For the Lord Has Spoken [Palm Sunday]

Jerusalem falls, and King Zedekiah is carried away captive to Babylon. He suffers the humiliation of having both his eyes put out. Though king and people quarrel among themselves like drunken men, God does not restrain them, and he declares that he will have no pity on them.

This is not God casting them off in a fit of anger. Judgment came because they would not turn back, though he had given them countless opportunities to repent. Those who do not fear God do not fear sin, and those who do not fear sin come to despise his word. The belt of authority given to kings and priests is used for their own glory. When it is, that belt is thrown away like a ruined one.

God’s people, too, are divided by obedience and disobedience, and will receive either reward or judgment. Yet Jesus Christ, who conquered death through the cross, will come again like a thief. Those who hold fast to their faith as the Word teaches will welcome his return.