The Way through Gates of Glory
Grace mercy and peace to you, from God, our Father, and our Lord, Jesus Christ, who has opened gates of everlasting glory for us.
Gates go with walls, or fences, and can be opened to let something or someone in, and closed, to keep something or someone out.
Growing up on a farm, every once and a while, a gate was accidentally left open or unlatched, and it resulted in having to round up cattle and chase them back into their pen. Fortunately we had an ATV.
In ancient times, walls were built around cities for safety and fortification, to keep out enemy spies and armies.
City gates also had an administrative function beyond filtering out bad characters… it’s where tariffs and taxes were collected on goods brought into the city to be sold at market.
Like other ancient cities, Jerusalem had protective walls, with a number of gates.
Today, we’re celebrating the events at an un-named gate into Jerusalem, something that foreshadowed Jesus’ suffering and death, but also foreshadowed His glory and resurrection…
… which is why we call this the Triumphal Entry, as Jesus rode from Bethany into Jerusalem on a donkey, with the crowd gathering and growing as He went along…
… and the chants of Hosanna, meaning, “Lord, save us”, getting louder and louder, as the people praised Him and waved palms to greet and honor Him.
That very week, Jesus would answer their cries of Hosanna, their prayer to be saved, but not in the way they expected.
He wouldn’t overthrow Rome for them, but would overthrow an adversary far more formidable.
We’re not told which of the gates of Jerusalem Jesus rode in through.
Some think it was the Sheep Gate, mentioned in John 5:2, which was near the pool of Bethesda, where Jesus had healed the paralyzed man.
It was through the Sheep Gate, that, on every year, on the Sunday before the Passover, tens of thousands of sheep were herded into Jerusalem, to be sacrificed at the temple on Passover Eve.
And many more animals were brought into Jerusalem through this gate throughout the year, and kept at the temple stockyards, until they were bought and offered as a sacrifice.
Jesus was the supreme and final sacrifice, offered to God for the atonement of sin, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, John the Baptist proclaimed.
Some theologians think Jesus entered through the East Gate… a bronze, double-arched gate, built by King Herod, also called the Golden Gate, the Mercy Gate, the Gate of Eternal Life, and the Beautiful Gate.
This was the gate with the most traffic… and there was a popular expectation that when the Messiah came, He would enter triumphantly into Jerusalem through the Golden Gate.
Whichever gate it was, we know Jesus rode in on a donkey, to fulfill the Messianic prophecy made by Zechariah:
Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Many of the people thought Jesus was riding into Jerusalem to be enthroned as their political and military Messiah, a king to set them free from Roman tyranny.
But Jesus rode in to free them, and us, from a power far greater, much harder to defeat, the power of evil: sin, death, and the devil.
Riding on a lowly donkey foreshadowed Jesus’ humble suffering and death.
The palm branches, representing victory, foreshadowed His mighty resurrection, and glorious ascension.
There are many gates, or doors, in this life, that we enter through.
Through those gates and behind those doors, lies grace to live by, or sin to die by… glory and joy everlasting, or guilt and regret everlasting.
Jesus bore our sin and grief and guilt and regret, in His body on the cross, so that we don’t have to bear them in eternity.
Isaiah says, Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows… he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities… by his wounds we are healed.
He bore all our sin, and all the consequences of our sin, that by faith, we might enter into His grace on earth… and into His glory in Heaven.
When we’re baptized into Christ, He opens up a gate of saving grace and healing love for us, the gate into His Kingdom, His Church, not just a place, but a life, and a life like no other.
We said the main gate into Jerusalem was called, “Beautiful”. This morning, in the waters of Holy Baptism, by the power of His name, God has opened the gates of beauty for Emma Iris Brueggemeier… and has carried His dear child into His Kingdom.
In one of our opening hymns, we sing, Open Now Thy Gates of Beauty, Zion, Let Me Enter There…
Zion is the Church, the Family of God.
The Holy Spirit has opened up life for Emma in God’s Home, with His Family, and with her as His dear child.
He has washed away her sins, and made her beautiful, not just on the outside but on the inside, with holy faith in her heart, and holy love in her soul.
He has carried her into this place of beauty, not the architecture, although it is beautiful, but far more beautiful is the Gospel celebrated here… and the one and only Lord we praise here… and His love we share…
… and when we leave, we carry His love out with us, in our hearts and minds, so that wherever we go, so goes the love of God, and so goes the family of God… we go into the world to share the beauty of His grace, and the joy His redeeming love.
While Christ has opened up for His family, gates of beauty and love and life and salvation, there are other gates in this life that are anything but beautiful…
… gates of ruin and malice, where the adversary, the devil tempts us, and our sinful nature entices us, and the fallen world dares us, to open the door and walk through, and take up residence there, where sin is loved and celebrated, and holiness is hated.
Nothing good lies behind that gate of worldly deception… where godly love is scarce, or nonexistent… and godly truth, His Word, is ridiculed… and earthly greed is abundant… and selfish desire is exalted.
God save us from entering into and residing in that loveless place, that world of ruin…
… lead us through the gates that Your Son has opened for us through His death and resurrection, where love and mercy prevail, where our sin is rebuked, and confessed, and we are fully forgiven…
Open your gates to that place where Your Word, O God, is our guide, and we’re taught to cherish and embrace Your just and holy ways.
Open to us the gates of Your grace and mercy on earth, which lead us to that last great gate that opens up and lets us into our everlasting home.
Having baptized her in His mighty name, God has promised a heavenly inheritance to Emma, as He has to her dear, baptized sister, Annika, and to her parents, and to all God’s Family, all His dear and faithful children.
Let us walk together through the gates of beauty into fellowship with Christ and each other, to abide in His unifying love, and grow in the wisdom of His Word, by the enlightenment of His Spirit…
… to gather in fellowship at His altar, to be strengthened and comforted together by His true body and blood, given and shed for us in great love...
… so that we may love, care for, serve, teach and encourage each other…
… and reach out to others beyond, with the love and salvation of Christ, that they may walk with us in faith on earth, and at last, in risen joy and resurrected glory, to enter eternity through holy gates of splendid beauty, to abide in everlasting love, and to experience amazing blessings and joys.
And finally, may God open to us, the gates of His peace, which exceeds our understanding, and guards our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, who has heard our cries of Hosanna, and has saved us. Hosanna to our Lord forever! Amen.