Jesus rode into Jerusalem, seated on a donkey. He was coming as the King, bringing peace and hope, not war and terror. Jerusalem was built on a hill, like a castle city. It was a place of safety in time of war. And in times of peace it was a place of worship and praise. Today�fs Old Testament Lesson from Isaiah Chapter Two foretells a time of peace in Jerusalem. There is peace because the Lord God has made peace. The Lord God will judge between nations and settle disputes without war; rather than going to war, nations will go to the Lord in Jerusalem to hear his law and to hear his word. It is the Word of the Lord that will make peace.

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Isaiah is written both to us and to the people of his time. The nation of Israel was sinful; people had turned their backs on the Lord God (1:4). People knew about war and the preparations for war. Pruning hooks and plowshares had been beaten into swords and spears. Agricultural tools for feeding people and sustaining life had been made into weapons to kill life. Peaceful things had been made into things of war. In other ages, church bells have been melted down to make cannon. In our age, agricultural fertilizer can be used to make bombs. The good gifts of God are changed into means of evil.

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Then Jesus comes riding into Jerusalem. He has come to show the way to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah. Through Jesus Christ the Word of the Lord will be the way to settle the problems of the world. The Word of the Bible will reveal and judge the hatred and evil of this world. But the Word of forgiveness through Jesus Christ will be the way to bring peace and love into the world.

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And so Jesus comes riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. It is at Jerusalem that Jesus will die and rise again. It is from Jerusalem that the eternal Gospel of peace will be proclaimed by the apostles. Isaiah said that Jerusalem will become the �ghighest mountain.�h And so it is, not because of its altitude, but because of its importance. It is because it is from Jerusalem that peace and love and forgiveness through Jesus Christ goes out into the world.

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This is the promise of paradise. It is also the way of life now for Christians. We work for peace, for world peace and peace within our families ? and even peace within our hearts. Isaiah shows us the way to do that. Jesus made it possible. And Jesus gives us hope that the day will come when the words of Isaiah will be the fulfilled. �gThey will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.�h The cannons will be melted down to make church bells. War chemicals will be used to feed the world and heal the sick. And people will say to each other, �gCome, let us walk in the light of the Lord.�h

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This is what Advent is all about. It is to show us a new way to live. It is to show us that the Baby of Bethlehem will be a great king. Not so great in worldly power and riches and glory, but great in bringing what the world really, really needs. The world needs the Word of the Lord to be taught how to have hope and peace and love. In Jesus Christ we find this. And so we join the Palm Sunday Chorus. �gHosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!�h

Amen.