A D V E N T 2 0 2 0 Who Is This Jesus? AN ADVENT DEVOTIONAL T H E M I N I S T R I E S O F S A I N T J O H N L U T H E R A N C H U R C H A D V E N T 2 0 2 0 Who Is This Jesus? CHAPTER FOUR THE KING T H E M I N I S T R I E S O F S A I N T J O H N L U T H E R A N C H U R C H The King is Coming December 20 by David Schrampfer Read John 12:12-19 Growing up, anytime we were planning to have company over, it only meant one thing for that afternoon: cleaning the house. For some reason, that also included the cleaning of my room, to which I would often protest, pointing out that we never ate or gathered in my room specifically. To that, my mom would reply, “Well, given how many dishes are piled up in there, we certainly could. .” But I digress. All of us, to some extent, make a conscious effort to make our home presentable when guests are coming. Whether it is grandparents, the next- door neighbors, or a group of friends, we always want to make sure our home is presentable, or at the very least, giving the appearance of tidiness. Can you imagine, for just a moment, preparing the house for a King? It is curious to think about this arrival of Jesus – in John 12 – in contrast to his arrival to this Earth in Bethlehem. Here in Jerusalem, he is given a rather royal welcome, as the King of Israel. Word of his coming spreads among the people, and they prepare a kingly welcome. Yet those many years ago in Bethlehem, Jesus arrived in the middle of the night, in a whisper. He was born humbly in a stable, delivered from the womb next to cows, far from a kingly entrance. “Preparations” consisted of cleaning out a trough and filling it with clean hay. Very few even were told of his coming on that night. Jesus knew the mess he was stepping into that night in Bethlehem. He knew the world was broken, hurting, messy, and painful. And yet, he came anyway. Jesus knew the reality and hurt in Jerusalem despite his kingly entrance. He knew that in just one week, he would be mocked, tortured, and murdered. And yet, he came anyway. You see, dear reader, my suspicion is that we clean our hearts the way we clean our houses. We try to tuck everything unpleasant and messy out of sight and out of mind to give the appearance of tidiness and togetherness. We try to give Jesus a royal, deserved entrance into our lives, while lurking right inside the closet are boxes and piles of brokenness, addiction, shame, and regret. In the end, it is merely a façade. And yet, fear not. For your King comes anyway. He comes to deal with that brokenness, to truly clean the home of your heart. He comes to get rid of those piles of shame and hurt. The King comes to do the cleaning. What kind of a King is that? Well, dear reader, that is a King that I, for one, want to follow. Prayer: Dear Precious Jesus, you are unlike any other King. Help me to serve you as the King of my Heart, this Advent season and beyond. Amen. Reflection What are some ways you try to present an “appearance of tidiness”, either to God or to others? What about this King Jesus makes him worthy to be the King of your heart and life? Leaving Home December 21 by Doris LeCount Read Philippians 2:5-11 Have you ever moved away from a home you loved? A home packed with memories of good times and multi-generational gatherings? Have you moved from a community of long-established friendships and activities? People move to new locations for lots of reasons – for a job change, a military assignment, proximity to something they value, a change in climate, age- related necessity, to be closer to family, to escape warfare or oppression, etc. In today’s passage in Philippians we read about Jesus moving away from heaven to come to earth – born as a human baby in Bethlehem. Jesus was doing much more than moving to a new location -- his “form” (v.6) was new and different. Another translation says his “very nature” was changed. He “emptied himself” and became a servant (v.7). He left behind equality with God. He “humbled himself” to the point of dying (v.8) – dying for us because of our sin, dying to make us acceptable to holy God. Have you ever thought about what this "emptying” and “humbling” included? What leaving heaven and becoming human really meant? While still divine, Jesus took on all the frailties of being human. God – who is Sovereign, Almighty, Creator, Controller of nature, Ruler of kingdoms, (insert your own superlatives here) -- made himself human, made himself vulnerable to physical needs, made himself vulnerable to temptation, made himself betrayable, made himself killable. That’s how much he loves us! Sometimes, when life does not go the way I wish it would, I am reminded of verse 8, of why Jesus moved from heaven to earth. He came to redeem us. Jesus did not come to earth to make our lives easy – he came to reconcile us to a holy God. And having completed that mission, he was “exalted” so that every person will one day acknowledge him to be Lord. Prayer: Gracious God, thank you that you love me so much that you emptied and humbled yourself for me. Thank you for becoming one of us, for being born as a human. Thank you for meeting all the conditions that allow me to have a relationship with you. Please give me your mind and show me how to follow you in humility and servanthood. I acknowledge you to be Lord. I love you, Jesus. Amen. Reflection When you think of Jesus becoming a servant for you (v.7), even to the point of death (v.8), what acts of service are you inspired to do for your neighbors in response? What is your understanding of having the mind of Jesus (v.5)? As followers of Jesus, as disciples walking in Jesus’ steps, what "emptying” and “humbling” might be part of our faith-walk? Truth Is December 22 by Erin Chapin Read John 18:33-38 We live in the United States; our history is to NOT have a king. So…how do we understand Jesus’ kingship? Pilate had a similar question for a different reason. “You are the King of the Jews?” he asks to Jesus when he has Jesus in his possession. Jesus tells him that His kingdom is not of this world, and then asks, if it were, wouldn’t My servants fight for Me? Then, Jesus says, “for this I have come into the world: to testify to the truth.” “What is truth?” Pilate asks. What is truth? The truth is when the Israelites asked for a king, God was jealous because He was the King. He told Samuel to tell the Israelites the consequences of having an earthly king. He had taken care of them with food, land, and protection from enemies. (1 Samuel 8) The truth is Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ruined God’s perfect creation with sin. The truth is God promised Adam and Eve, right after their sin, (Gen.3:15) that He would send His Son to redeem His creation. The truth is God fulfilled His promise by sending Jesus into the world as a baby, so that He could grow into a man and stand in front of Pilate and be condemned to die. The truth is Jesus is our protector and provider (Ps. 23 and 46). That is what a king is, someone who protects and provides for his people. He rescued us from sin with His perfect life and then death on a cross; and to prove it, He rose from the dead. (John 20-21) The truth is He loves us. The truth is we have all sinned and we need a Savior, a Redeemer. (Romans 3) The truth is Jesus is that Savior and Redeemer. Let us make Him our King, the One we honor and adore, the One we bow to and obey, the One for Whom we live. (Ephesians 2:10) Prayer: Dear LORD Jesus, remind us of You, the Truth. We are Yours because You made us and then You redeemed us. Remind us. Please open our eyes for ways to remind others of the truth of Your love; Your life and death to make us Yours. Reflection Truth is NOT relative. Are there any places in your life that you need to remind yourself that God and His Truth are absolute? Half Price December 23 by Arleen Keyne Read Matthew 2:1-12 “How did it get to be so late? It’s December 23, and I still don’t have a tree or the treats for my children.” She worked over-time and had four young children. Hurrying to the Christmas tree lot, she saw the salesman who, smiling, said, “You can have that tree in the corner for FREE.” He received profuse thanks and she rushed into the store.