Sermon by Pastor Robert Green, 4thSunday End Times, Christ the King, 11/15/09, Yr. B, No. 776, Ascension Evangelical Lutheran Church, Harrisburg and Lewisburg, PA., W.E.L.S., based on Daniel 7:13-14
There was a murder trial a few years ago in which a defendant, while waiting for the jury to reach the verdict, the prosecutor offered a plea bargain to the defendant that if he plead guilty to a lesser charge he would avoid the death penalty, but sentenced to life in prison. Both the prosecutor and the defendant were uncertain about what the jury would do, for why else offer or consider a plea bargain after the trial was over and all that was left was for the jury to decide the verdict?Uncertainty and despair of losing for either side was the basis for considering such a bargain, especially for the defendant if in fact he was innocent. The decision for either side would have been ever so much easier if they could only have known the outcome.
God caused Daniel to write his book, to reveal to us the grand scheme of history of the world and God’s final victory over all things.Knowing what to expect in history and its final outcome gives reason to have confidence to trust in our God at all things, good or bad, especially in matters of our eternal life, for, after all, if God knows and reveals the future as well as the past, we have reason to take him at his word that the final outcome of history is his eternal kingdom.
Recall that in 722 BC God had sent Assyria to conquer much of Northern Israel and deport her people never to return. God did this for Israel had rejected him for the most part and worshipped pagan gods. Then in 605 BC God sent Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to conquer Judah, all that was left of Israel. Babylon deported many of the Jews to Babylon. God promised the exiles would return after 70 years in order to keep the tribe of Judah in tact for he promised the Savior would come from Judah. As a young man the prophet Daniel was one of the first to be deported in 605. Daniel lived his entire life in Babylon and blessed by God he grew in favor with the Babylonians and became head of the wise men of Babylon.
During the reign of Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Belshazzar, God gave Daniel avision in a dream about four fierce beasts coming up out of the sea. God told Daniel the four beasts were four kingdoms, each one to be conquered by the next. The first was the Babylonian Empire, the next would be the Persian and Mede Empire, then the Greek Empire, led by Alexander the Great, and finally the Roman Empire would come conquering the Greek Empire. The fourth beast, the most terrifying, had ten horns, symbols of power, and here represent the many nations arising from the fourth beast.
Daniel saw a little horn grow in the midst of the ten horns. Daniel tells us, “Three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully.” The little horn is symbolic of the great Antichrist. The Antichrist is not necessarily a man but can be a power that puts itself in the place of Christ and seeks and acts to rule over the Church itself. The Antichrist would be most threatening to the Christian church, for it would have reason to boast in its own success, but God assures us that because of our Savior, the little horn, the Antichrist, will be utterly defeated.
Daniel tells us he then saw Judgment Day with the Ancient of Days, God himself, seated on his throneand “The court was seated, and the books were opened. 11 “Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. 12 (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.)” God assured Daniel that Antichrist, the little horn, had been slain, destroyed forever, and that the other beasts, symbolizing governments, stripped of their authority would be allowed to exist for a period of time. This describes an event by which the evil forces, the Antichrist and secular governments, were over come. That the governments were allowed to exist for a little while, shows that world history would continue for some time after this event. This event is the death and resurrection of Christ our Lord, for by his death he defeated all his enemies and ours.
This is where the reading for today begins. Listen to God’s Word telling about the return to heaven of our victorious Lord and King, our risen Jesus, from, Daniel 7:13-14“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”May these words comfort and encourage you in the best of times and in the worst of times to remember that Christ is our King for he has been given authority, glory and power; and peoples from all nations will worship him forever!
Christ is our King
- For he has been given authority, glory and power;
Daniel tells us, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven.” The term “Son of Man” is a reference to the coming Messiah or Anointed One. This verse helped the ancient peoples to understand the Messiah would come as a true man. Jesus was true God from all eternity, for there was never a time when Jesus was not. But then came the incarnation when Jesus took on human flesh and blood, suffered and died for us, but rose and ascended to the right side of the Father. Jesus accepts and uses the title “Son of Man” as a name for and reference to the one anointed of God to be the Savior. He asked Judas. “Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”That Jesus was coming with the clouds of heaven shows this to be his Second Coming at the end of the world when Judgment Day takes place. Recall that at his ascension when Jesus disappeared into the clouds retuning to the Father in heaven the angels told the disciples that he would return in the same manner.
Daniel tells us, speaking of Jesus, “He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.” This draws on the customs of ancient peoples when one would not dare approach a king unless invited. This scene is Jesus’ return to the Father as the risen God-Man in one person. Jesus’ being led into the presence of the Ancient of Days, our eternal God, is the scene of history when God the Father receivedthe returning Son and so approved his work to suffer and die for our sins.
The approval is confirmed in that “He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”As Paul,Ephesians 1:20-23 (NIV), God raised Jesus, “and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church....”and as John says in the reading for today from Revelation 1, “Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.”
Our Triune God gave Jesus the God-Man was given glory, honor, authority and sovereign power first so that he could accomplish his mission to save man from sin. Having done so, he was given authority once again to rule as King of kings and Lord of lords. He was given authority once again for once he had been abandoned and rejected by God while on the Cross. God had to abandon him for he had become all sins of fall people and sin forever separates from God. Since Jesus was victorious he was led back into the presence of the Ancient of Days.
What does this mean for you? This vision assured Daniel that Christ, the Son of Man, had already won the victory and he would destroy his enemies and the enemies of the church, though Jesus would not come as the God-Man for nearly 550 years. This assurance was given as great comfort to Daniel, when all looked to be lost, his nation had been defeated and conquered, the Temple destroyed, and he had been in exile for many years. It is a comfort and assurance given to everyone of us in the worst of times, when all may be lost, to not look at the present situation or things to come with fear, to look to the end to the victory of our Lord that has already been won for he rules as our King and Lord now and forever.
- And peoples from all nations will worship him forever!
Daniel says“all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away…” This is not a promise of the universal conversion of all people, but that there will be believers in heaven that come from every race, language and people on earth. The Gospel is for everyone, which is exactly what Jesus said as he ascended saying, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” It is why God says the end cannot come until the Gospel is preached to all nations. This means that there is no doubt that the Gospel promise of the forgiveness of all sins is for you. It means Jesus died for you in his victorious effort to destroy your enemies of sin, death and the devil. It means God’s promise of Christ to rule as King is a promise he rules as your King forever.
As Daniel also tells us, “His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” It will never be destroyed because there will no enemy left to attack. His Kingdom will never end for it is not a kingdom of this world, such as those of the four beasts that rise and fall, but his Kingdom is in heaven where it will never fall. This was why Jesus told Pilate, John 18:36“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”Perhaps Daniel sums up best what it means for you as he was later told, “The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth. 18 But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’”Thus, all believers, you included, will worship the Savior and King, our Triune God, forever and ever.
Not knowing what the jury would do, in a moment of despair, the defendant agreed to the plea bargain and ultimately received a life sentence. Just after entered his plea, the jury returned with what was then a useless verdict of –not guilty. If the defendant had only waited he would have been a free man. Too bad he did not know what was to come. You and I know what is to come and so we have no reason to ever fall into despair for we know Christ is our King for he has been given authority, glory and power; and peoples from all nations will worship him forever. To God be all glory, amen!