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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The new Star Wars movie “The Last Jedi” has only been in U-S theaters for about one week, but it is already said to be grossing more than 650-million dollars worldwide, needing 800-million to break even. As you might expect, some fans and critics are raving about the movie, while others are less thrilled. (We saw that this morning before the Sunday School Opening.) A friend sent me a satirical news article about a Baptist preacher’s being defrocked for not making any references to that movie in his sermon last Sunday (Babylon Bee), so naturally I felt compelled to make at least one reference to that movie in this sermon today, lest something worse happen to me! Actually, one critic wrote that “The Last Jedi” centers on “questions of legacy, legitimacy and succession” (Wikipedia), and questions of legacy, legitimacy, and succession arguably are also at the center of the appointed Readings for the Fourth Sunday in Advent, especially as we consider the pairing of the Old Testament Reading (2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16) with the Gospel Reading.
As we heard in the Old Testament Reading from Second Samuel, when King David lived in his house (or “palace”) and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, then King David piously wanted to build a house (or “temple”) for the Lord, but, through Nathan the prophet, the Lord told David that He (the Lord) would make David a house (or “dynasty”) and that David’s kingdom would be sure forever before the Lord and his throne established forever. As we heard in the Gospel Reading, with many details unique to St. Luke’s Divinely-inspired account (compare Matthew 1:18-25), the angel Gabriel, with apparent reference to the Second Samuel events, made clear to the Virgin Mary, who apparently was of the house of David (confer Luke 2:4 of Joseph), that Jesus would have that throne of His father David, that Jesus would reign over the house of Jacob (that is, the Kingdom of Israel) forever, and that of Jesus’s Kingdom there would be no end. Moreover, Gabriel made clear that Jesus would not only be a human son of the line of David, but Jesus would be the Divine Son of the Most High God, Who would save His people from their sins. Thus, we will realize that “The human and Divine Son saves us”.
We will realize that “The human and Divine Son saves us”, but, for her part, at least initially, the Virgin Mary was thoroughly troubled, she was trying to discern what sort of greeting the angel Gabriel had given her, and she was afraid. Gabriel made clear that God had chosen Mary on account of the Lord’s favor and grace, not on account of anything in Mary. And, we know from elsewhere that Mary knew she needed a Savior (Luke 1:47), as also you and I should know that we need a Savior. We are sinful by nature, and so we fail to keep God’s Commandments—failing to love Him with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, and with all our mind, and failing to love our neighbors as ourselves (Luke 10:27). And, on our own, we cannot do anything to make up for our failure to keep God’s Commandments. In order for Jesus to keep God’s Commandments for us and to make up for our failure to keep God’s Commandments, He had to be a human son.
Jesus also had to be the Divine Son, in order for His keeping God’s Commandments and His offering Himself as our substitute on the cross to be sufficient for all people and so that He might overcome death and the devil for us. Gabriel’s announcement of Jesus’s birth to Mary made clear that Jesus would be such a human and Divine Son—the two natures united in one person (confer Romans 9:5; Formula of Concord Epitome VIII:5)—and by Gabriel’s telling Mary to name that Son “Jesus”, the Greek form of the Hebrew name “Joshua”, which means “The Lord saves”, Gabriel made clear that Jesus would be the human and Divine Son Who would save us. God earnestly calls us to repent and believe in Him, so that He can forgive our sinful nature, our sins against Him, and our sins against our neighbors—all our sins, whatever they may be—for Jesus’s sake.
Even before God sent the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, in order to announce her birth of Jesus, God had made other “Divine” birth announcements, such as His announcing Hagar’s birth of Ishmael (Genesis 16:11), Manoah’s barren wife’s birth of Samson (Judges 13:3), and Elizabeth’s birth of John the Baptizer (Luke 1:13). But, all those women conceived their children through normal means, while Mary conceived her child through miraculous means: the Holy Spirit came upon her, and the power of the Most High overshadowed her, so the Child was called—and was—holy, the Son of God. More than a prophet of the Most High like John the Baptizer (Luke 1:76), Jesus was the Son of the Most High. Jesus was the long-prophesied offspring of the woman, Who on the cross would bruise (or “crush”) the serpent’s head, while the serpent bruised His heel (Genesis 3:15). Submitting to His Divine Father’s will (Mark 14:36), like His human mother before Him, Jesus in “deep humility” (Lutheran Service Book 353) died on the cross, out of love for you and me, in order to save you and me. This is what St. Paul in the Epistle Reading (Romans 16:25-27) called His gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ, the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed through (arguably the New Testament’s) prophetic writings and made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, in order to bring about the obedience of faith.
In such faith, we who are baptized and absolved partake of the Sacrament of the Altar, where bread is the Body of Christ given for us and wine is the Blood of Christ shed for us, in order for us to have the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Just as the human and Divine natures are personally united in Jesus, so here bread and wine are sacramentally united with His Body and Blood (Pieper, III:301, 346). The Holy Spirit, Who conceived Jesus, gives birth to us from above in Baptism (John 3:1-6), frees us from our sins through our pastors’ Absolution (John 20:22-23), and strengthens and preserves us in body and soul to life everlasting with Christ’s Body and Blood (confer Scaer, CLD VIII:148), by which even we partake of His Divine nature (2 Peter 1:4; confer Pieper, II:87).
When Jesus’s work of saving us was completed, His Divine Father gave Him, according to His human nature (Lenski, ad loc Lk 1:33, 67), the throne of His human father David and a never-ending Kingdom. The Branch of Jesse’s tree is also the Key of David (LSB 357). On Palm Sunday, the crowds saw in Jesus the coming Kingdom of their father David (Mark 11:10), but, as Jesus told Pilate, His Kingdom was not of this world, at least not then (John 18:36), though it will be on the Last Day (Revelation 11:15). Great David’s greater Son’s Kingdom is still increasing and ultimately is a kingdom without end (LSB 398). Even now, Jesus rules over all (Psalm 103:19; Matthew 28:18); His is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory. So, we do not have to worry unnecessarily about countries such as North Korea, Russia, or Iran. Like the Virgin Mary and her Son, we submit ourselves to our Heavenly Father’s will, we surrender ourselves to His command (LSB 855). And, we can rejoice as the angel Gabriel essentially told the Virgin Mary to rejoice, with the joy of the worshipping community receiving and giving thanks to God for His Kingly rule, His grace, and His forgiveness (see Conzelmann, TDNT 9: 362-363). The King of angels, the Church’s King, the King of Nations, the King of Glory ultimately makes us kings to reign with Him (LSB 506).
We have realized “The human and Divine Son saves us”. Fulfilling Old Testament promises and prophecies, God builds David’s “house” through the God-man Jesus Christ, David’s legitimate successor and legacy. Whatever answers to such questions “The Last Jedi” might give in regards to the Skywalker family, with the franchise’s fixation on children’s watching their parents die, the Gospel’s answers are different in regards to David’s lineage, for Jesus’s Divine Father and human mother watch Him die for us. With St. Paul in the Epistle Reading, we are left to shout out (Nocent, 1:154-155): to Him Who is able to strengthen us, to the only wise God, be glory forevermore, through Jesus Christ!
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +