WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.700 --> 00:00:02.400 In the name of Jesus. 2 00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:03.400 Amen. 3 00:00:05.300 --> 00:00:10.200 They may be a little bit jarring to have Christmas themes during Lent. 4 00:00:10.900 --> 00:00:16.300 But the rationale for that, is that ever since the 4th Century 5 00:00:16.700 --> 00:00:21.800 the church has celebrated the birth of Jesus on December 25th. 6 00:00:22.900 --> 00:00:27.100 And so that implies that we should, then celebrate the conception of 7 00:00:27.100 --> 00:00:33.400 Jesus 9 months earlier, which is today, March 25th. 8 00:00:35.100 --> 00:00:39.300 Now the aspect of Jesus conception that I want to focus on this 9 00:00:39.300 --> 00:00:44.500 morning are the words of the angel, Gabriel, the Lord. 10 00:00:44.500 --> 00:00:48.700 God will give to him the Throne of his father David. 11 00:00:48.800 --> 00:00:54.000 And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom 12 00:00:54.300 --> 00:00:55.800 there will be no end. 13 00:00:58.100 --> 00:01:02.400 Now, as believers who live after the Advent of Christ, it may be 14 00:01:02.400 --> 00:01:08.100 tempting for us to propose an amendment to Gabriel's words and say 15 00:01:08.100 --> 00:01:11.900 that Jesus reigns not only over the house of Jacob, but over the 16 00:01:11.900 --> 00:01:13.200 entire universe. 17 00:01:14.800 --> 00:01:17.400 But that's not what Gabriel says. 18 00:01:19.300 --> 00:01:25.700 And that's I think because God saving activity is rooted in his 19 00:01:25.700 --> 00:01:27.500 dealings with his people Israel. 20 00:01:27.500 --> 00:01:32.600 And so if we want to understand what it means for Jesus to have the 21 00:01:32.600 --> 00:01:34.600 Throne of David. 22 00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:39.800 Then we need to look at the promises that are associated with the 23 00:01:39.800 --> 00:01:42.000 Throne of David in the Old Testament. 24 00:01:42.500 --> 00:01:45.600 And these promises are found in 2nd Samuel, 7. 25 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:51.100 They're David wants to build God, a house. 26 00:01:52.700 --> 00:01:57.400 That's so that God does not have to continue living in the Tabernacle, 27 00:01:57.700 --> 00:02:03.300 which is this temporary mobile dwelling place, but he wants to give 28 00:02:03.300 --> 00:02:04.900 him a permanent residence. 29 00:02:06.200 --> 00:02:10.600 In God's response, is something like this. 30 00:02:12.200 --> 00:02:15.600 No, you're not going to build me a house 31 00:02:15.600 --> 00:02:19.700 I'm going to build you a house, and I'm not the one who needs a place 32 00:02:19.700 --> 00:02:21.200 to dwell, its Israel 33 00:02:21.200 --> 00:02:22.900 that's going to have a place to dwell. 34 00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:30.600 And then and now I'm quoting the prophet, Nathan. I will raise up your 35 00:02:30.600 --> 00:02:34.900 offspring after you, who shall come from your body and I will 36 00:02:34.900 --> 00:02:36.300 establish his kingdom. 37 00:02:36.300 --> 00:02:40.300 He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the Throne of 38 00:02:40.300 --> 00:02:41.800 his kingdom forever. 39 00:02:41.800 --> 00:02:45.700 And then a little bit later, Nathan says again, your house and your 40 00:02:45.700 --> 00:02:48.300 kingdom shall be made sure forever 41 00:02:48.500 --> 00:02:49.400 before me. 42 00:02:53.700 --> 00:02:59.300 The detail that's repeated in 2nd Samuel 7 that then Gabriel picks up 43 00:02:59.300 --> 00:02:59.800 on in Luke 1 44 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:03.700 is the idea that David's Throne is forever. 45 00:03:06.200 --> 00:03:08.900 But what exactly is God promising here? 46 00:03:10.200 --> 00:03:12.000 Kingdoms, don't last forever. 47 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:13.900 At least not in human experience. 48 00:03:14.900 --> 00:03:16.900 David didn't last forever. 49 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:23.100 I mean, the Bible tells us that he died in Second Kings 2, and it 50 00:03:23.100 --> 00:03:27.500 notes that he rained for 40 years, which is an impressive amount of 51 00:03:27.500 --> 00:03:30.400 time, but it's not forever. 52 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:36.500 Or maybe God is saying that it's the institution that's going to last 53 00:03:36.500 --> 00:03:37.100 forever. 54 00:03:39.800 --> 00:03:42.600 Well institutions don't tend to last forever either. 55 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:45.200 I mean it just think about the nations of the world. 56 00:03:45.200 --> 00:03:46.600 So the United States. 57 00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:51.600 Has been here about 250 years, were kind of on the younger end of the 58 00:03:51.600 --> 00:03:52.500 spectrum. 59 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:55.800 There are much older nations. 60 00:03:55.800 --> 00:04:01.900 So for example, about the time that the Israel's monarchy was coming 61 00:04:01.900 --> 00:04:02.900 to an end. 62 00:04:03.500 --> 00:04:07.100 There was a new monarchy that was founded on the Italian peninsula in 63 00:04:07.100 --> 00:04:12.700 a city called Rome and that nation lasted twelve hundred years. 64 00:04:13.700 --> 00:04:17.500 They had they had Kings for 250 years and then they got rid of their 65 00:04:17.500 --> 00:04:23.100 kings and existed, as a republic ruled by the Senate and the consoles 66 00:04:23.100 --> 00:04:24.900 for another 500 years. 67 00:04:25.200 --> 00:04:26.800 And then about the time of Jesus 68 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:30.800 they taken a sort of autocratic turn and now they've got Emperor's and 69 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:36.200 they lived one with a for another 450 years until the Visigoths 70 00:04:36.200 --> 00:04:37.400 finally put an end to them. 71 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:43.100 So if there's kind of a spectrum in which the United States, is on the 72 00:04:43.100 --> 00:04:47.200 younger end of the spectrum, and maybe Rome is on the older end of the 73 00:04:47.200 --> 00:04:47.700 spectrum. 74 00:04:47.700 --> 00:04:51.000 Where does David's monarchy fit? 75 00:04:55.200 --> 00:04:58.100 David's monarchy last until the Babylonian exile. 76 00:04:59.700 --> 00:05:01.800 Which is about 300 years. 77 00:05:04.200 --> 00:05:09.100 So David's Throne is closer to the United States than it is to Rome. 78 00:05:13.700 --> 00:05:19.000 This despite the fact that 1st Kings implies that God fulfills his 79 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:23.200 promise in second Samuel, when Solomon takes the throne. It tells us, 80 00:05:23.500 --> 00:05:27.300 So Solomon sat on the throne of David his father and his kingdom was 81 00:05:27.300 --> 00:05:29.800 firmly established. Kind of intentionally 82 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:34.400 echoing the words of Nathan in second Samuel, which maybe makes you 83 00:05:34.400 --> 00:05:35.800 think that will, perhaps? 84 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:39.900 now we have the eternal kingdom. 85 00:05:42.400 --> 00:05:43.700 In hindsight 86 00:05:45.400 --> 00:05:47.300 this claim is a little uncomfortable. 87 00:05:50.300 --> 00:05:52.800 But God always keeps his promises. 88 00:05:54.300 --> 00:05:59.800 And so if there is a promise that seems like it's not quite fulfilled 89 00:06:00.500 --> 00:06:03.200 then you can be sure that there's more to it. 90 00:06:04.900 --> 00:06:10.400 And so we come to the words of the angel, Gabriel in, which he says in 91 00:06:10.400 --> 00:06:12.100 effect. 92 00:06:12.500 --> 00:06:16.900 Maybe you thought that God was establishing an eternal Kingdom through 93 00:06:16.900 --> 00:06:18.900 David's son Solomon. 94 00:06:21.300 --> 00:06:23.900 But in fact, the true son of David 95 00:06:25.100 --> 00:06:30.300 is Jesus, he's the one that will have the Eternal Kingdom. 96 00:06:31.900 --> 00:06:34.300 Now, we might ask the question at this point. 97 00:06:34.300 --> 00:06:38.600 Do you think that day that Gabriel is talking about an eternal 98 00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:39.400 person 99 00:06:39.700 --> 00:06:45.600 or is he talking about eternal institution? And on this score of all 100 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:48.700 things, the Nicene Creed weighs in on this. 101 00:06:49.300 --> 00:06:54.800 If you know, how to read it, this phrase whose kingdom will have no 102 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:55.600 end. 103 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:01.700 Does not appear in the first version of the Nicene Creed in 325, but 104 00:07:01.700 --> 00:07:07.800 it is inserted by this first Council of Constantinople, which brought 105 00:07:07.800 --> 00:07:10.600 the Creed to its final form that we use today. 106 00:07:12.200 --> 00:07:16.900 And it was inserted because of a character named Marcellus of Ancyra. 107 00:07:16.900 --> 00:07:24.800 Marcellus had the sort of idiosyncratic view that the Trinity 108 00:07:25.100 --> 00:07:30.300 we believe in the Trinity, but at the end of time, the Trinity is 109 00:07:30.300 --> 00:07:34.700 going to contract into one person and will not continue to exist as 110 00:07:34.700 --> 00:07:37.300 the Trinity for forever. 111 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:44.900 And his scriptural basis for this was 1st Corinthians 15 where Paul 112 00:07:44.900 --> 00:07:50.600 says that at the end, the Son delivers the kingdom to the Father. 113 00:07:52.400 --> 00:07:56.500 And then Paul continues when all things are subjected to him. 114 00:07:57.200 --> 00:08:02.600 Then the son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things 115 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:03.700 in subjection under him. 116 00:08:03.700 --> 00:08:08.000 hat God may be all in all. And so what is it mean that got that the 117 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:11.300 Son delivers the kingdom to the Father and that now he's subject to 118 00:08:11.300 --> 00:08:13.700 the Father and that God is all in all. 119 00:08:15.400 --> 00:08:20.600 Well, Marcellus says, it means that the Son is reabsorbed into the 120 00:08:20.600 --> 00:08:25.500 Father and does not continue to exist as a separate person of the 121 00:08:25.500 --> 00:08:26.200 trinity. 122 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:34.000 As you can imagine the father's at the First Council of Constantinople 123 00:08:34.500 --> 00:08:40.000 did not like this view and they did not like this reading of 1st 124 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:41.500 Corinthians 15. 125 00:08:41.799 --> 00:08:48.400 So, in order to reject it, they turn to Luke, to our Gospel reading for 126 00:08:48.400 --> 00:08:49.200 today. 127 00:08:49.700 --> 00:08:53.500 And they take this statement from the angel Gabriel, whose kingdom 128 00:08:53.500 --> 00:08:56.500 will have no end, and they put it in the Creed. 129 00:08:58.000 --> 00:08:59.800 And the logic of that insertion, 130 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:06.200 is that if his kingdom will have no end that he will have no end. 131 00:09:07.800 --> 00:09:12.500 He will not be reabsorbed into the Father, but he will continue to 132 00:09:12.500 --> 00:09:18.000 exist as a separate as the second person of the Trinity forever. 133 00:09:20.200 --> 00:09:25.000 And with that insertion, the Nicene Creed actually weighs in and we're 134 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:26.800 talking about an eternal person. 135 00:09:27.100 --> 00:09:28.600 It's not just the institution 136 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:29.400 that's eternal. 137 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:34.100 But what does that mean for God's people? 138 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.000 Well, in 2nd Samuel 139 00:09:39.400 --> 00:09:40.100 the promise 140 00:09:40.100 --> 00:09:45.700 is that the Throne of David would give Israel a place to dwell. 141 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:50.300 And this is, especially pressing in the context 142 00:09:53.900 --> 00:09:58.000 who whether they're fleeing drug cartels and Central America or 143 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:02.600 whether they're fleeing war in Ethiopia or more recently Russian tanks 144 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:03.700 in the Ukraine. 145 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:06.200 They don't have a home. 146 00:10:07.800 --> 00:10:12.400 They are forced to live in a land where the laws are not written with 147 00:10:12.400 --> 00:10:13.500 them in mind. 148 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:20.800 And in a way, this is an image of the human condition because we can 149 00:10:20.800 --> 00:10:26.900 never be at home in sin because God did not design us that way. 150 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:33.600 And we can never be at peace under the rule of the devil, because he 151 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:36.300 does not have our best interests at heart. 152 00:10:38.200 --> 00:10:43.600 But what we have in the words of the angel, Gabriel and Nathan, the 153 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:45.600 prophet is that 154 00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:50.900 now we have an eternal King who gives us an eternal home. 155 00:10:52.100 --> 00:10:53.700 In Jesus name. Amen.