"THE JUSTICE OF THE ROYAL SON"
Second Sunday in Advent
December 8, 2019
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
Give the King Your justice, O God, and Your righteousness to the Royal Son! May He judge Your people with righteousness, and Your poor with justice! Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! May He defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!
Psalm 72:1-4 (ESV)
As we look through the various Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah, we encounter a number of names, descriptions, and images used to speak of Him. Isaiah refers to Him as "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6); "a Shoot . . . from the stump of Jesse" (Isaiah 11:1); and "the Root of Jesse" (Isaiah 11:10); as well as by a number of other names and designations. Micah refers to a Person who will originate in Bethlehem as "One who is to be Ruler in Israel"(Micah 5:2). And Malachi uses terminology perhaps more familiar to us from a famous Christmas carol than from the Scriptures when he writes: "The Sun of Righteousness shall rise with healing in Its wings" (Malachi 4:2). There are many other Messianic images as well. It's not that the Word of God is in any way ambiguous about the coming Savior; it's just that He is so much to so many that it takes many words to describe Him--and even then He exceeds every description.
In the passage before us the psalmist uses royal imagery when he talks about the Messiah. In fact, he speaks of the One who is to come as the Royal Son of God. There is certainly precedent for this elsewhere in the Old Testament. The Messiah is sometimes referred to as the Son of David not just because He was to be a Descendant of the king, but also because He was to inherit David's royal authority and to succeed where David failed. The defining characteristic of His kingdom and rule, according to our text, seems to be the establishment of justice and righteousness. These two qualities are essentially the same, since they both have to do with righting wrongs and making all things as they should be. As we think today about the justice of the Royal Son, let's focus on how He established His justice and how He administers it.
How did the Royal Son establish His justice? --First of all by personifying God's justice and righteousness in His own life. The things that He did and refused to do during His life here on earth were carefully orchestrated to perfectly fulfill the Law of God and to reveal God's righteousness. When Jesus spoke, whether it was words of judgment or of grace, He spoke with all the authority and power of God Himself. The miracles He performed were not circus sideshows; they were a quiet yet powerful revelation of who God is and how much He cares about sinners. Jesus' suffering and death were the execution of God's justice and righteousness on human sin, and His resurrection from the dead confirms all of this. When all was said and done, the life of Jesus Christ was a complete revelation of God's justice and righteousness.
The Royal Son of God also established justice by justifying those who were unjust. You know, the word justification is very significant theologically, especially for Lutherans, but in our day we have totally reversed its meaning. Today people speak of justifying themselves, and what they mean by that is that they will make enough excuses for their sin or surround it with enough extraordinary circumstances or balance it with enough good qualities that people in general will not hold their sin against them. They'll "sweep it under the rug," so to speak--accept it as being okay even though it is clearly wrong. But the real meaning of justification--God's meaning--is to make something or someone just. When we say that we are justified, we're not saying that we should be excused, but that we are forgiven even though we are guilty and that we are spared from punishment even though we deserve to be punished. This doesn't happen because of the wave of a magic wand or because of somebody's pious wish; it happens because the Royal Son of God suffered and died on the cross for our sins and thereby justified us--made us righteous--in the sight of God.
His justice established, how does the Royal Son administer it? The text tells us that He will "defend the cause of the poor of the people" and "give deliverance to the children of the needy" and that He will "crush the oppressor." The justice and righteousness that the Savior has established by His perfect life and His innocent suffering and death must be defended and cared for. The "oppressor" mentioned in our text can be none other than the devil himself. You know, the name Satan means "accuser" and Satan's favorite pastime is accusing the saints of God in an ongoing attempt to make them doubt their salvation. He does this every time an illness or an injury or a death or some other tragedy makes us wonder if God really cares. He does this every time that we are thwarted in our efforts to do what we know is pleasing to the Lord so that we begin to doubt what we are sure of. He does this every time that we knowingly sin and benefit rather than suffer because of it, or see others sin with the same result. In the face of satanic attacks like these, the people of God need a defense, and the Royal Son, who has justified them, provides that defense.
He does this through His Holy Spirit, who He sent after He completed the work of establishing His justice and resumed His place of glory at the right hand of the Father. This Spirit of God works in and through the means of grace: the Word of God and the Sacraments. That may sound very limited, but when you consider all the ways in which these means can be administered, the opportunities for sinners to be forgiven and reassured of the redeeming love of Christ are endless. Every time you hear, read, or study God's Word and are comforted with the assurance that Christ has defeated Satan for you, the Spirit is at work, equipping you to stand up to the attacks of the evil one. Every time you confess your sin and hear God's absolution, the Spirit is at work, defending you against the oppressor who constantly threatens you with reminders of how sinful and undeserving you really are. Every time you hear the invocation or recite the creed, the Spirit is at work, reminding you that He Himself has made you God's child through Baptism. Every time you receive the body and blood of your Savior in the Sacrament of His Supper, the Spirit is at work, assuring you that the sacrifice offered at Calvary so long ago was offered for you and that all of its benefits are yours. The Spirit of God is at work on our behalf constantly, defending us and strengthening us in the faith.
The justice of the Royal Son is this: He is good, and that's good for us. Because He has perfectly obeyed the will and Law of God, you and I are counted as righteous in the sight of God the perfect Judge. And because He suffered and died under the just wrath of God against our sin, we are counted as innocent in the sight of God the perfect Judge. Justice for us should mean condemnation and eternal punishment, but because of the Royal Son of God we have forgiveness and everlasting life. That is our greatest hope during these Advent weeks and our greatest joy as we celebrate His coming in the flesh at Christmas and anticipate His coming in glory at the end of time.
Amen.
May the One who once came as an Infant in Bethlehem prepare you for His coming again in glory by His Means of Grace, through which He comes to you even now. May He equip you to be His witnesses so that you, like the Baptist in the wilderness, may prepare the way of the Lord. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.