Palm Sunday/ Confirmation
Dear friends in Christ. Today is a joyful day. The first note of joy that is struck is that it is Palm Sunday. We rejoice with the crowds that Jesus the Savior has come. They rejoiced that day as He entered Jerusalem and marked Himself as the long promised Savior and King in fulfillment of the prophecy [Mt. 21.5]: Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. Although there were certainly many in that crowd that thought that Jesus was coming to set up some sort of earthly/ political kingdom and restore grandeur and dignity to the Israelite nation, all recognized and confessed Jesus as the Messiah as they cried out [Mt. 21.9]: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” Hosanna in the highest!’” In Spirit-worked faith we know, confess and rejoice with the Palm Sunday crowd that Jesus is the long promised Savior of the world. He came to Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday to set up His kingdom—not an earthly, political kingdom but the eternal kingdom of His Church. He would set up that kingdom by His suffering and death being enthroned as King on the cross.
We, today, rejoice like the Palm Sunday crowds, as we remember that Jesus still comes to us to bring us into His kingdom and to give us the blessings of forgiveness of sin, life and salvation; we will welcome Him just like the Palm Sunday crowds did: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” Hosanna in the highest!’” as He comes to us today “riding” the donkey of the bread and wine in the Blessed Sacrament giving us His body and blood.
We rejoice on Palm Sunday we because here we see Jesus coming to Jerusalem—for us men and for our salvation; we have the certainty of our salvation!
As a congregation we have great reason to rejoice even more today as two of our young people will publicly confess their faith in Christ. They have been instructed in the basic teachings of the holy Christian faith. This past Wednesday they have been examined in the doctrine of the faith. They can now examine themselves and receive the Sacrament of our Lord’s body and blood, as St. Paul exhorts [1 Cor. 11.28], Let a person examine himself then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
For our two youth being confirmed today—as well as for those of us who have already been confirmed, perhaps for decades—confirmation is not an end. It is merely a milestone along the way, one which we build upon. It marks the time of our outward confession of faith—and now at the point of being able to examine ourselves in the faith and to receive the Blessed Sacrament, we regularly receive that great and precious gift of our Lord through which we receive the forgiveness of sin and strengthening of faith. We also continue on in the study of Scripture and the doctrines of the holy Christian faith by being faithfully in church and diligent students of Scripture and our Lutheran Confessions so that we continue to grow in our faith and understanding. Here is a lifelong pursuit.
Let the confirmation of these two young people today be a call to each of us to, by the power of the Holy Spirit, dedicate ourselves anew to faithful reception of the Sacrament, regular attendance in our Lord’s house and the study of the doctrine of Holy Scripture. Where we see weakness and lacking in these areas in our lives, may we repent and in joy and love of our Savior, Christ Jesus, and by the power of His Holy Spirit may we renew what we vowed on our confirmation day!
This is precisely what Jesus is talking about in our text today—faithfulness to Him/ abiding and remaining in Him and His word. “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.” How is it that we abide/ remain in Christ? The simple one word answer: faith. By faith, through faith we are in Christ and here is our Christian life. Jesus tells His disciples on that first Maundy Thursday [Jn. 15.5]: I am the vine, you are the branches, He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For most of us, we began to abide/ to be in Christ at the time of our baptism. In holy baptism Jesus came to us, cleansed us from our sin, worked faith in Him in our hearts and brought us into His holy family, the Church. In holy baptism we were connected to Jesus and His death and resurrection, as the apostle writes: …as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death[.] Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into His death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. The beginning of our being in/ abiding/ remaining in Christ is baptism. Confirmation does not add anything to baptism. It simply gives these youth the opportunity to confess their faith before Christ and His Church; it gives them the opportunity to confess the faith that is in their heart—faith given and worked in them by the Holy Spirit—and to confess that by God’s grace and working they are abiding/ remaining in Christ.
Being in Christ, His disciple, is not just a one event thing—it’s abiding/ remaining. It’s not that one is baptized and one’s passport to heaven is stamped and nothing will change it. It’s not making a profession of faith in Christ once and being good to go. It’s not that horrible teaching so prevalent among some: once saved always saved. Instead, what does Jesus here say in our text? “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.” Notice again, to remain/ abide is by faith, constant continual faith until death—when faith turns into seeing. Being Jesus’ disciple is not just following, that is, it’s not just external adherence; it is not just initial acceptance and praise of Jesus. After all, just a few weeks ago we heard that when Jesus fed the 5000 that they wanted to make Him king—but shortly after that, after He began to preach and teach them all but the 12 left Him. Abiding/ remaining in Jesus/ being Jesus disciple is not some “emotional high”; it’s not some knee-jerk reaction; it’s not the sweet feelings we often get when hearing the Gospel. In short being Jesus’ disciple is not emotionalism but as Jesus says in our text: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.” There’s a solid foundation, basis for it—Christ’s word. Elsewhere Jesus said [Lk 11.28], Blessed…are those who hear the word of God and keep it. As we remain faithful to His word—that’s doctrine!—then we are truly Jesus’ disciples. Remain faithful to Jesus’ word, and we are remaining faithful to Him. See that glorious connection between Jesus and His word/ doctrine.
Yes, there will be times when we do not feel the sweetness of the forgiveness of sins, when our faith is under attack, when we feel that God has abandoned us or has even become our enemy. It would be very easy to turn away from Christ. Or even when other things seem much more “important”; when there’s the call and allure of the world to go after material things—materialism—it would be easy to lose sight of and reject Christ. What does Christ say? “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.” It is difficult to remain in the Lord’s grace and mercy.
That’s an important lesson for us all to bear in mind—especially our dear confirmands. Christianity is all about being faithful to the end; it’s all about endurance in the faith. That’s why our Lord’s words of our text are so vital: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.” Why? Because on our own, left to ourselves we would not and could not endure/ remain faithful to Christ/ abide in Him; we would easily fall away. But as we remain in/ abide in Christ’s word what happens? His Holy Spirit is there in the word strengthening us in the faith and keeping us in the true faith—faith in Christ that connects us with Him; faith in Christ that receives the forgiveness of sins and His perfect holiness; faith that then leads us into lives of good works to the glory of God and the benefit of our neighbor. As the devil attacks our faith to destroy it, trying to get us to doubt and question whether our sins are truly forgiven, whether God is our dear loving heavenly Father, whether we can be certain of heaven—we counter attack with the word! “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.” Christ’s holy word, found alone in the Bible, is our unshakeable foundation—the only truth. Are our sins forgiven? Yes! Scripture so declares and through the pastor Christ speaks that forgiveness to us. In the Sacrament of Jesus’ body and blood we have that promise/ assurance placed in our mouths and it washes down our throat, into us. We can be certain that God is our dear, loving heavenly Father because at baptism He called us, claimed us and made us part of His holy family.
By abiding in Christ’s word, He, through that word, strengthens us to endure. He works in us the patience as our faith is tested and tried. Dear confirmands and dearly beloved confirmed a longer or shorter time ago, by abiding/ remaining in Jesus’ word you are truly His disciple because you keep receiving the instruction from Jesus’ word and as you do so, you will keep growing in your faith. As you grow in your faith and become deeply rooted in the Scriptures and doctrines you will all the more be abiding/ remaining in Christ, loving Him more the more you know Him and His saving work for you. As we abide in Christ’s word we will indeed [Ps. 34.8] taste and see that the Lord is good. Our situations and circumstances keep changing, the challenges to our faith will keep changing but as we abide/ in Christ’s word, by that word He will keep us in the true faith to the end: He will, in grace, keep us as His disciples to whom eternal salvation will be given.
What blessing there is for us as we are truly [Christ’s] disciples, dear Christian, and especially today dear confirmands: and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. As we abide in my word, there is true freedom. What a tremendous blessing we enjoy, which comes to us from the one truth of Holy Scripture. As we abide in my word, we not only hear about the truth of Christ—that He is the Savior of the world and reconciled us sinners to the holy God. Instead, as we abide in my word, Jesus actually gives us the blessings He won for us by His holy life and innocent suffering and death. As we abide/ remain in the word, we are certain of the truth and we are made certain of that truth as we actually receive it and its blessings: and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
In Scripture, the word of Christ and from Christ—that He caused to be written by His Holy Spirit—is the truth; from Scripture comes the blessed knowledge of salvation in the forgiveness of our sins. As we abide/ remain in Christ’s word not only do we hear of the forgiveness of sins, it is actually given. Where it is given and received in faith—that is, where we abide in that word—there we are truly free. We are free from slavery to sin—now led and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we don’t have to do sin’s bidding but are free to fight against it in our hearts and lives; we are free from serving our old sinful nature/ will and are now servants of God interested in good works. We are free from the result of our sin—death and damnation because Jesus already endured that on the cross and destroyed death by His death and showed it His resurrection and ascension. Now, as Christians, we are certain of eternal life in heaven before the holy Triune God, with all the saints and angels. In Christ, as we remain in Him and abide in His word we have true peace. That’s our blessed state/ condition right now as His dear Christians.
The apostle tells us [Ac 16.31]: Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Dear confirmands—and all of us—remain in Christ; abide in, continue on in, His word until the end. You are truly His disciple now, enjoying His every grace and blessing, and eternally in the blessedness of heaven. INJ Amen