Eternal God, whose Word silences the shouts of the mighty: Quiet within us every voice but your own. Speak to us through the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, that by the power of your Holy Spirit we may receive grace to show Christ’s love in lives given to your service. Amen.[1]
To Establish a Kingdom
Isaiah 42:1-9 NRSV
Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it:
I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.
I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.
Hebrews 9:11-14 NRSV
But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!
Michael A. Milton
Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter are not merely sacred days on the calendar. They are revelations of the deepest realities of God’s redeeming work in history. If we misunderstand what God is doing, we will misunderstand our own lives. Yet mercifully, God has not left us to our own projections. The Holy Spirit has breathed out His Word and in that Word we encounter the true King.
Jesus did not come merely to claim a throne in Jerusalem. He came to claim the throne of heaven and earth. The crowds praised Him as a liberator, but they did not yet see Him as Emmanuel—God with us. They saw a teacher, perhaps a prophet, perhaps a reformer. But He is more: Prophet, Priest, and King, fully God and fully Man.
He came not merely to reform a nation but to redeem a people—to live the life we could not live and to die the death that should have been ours. False expectations lead to disappointment. But true faith leads to joy that no disappointment can destroy.
Your King has come.
He comes to cover sin with His righteousness.
He comes to give life that death cannot conquer.
He comes to establish a kingdom that grows quietly, powerfully, from the inside outward.[2]
A Kingdom Catechism[3]
Question #32
Is the Law part of the Gospel?
The Law is part of the Gospel in that all people must acknowledge their sin unto repentance before they can believe the Gospel, and by the Law is the knowledge of sin.
Question #40
How may believers have confidence that they can learn to walk in God’s Law?
Believers may have confidence in their ability to learn and walk in God’s Law because the Spirit of God is at work within them, making them willing and able to obey the Law.
Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the Cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.[4]
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
[1] The Worship Sourcebook, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, 2004, p. 588.
[2] Dr. Michael A. Milton, Faith for Living. https://michaelamilton.substack.com/p/palm-sunday-when-the-king-wept
[3] T. M. Moore. A Kingdom Catechism, © 2022 Waxed Tablet Publications, p. 33.
[4] Collect for Monday of Holy Week, Anglican Book of Common Prayer, 2019.
