Jeremiah 23:5-8
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
As time marches coldly to it inevitable end, we are left wondering where it went. We look at our family, our church, our nation and long for what once was. We see the highlights, the golden age that time has seemed to have forgotten. We went them back. If only, we think, someone could step up to restore us to what we once were. If we had ruler to take us back to prosperity like the one who did it back then, a pastor who could fill the church the way it was when so-and-so was here. The season of our discontent grows.
And then we look at our family. Our parents, how they’ve grown old, even ill, that they aren’t what they used to be. Slower, weaker, or even no longer with us. We look at our spouses, that the bright future we once saw, the beauty of youth, the unstained newness of a life begun in joy now faded a bit for the reality of marriage to fallen people in a fallen world. Our brothers and sisters, how we used to play carefree and without conflict, now separated by hurtful words and deeds that make family gatherings uncomfortable and stressful. Our children, and grandchildren - how they’ve grown up, no longer the sweet innocents they once were, but having made decisions and mistakes that they blame you for, and that we blame ourselves for.
We were told to cherish these times, to hold them near and dear because they always pass and we can never go back. But we try. We try to live in that past, that once perfect time when everything was well, when we were young and strong and everything was right. We remember those golden ages, those moments of time, as utopias in our own lives. And we yearn for that past to be our present and our future. We seek to recreate it.
But our view of the past is always romanticized. It’s viewed through rose-colored lenses. It was never as perfect a reality as it is in our minds. We have forgotten most of the heartache and difficulty that was really there.
The people of Israel were no different. They longed for a time when they were no longer under foreign rule. They yearned for a king like unto David who could conquer their enemies as of old; or Solomon whose reign was peaceful and prosperous. They waited for a time when another king would come restore them to their former glory. They put their trust in princes, in son’s men, who died and returned to the dust, just as everyone since Adam had. They thought if only we could get the right man for the job, pick the right candidate, we could be what we once were. And the season of their discontent grows.
But their memory, too, was romanticized. David, for all he did, was a man of war, a man of violence and had blood on his hands (1 Chron 28:3). He was kept from building a house for the Lord because of it. Solomon, too, for everything he did, as great as he was, as peaceful and prosperous as his rule was, all of it was accomplished at the people’s expense, by taxation of his own people and their enemies.
And so they waited for a king to come like that of David; the Righteous Branch who would reign in wisdom, One who would execute justice and righteousness in the land. One in whose days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely. They waited for those coming days.
Behold, He has come. In the fullness of time the Righteous Brach sprouted forth. He who is Son of God and Son of David, Jesus of Nazareth. He who was of David’s line from both His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and His guardian, Joseph. He was declared Son and King at His Baptism, when he was anointed by the Father with the Holy Spirit in the words of Psalm 2, You are My beloved Son. He is the Son whom God has set on Zion, His holy hill.
This Son, His kingdom, His rule, encompasses all the nations, even unto the ends of the earth. For He will gather His sheep that have been scattered abroad. He shall bring them into their own land. And He shall be their Shepherd. This Son will sit upon the throne forever and establish a house for God’s Name and will establish His people in peace, granting them rest from their enemies.
Behold this is the Son who rode into Jerusalem through the sheep-gate mounted atop a beast of burden. He is the Shepherd King who comes to make war against the true enemies of His people and to execute justice and righteousness by vanquishing the powers of sin, death, hell, the grave, and Satan. He is the Prince of Peace who rules not by taxation upon His people, but by paying their debt in His own blood. He bears their burdens. He comes to serve them.
He comes to build a house for His Father’s name not out of stone and gold, but out of His own flesh, in His own body. He does this at His own expense; not with violence against His people, but by suffering violence upon Himself. He establishes the reign of God by His Cross, by the shedding of His own blood, by defeating death in His own death. This is how He establishes peace on earth and goodwill toward men. The Cross is His throne and His enemies are put under His feet. He reigns in mercy and love, in forgiveness and life, forever. He has done what no other King has or could do. He has saved His people, just as He promised. He has saved you. The Lord, this One, is your righteousness.
Thus are you gathered from all the nations, by the Savior not only of Israel, but of all men. He is your precious Ransom. Your Hope. He who led Israel by fire and cloud out of Egypt and drowned Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea, has drowned your sin and death in the Holy Baptism and leads you by His Cross and Resurrection into your own land, that is, His Father’s house. Here you have rest from your enemies and peace from all that assails you - death, sickness, sin, and the attacks of the evil one. For the promised King, the Branch of Jesse’s tree, the Emmanuel has come. He lives and reigns to all eternity.
This is not just another romantic look at our future. This is real history, in real time for all eternity. Jesus Christ, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, is the true Son f God and the true Son of David. He is the true heir to the throne established by the Father. So put not your trust in princes of this world. Put not your hope in what will come from our president or our congress; nor in what shall be yours through excessive taxation.
Trust in the King who comes not to make demands upon you, not to make war and bloodshed, not to tax you and take from you, but the King who comes to serve you, to bear your burdens, to save you and your children and parents, from the darkness that eclipses our lives and the discontent that grows with each new season. Be at peace in Him who comes to you even now in His Body and Blood; rest in His promises. For He is coming again to take you at last from this valley of sorrows and give you rest in His Father’s house and a peace that surpasses all understanding. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
As time marches coldly to it inevitable end, we are left wondering where it went. We look at our family, our church, our nation and long for what once was. We see the highlights, the golden age that time has seemed to have forgotten. We went them back. If only, we think, someone could step up to restore us to what we once were. If we had ruler to take us back to prosperity like the one who did it back then, a pastor who could fill the church the way it was when so-and-so was here. The season of our discontent grows.
And then we look at our family. Our parents, how they’ve grown old, even ill, that they aren’t what they used to be. Slower, weaker, or even no longer with us. We look at our spouses, that the bright future we once saw, the beauty of youth, the unstained newness of a life begun in joy now faded a bit for the reality of marriage to fallen people in a fallen world. Our brothers and sisters, how we used to play carefree and without conflict, now separated by hurtful words and deeds that make family gatherings uncomfortable and stressful. Our children, and grandchildren - how they’ve grown up, no longer the sweet innocents they once were, but having made decisions and mistakes that they blame you for, and that we blame ourselves for.
We were told to cherish these times, to hold them near and dear because they always pass and we can never go back. But we try. We try to live in that past, that once perfect time when everything was well, when we were young and strong and everything was right. We remember those golden ages, those moments of time, as utopias in our own lives. And we yearn for that past to be our present and our future. We seek to recreate it.
But our view of the past is always romanticized. It’s viewed through rose-colored lenses. It was never as perfect a reality as it is in our minds. We have forgotten most of the heartache and difficulty that was really there.
The people of Israel were no different. They longed for a time when they were no longer under foreign rule. They yearned for a king like unto David who could conquer their enemies as of old; or Solomon whose reign was peaceful and prosperous. They waited for a time when another king would come restore them to their former glory. They put their trust in princes, in son’s men, who died and returned to the dust, just as everyone since Adam had. They thought if only we could get the right man for the job, pick the right candidate, we could be what we once were. And the season of their discontent grows.
But their memory, too, was romanticized. David, for all he did, was a man of war, a man of violence and had blood on his hands (1 Chron 28:3). He was kept from building a house for the Lord because of it. Solomon, too, for everything he did, as great as he was, as peaceful and prosperous as his rule was, all of it was accomplished at the people’s expense, by taxation of his own people and their enemies.
And so they waited for a king to come like that of David; the Righteous Branch who would reign in wisdom, One who would execute justice and righteousness in the land. One in whose days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely. They waited for those coming days.
Behold, He has come. In the fullness of time the Righteous Brach sprouted forth. He who is Son of God and Son of David, Jesus of Nazareth. He who was of David’s line from both His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and His guardian, Joseph. He was declared Son and King at His Baptism, when he was anointed by the Father with the Holy Spirit in the words of Psalm 2, You are My beloved Son. He is the Son whom God has set on Zion, His holy hill.
This Son, His kingdom, His rule, encompasses all the nations, even unto the ends of the earth. For He will gather His sheep that have been scattered abroad. He shall bring them into their own land. And He shall be their Shepherd. This Son will sit upon the throne forever and establish a house for God’s Name and will establish His people in peace, granting them rest from their enemies.
Behold this is the Son who rode into Jerusalem through the sheep-gate mounted atop a beast of burden. He is the Shepherd King who comes to make war against the true enemies of His people and to execute justice and righteousness by vanquishing the powers of sin, death, hell, the grave, and Satan. He is the Prince of Peace who rules not by taxation upon His people, but by paying their debt in His own blood. He bears their burdens. He comes to serve them.
He comes to build a house for His Father’s name not out of stone and gold, but out of His own flesh, in His own body. He does this at His own expense; not with violence against His people, but by suffering violence upon Himself. He establishes the reign of God by His Cross, by the shedding of His own blood, by defeating death in His own death. This is how He establishes peace on earth and goodwill toward men. The Cross is His throne and His enemies are put under His feet. He reigns in mercy and love, in forgiveness and life, forever. He has done what no other King has or could do. He has saved His people, just as He promised. He has saved you. The Lord, this One, is your righteousness.
Thus are you gathered from all the nations, by the Savior not only of Israel, but of all men. He is your precious Ransom. Your Hope. He who led Israel by fire and cloud out of Egypt and drowned Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea, has drowned your sin and death in the Holy Baptism and leads you by His Cross and Resurrection into your own land, that is, His Father’s house. Here you have rest from your enemies and peace from all that assails you - death, sickness, sin, and the attacks of the evil one. For the promised King, the Branch of Jesse’s tree, the Emmanuel has come. He lives and reigns to all eternity.
This is not just another romantic look at our future. This is real history, in real time for all eternity. Jesus Christ, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, is the true Son f God and the true Son of David. He is the true heir to the throne established by the Father. So put not your trust in princes of this world. Put not your hope in what will come from our president or our congress; nor in what shall be yours through excessive taxation.
Trust in the King who comes not to make demands upon you, not to make war and bloodshed, not to tax you and take from you, but the King who comes to serve you, to bear your burdens, to save you and your children and parents, from the darkness that eclipses our lives and the discontent that grows with each new season. Be at peace in Him who comes to you even now in His Body and Blood; rest in His promises. For He is coming again to take you at last from this valley of sorrows and give you rest in His Father’s house and a peace that surpasses all understanding. Amen.
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