LESSON: 1 PETER 2:21-25

To you. Matthew 21:5

“Your king is coming to you.” You do not seek Him, you do not find Him, He finds you; for the preachers come from Him, not from you; their preaching come from Him, not from you; your faith comes from Him, not from you; and all that faith works in you comes from Him, not from you. So you see quite well that if He did not come to you, you would remain on the outside where there is no Gospel and no God, only sin and corruption.

Therefore, do not ask for a beginning of a godly life. There is no beginning of such a life except where this King comes and is proclaimed.

He comes “to you.” “To you” – what is this? Is it not enough that He is “your king”? If He is yours, why does the text say, He comes “to you”?

All that is set forth here by the prophet to depict Christ in the most loving manner and to urge us to faith. It is not enough for Christ to save us from the tyranny and dominion of sin, death, and hell and to become our King. He must give Himself as our very own so that all that He is and has becomes ours. St. Paul speaks of this when he says, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him?” Romans 8:32.
SL.XI.9,25-26
AE 75,35

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, our King, rule supreme and alone in our hearts and souls so that all the treasures of your truth and salvation may be ours personally now and forever. Amen.

LESSON: PSALM 25:1-10

Your king is coming to you. Matthew 21:5

Learn from this Gospel what happens when God begins to make us godly, and what is the beginning of becoming godly. There is no other beginning but the fact that your King comes to you and begins to work in you.

This comes to pass as follows. The Gospel must be the very first thing in this context; it must be preached and heard. In this you hear and learn how your work is nothing before God and that all you do or attempt is sin. But your King must be in you beforehand and rule you. That is the beginning of your salvation. You then give up your own work, and despair of self, because you hear and see that your own work is nothing, as the Gospel tells you. You begin to receive your King through faith, you cling to Him, invoke His grace, and entrust yourself solely to His goodness.

That you hear and accept this is also not of your own strength but of God’s grace, which has made the Gospel fruitful in you, so that you believe Him when He declares that your own work is nothing.

You see how few there are who accept His grace. Jesus also wept over Jerusalem. The papists not only reject this doctrine but actually condemn it. They do not want their own work to be sin and nothing. They want to lay the first stone and they rage and storm against the Gospel.

SL.XI.8,23
AE 75,35

PRAYER: O Lord, take from our hearts all self-pride and trust in our own works and efforts, and grant us grace to trust solely and wholly in your mercy and grace, granted us through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

THE FIRST WEEK IN ADVENT - WEDNESDAY

LESSON: PSALM 24

Your king. Matthew 21:5

Here this King is separated from all other kings. He is “your king,” the one promised to you and whose own you are. He is the one who rules you and no one else. But His rule is a spiritual, not a secular, rule.

This is a comforting word for the believing heart, for apart from Christ, man is subjected to many raging tyrants who are not kings but murderers. Under these he endures great misery and terror.

Such tyrants include the devil, the flesh, the world, and sin, as well as the law, death, and hell. At the hands of all these the wretched conscience is oppressed, suffers heavy imprisonment, and lives a bitter, uneasy life. For where sins are, there is no conscience; where there is no good conscience, everything is quite uncertain and there is unending fear of death and hell before which there can be no firm joy or delight in the heart. As Moses declares, such a heart is terrified at the rustling of a leaf (Leviticus 26:36).

Wherever a heart receives this King in firm faith, it becomes established and does not fear sin, death, hell, or any misfortune. It knows and does not doubt that this King is the Lord over life and death, sin and grace, hell and heaven, and that all things are in His hands.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, my King, establish your rule in my heart in such a way that my heart becomes your throne, and peace and joy may reign therein for evermore. Amen.