Confirmation of Matt and Jen Lee
St Matthew 21:1-9/Philippians 2:5-11/St Matthew 26-27
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Behold, O daughter of Zion, your King is coming to you. In great humility and weakness. Riding atop a borrowed donkey. He comes not in valiant might and shining armor, mounted on a noble stead. He comes in meekness. Your King. Your Savior and Lord. He humbled Himself, taking on the form of a servant. He comes not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
This is why He sits upon a donkey, a beast of burden, unsaddled. He is laden with the sin of the world; weighed down with your enmity and strife, cumbered with your death. He is burdened with glorious purpose: He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the Shepherd King, David’s Son and David’s Lord, come to do the will of His Father, to humble Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Beloved, behold your King, your Jesus, your Good Shepherd, led as a Lamb to the slaughter. He does not march through the Golden Gate of the Holy City as a conquering hero, but through the Sheep Gate as the Paschal offering. For this King comes not to reign upon the Herodian throne, but to be sacrificed upon the Roman Cross. Your Shepherd King comes to lay down His life for the Sheep. Did you not hear it in the Psalm? Hosanna!, that is, Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! The cry of the people, the acclaim of the crowds. And then, Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar (Ps 118:27)!
Do the people grasp what is happening? Does the crowd comprehend the significance? Probably not. Do we? Do Matt and Jen who will confirm this day the faith once for all delivered to the saints? Did you understand all this when you made those promises? None of us do. Not now anyway. This is the nature of a mystery.
The mystery of the blessed Holy Trinity.
The mystery of Christ’s holy incarnation.
The mystery of His Cross and Passion.
The mystery of Holy Baptism.
The mystery of the Holy Communion.
The mystery of the Holy Absolution.
You do not unravel them or ever fully plumb their depths. Rather you receive them, as precious gifts from your dear Father in heaven by His Son through the Spirit, and then, through the gift of saving faith and the blessing of catechesis, you confess these sacred mysteries back to the Father in the Son by the Spirit; even as St Paul did in the great Christ hymn to his epistle to the Philippians.
And you pick up your palm branch and greet your coming King, crying out, Hosanna, save us O Lord! Redeem us from sin and death, ransom us from everlasting condemnation which sorely oppress us. And He does. He has. He will continue to do so.
For here, in the barren wilderness of this sin-infested world, the palm branch represents an oasis, water and food, rest and shelter. They were used to construct the booths in the desert. Carved images of palms adorned the Temple in Jerusalem. They are in the hands of those saints in heaven who sing around the throne of the Lamb who was slain yet behold He lives. They share in His Paschal sacrifice, the real victory - not a military hero or a political dynamo - but the Mercy Seat sacrifice of the One who rode in to redeem His people not with gold or silver, but with His own precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.
He is the Gate of Righteousness through which you enter into the eternal Zion. He is the Stone that the builders rejected, who has become the Cornerstone. Jesus is the Temple made without hands. And by His death and resurrection and the pouring out of His Spirit, He has fashioned you into His house of living stones, decorated as the Temple of old, and He makes His dwelling in your midst. So pick up your palm branches, for you join with the saints triumphant around the Lamb who was slain, yet behold He lives.
Behold, O daughter of Zion, your King is coming to you, in great humility, lowly and meek, coming in water and Word, mounted in, with, and under bread and wine, His Body and Blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! This is your oasis. For here He gives you refreshment, rest, and safety. Here He bestows on you righteousness and life.
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
St Matthew 21:1-9/Philippians 2:5-11/St Matthew 26-27
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Behold, O daughter of Zion, your King is coming to you. In great humility and weakness. Riding atop a borrowed donkey. He comes not in valiant might and shining armor, mounted on a noble stead. He comes in meekness. Your King. Your Savior and Lord. He humbled Himself, taking on the form of a servant. He comes not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
This is why He sits upon a donkey, a beast of burden, unsaddled. He is laden with the sin of the world; weighed down with your enmity and strife, cumbered with your death. He is burdened with glorious purpose: He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the Shepherd King, David’s Son and David’s Lord, come to do the will of His Father, to humble Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Beloved, behold your King, your Jesus, your Good Shepherd, led as a Lamb to the slaughter. He does not march through the Golden Gate of the Holy City as a conquering hero, but through the Sheep Gate as the Paschal offering. For this King comes not to reign upon the Herodian throne, but to be sacrificed upon the Roman Cross. Your Shepherd King comes to lay down His life for the Sheep. Did you not hear it in the Psalm? Hosanna!, that is, Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! The cry of the people, the acclaim of the crowds. And then, Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar (Ps 118:27)!
Do the people grasp what is happening? Does the crowd comprehend the significance? Probably not. Do we? Do Matt and Jen who will confirm this day the faith once for all delivered to the saints? Did you understand all this when you made those promises? None of us do. Not now anyway. This is the nature of a mystery.
The mystery of the blessed Holy Trinity.
The mystery of Christ’s holy incarnation.
The mystery of His Cross and Passion.
The mystery of Holy Baptism.
The mystery of the Holy Communion.
The mystery of the Holy Absolution.
You do not unravel them or ever fully plumb their depths. Rather you receive them, as precious gifts from your dear Father in heaven by His Son through the Spirit, and then, through the gift of saving faith and the blessing of catechesis, you confess these sacred mysteries back to the Father in the Son by the Spirit; even as St Paul did in the great Christ hymn to his epistle to the Philippians.
And you pick up your palm branch and greet your coming King, crying out, Hosanna, save us O Lord! Redeem us from sin and death, ransom us from everlasting condemnation which sorely oppress us. And He does. He has. He will continue to do so.
For here, in the barren wilderness of this sin-infested world, the palm branch represents an oasis, water and food, rest and shelter. They were used to construct the booths in the desert. Carved images of palms adorned the Temple in Jerusalem. They are in the hands of those saints in heaven who sing around the throne of the Lamb who was slain yet behold He lives. They share in His Paschal sacrifice, the real victory - not a military hero or a political dynamo - but the Mercy Seat sacrifice of the One who rode in to redeem His people not with gold or silver, but with His own precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.
He is the Gate of Righteousness through which you enter into the eternal Zion. He is the Stone that the builders rejected, who has become the Cornerstone. Jesus is the Temple made without hands. And by His death and resurrection and the pouring out of His Spirit, He has fashioned you into His house of living stones, decorated as the Temple of old, and He makes His dwelling in your midst. So pick up your palm branches, for you join with the saints triumphant around the Lamb who was slain, yet behold He lives.
Behold, O daughter of Zion, your King is coming to you, in great humility, lowly and meek, coming in water and Word, mounted in, with, and under bread and wine, His Body and Blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! This is your oasis. For here He gives you refreshment, rest, and safety. Here He bestows on you righteousness and life.
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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