Scripture Reveals that Christ Comes for the Benefit of His Faithful

Advent 1| Matthew 21:1-9| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| November 30, 2025

In John chapter five, Jesus said to some Jews who did not believe in Him, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me.” (vs. 39) Later, after His resurrection from the dead, our Lord reminded His disciples who did believe in Him, “Everything written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” (Luke 24:44) And so, Jesus Himself teaches everyone how we can learn anything about Him: through Holy Scripture. Today we celebrate the beginning of Advent. Advent comes from the Latin word for coming or arrival. Jesus is coming. Well, how can we learn about Jesus’ coming? We learn about Jesus’ coming from Holy Scripture.

 Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey just as the prophet Zechariah wrote. His triumphal entry upon a donkey’s colt identified Him as the King of the Jews, who comes with righteousness and salvation. And it is not only His iconic arrival in Jerusalem the Sunday before His crucifixion which was foretold by the prophets, but every aspect of His life, from His conception, birth, ministry, death, and resurrection. Isaiah prophesied that a virgin would conceive and bear a Son, Immanuel, which means, God with us (Isaiah 7:14). Micah prophesied that Jesus’ birth would be in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Isaiah again prophesied that He would be kind and lowly in His preaching (Isaiah 42:3), that He would heal the sick, give sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf (Isaiah 35:5-6). King David prophesied in the Psalms how Christ would suffer at the hands of Gentiles, with pierced hands and feet, even including the detail of how they would divide his garments and cast lots (Psalm 22:12-18). Yet, David also prophesied of Christ’s resurrection in the Psalms, confessing that the Holy One would not see corruption (Psalm 16:10).

Everything we know about Jesus’ first coming in the flesh and what He accomplished in that coming, was prophesied of in the Old Testament and was recorded by multiple witnesses with the seal of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. Yet, Advent is not simply about Christ’s first coming in the flesh, but how He comes to us now. And so, we must ask, “How does Christ come to us now?” Well, where do you think we could find the answer to that question? That’s right! In Holy Scripture. Jesus commanded His Disciples to go out to all nations and to make disciples of them by baptizing them, preaching the Gospel to them, and teaching them all that He had commanded them (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16). And with this command, He promised to be with them always, even to the end of the world. Jesus promises to be with us wherever two or three are gathered in His name. He promises to be present with His body and blood in the Sacrament, which He gave to His Church as His final Will and Testament. Scripture teaches us that as many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27). Jesus promises to be with His Church through the preaching of the Gospel, through Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the Absolution, yes, even when a Christian receives another Christian in the name of Jesus. Holy Scripture clearly teaches us that Jesus comes to us today through His Word and Sacrament.

And the same Holy Scripture teaches us that Christ will come again, just as He ascended, and every eye will see Him (Acts 1:11; Rev. 1:7). He will separate the righteous from the wicked and pass judgement on everyone, living and dead (Matthew 25). He will come at a time no one expects, and the Kingdom He will establish will have no end (Matthew 24:44; Luke 1:33).

Scripture clearly tells us how Christ comes to us and will come to us, so that we recognize Him when He comes. Yet, Scripture also tells us for what purpose Christ comes. Christ comes for the benefit of His faithful. Jeremiah tells us that Christ comes to execute justice and righteousness and to save Judah (Jer. 23:5-8). Zechariah again says that Christ comes to do righteousness and bring salvation (Zech. 9:9). Isaiah explains the purpose of Christ’s suffering is to bear our sins, so that we might be healed by His stripes (Isaiah 53). St. Paul sums up the purpose for Christ’s coming in the flesh with these words, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15).

And while Jesus came to save everyone, He died for everyone, He calls everyone, it is only those who believe in Him who receive the benefit of His coming. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16) Indeed, those who believed in Jesus welcomed Him with shouts of Hosanna and waving of palm branches, but those who did not believe in Him grumbled at the King of Righteousness as He came with salvation.

Likewise, it is only those who have faith in the preaching of the Gospel and the Sacraments, who benefit from Christ’s coming to them in these means. Yet, to those who do have faith, they are immensely blessed! As St. Paul declares, “To the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due, but to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” (Romans 4:5). And how does the one who has faith know that God justifies the ungodly? By the words of promise in the preaching of the Gospel and in the Sacraments, which promise forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation for the sake of Christ Jesus, who came to take away our sins, and comes to us today to give us that forgiveness.

And it is the faithful who will benefit from Christ’s second coming in judgment. The Apostle to the Hebrews writes, “so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.” (Hebrews 9:28) And Christ Himself says in Luke 21, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (vs. 28) As Christ first came to earth for the benefit of the faithful, so He continues to come for the benefit of those who believe in Him through Word and Sacrament. And so, when He comes to judge the living and the dead, He will not come to punish those who believe in Him, but He will come for their eternal benefit, by granting to them the salvation He has won for them and for which they have long hoped.

So, we know how Christ comes to us, both now and on that final Day, because it is revealed to us in Holy Scripture. And we know that Christ comes for the benefit of His faithful, as He did when He first came in the flesh, as He comes for our benefit today through the means of grace, and as He promises to come at the Last for our eternal benefit. The question then remains, “How then shall we receive Christ when He comes to us?” The answer is clearly revealed in our text. We receive Christ through faith in God’s Word.

The faithful welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem, confessing Him to be the Christ, the Son of David, even the King of Israel (John 12:13). They made such a confession, because Christ had fulfilled the Scriptures before them. He had healed the sick, raised the dead, given sight to the blind, as Scripture foretold He would. And now He enters Jerusalem as Zechariah prophesied the Christ would arrive. And so, the faithful receive Him with words of Scripture, the same Scripture that prophesied His coming. “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” These are the words of Psalm 118. The word Hosanna is Hebrew for “save us now!” But it is not an expression cried out in desperation, but in expectant hope in God’s promise. It is a celebratory cry to the Savior who comes as He has promised to come. Psalm 118 was part of the Passover liturgy, which the faithful sang as the Passover lambs were brought to the temple to be sacrificed. In this Psalm, the people sing, “The Lord is God, and he has made His light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar!” (vs. 27) This verse was sung year after year in anticipation for the Passover lambs to be sacrificed. On this day it was sung just a few short days before Christ, the final Paschal Lamb would be sacrificed for the sins of the whole world.

And so, we the faithful continue to sing this Psalm of the faithful today, when Christ our Passover Lamb comes to us in bread and wine to feed us His true body and blood, which were sacrificed for our sins and raised for our justification. We sing, “Hosanna!” not in desperate fear, but in faithful anticipation for Christ to come to us in the Sacrament to give us everything true faith expects: forgiveness, strength, the Holy Spirit, peace, love, and eternal life. The same Christ who entered Jerusalem those many centuries ago on a lowly donkey, we receive in the lowly forms of bread and wine, Word and Sacrament. And as He came for their benefit all those years ago, so He comes for our benefit, giving to us what we need to make it through our pilgrimage here on earth.

And so, will the faithful receive Christ until the end of the world. And our song of Hosanna will remain the same. As people faint with fear and foreboding over what is coming on the world (Luke 21:26), the faithful will continue to sing their Hosanna’s to their arriving Christ. We will continue to listen to Scripture and confess Scripture, to preach it, pray it, and sing it until our Lord who comes to us today with His grace comes to us in power and glory.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but the Words of our God will never pass away. Through faith in the prophesies and promises of Holy Scripture, we know how our Lord comes to us, we know He comes for the benefit of those who believe in Him, and we know how to receive Him. We do not receive Him by exalting ourselves and boasting in ourselves as the chief priests and scribes did, who refused Christ when He came. Rather, we receive Christ in humility, repenting of our sins, and trusting in His promises found in Holy Scripture. And as we trust in the promise of Scripture to reveal to us how Christ comes for our benefit, so we confess the truth of Scripture as we welcome our Savior who comes to save us.

Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is He, blessed is He, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest. Amen.