them with the same energy and humor as James Burke, they are none the less amazing. For through these connections we see how the Lord our God has entered into the hearts and minds of his people in the past and will continue to do so, entering into our hearts and minds through his Word, just as he did on that first Palm Sunday so many years ago.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church --Le Sueur, MN