Deuteronomy 10:12-21; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; St Matthew 22:34-46
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
“The Law of God is good and wise and sets His will before our eyes, shows us the way of righteousness, and dooms to death when we transgress” (LSB 579:1). The Pharisees, experts in the Law, ask Jesus a question, Rabbi, which is the great commandment in the Law? Jesus does not chose one among the 613 which they counted. He summarizes them all. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.
These are the pegs upon which all the Law and the Prophets hang. Love God. Love your neighbor. Remove them and the rest fall to the floor, shattered. Firmly in place, though, it is upon these two pegs that the mirror of the Law is hung. Vain though we are, unlike the Evil Queen, we do not ask questions of this mirror. In fact, the Law has some questions for you. Like the socratic pedagogue the Law is meant to be, it asks:
In what or whom do you trust above all else? In what or whom do you trust most for financial security, physical safety, or emotional support? Do you fear God’s wrath, avoiding every sin? Is your love and trust in God evident in your daily living? Do you expect only good from God in every situation, or do you worry, doubt, complain, or feel unfairly treated when things go wrong?
Do you keep all the vows you have made in the Lord’s name, such as confirmation, marriage or legal vows? Are you diligent and sincere in your prayers, or have you been lazy, bored, or distracted?
Do you attend Church but still despise the Word by neglect or by paying little or no attention when it is read or preached? Would you rather be somewhere else?
Have you held in the highest regard God’s gift of sexuality or have you debased it in any way by your thoughts, words, or conduct? Are you guilty of lust, indecency, or the use of pornography? Do you give yourself freely and selflessly to your spouse? Do you dishonor marriage by ridicule or divorce?
Do you gossip, listen to rumors, or take pleasure in talking about the faults and mistakes of anyone? Do you defend others against false accusations? Have you gladly and willingly found ways to explain in the best possible way the words or actions of those who hurt you?
Repent. You are not the fairest in the land, not by far. You’re not as smart and clever as you suppose. God will have no mere part. He permits no small corner to remain closed to Him. He allows no division or subtractions. Love Him with your all. All your heart. All your soul. All your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself. This is the point and purpose of the Law.
Do you feel guilty? It is because you are guilty. You are a poor, miserable sinner, who has sinned against God in thought, word, and deed. You have offended Him. You justly deserved temporal and eternal punishment.
Repentance is needed, beloved. The Law has done its work. It has cut you to the quick. It has exposed your selfish heart and desperate need for a Savior.
But the pedagogue that is the Law also drives you to that self-same Savior, Redeemer, and Messiah (Gal 3:24). The Divine Physician who wields the scalpel of His Law not in masochistic pleasure, but in loving service. He kills and He makes alive. He wounds and He heals. He removes your heart of stone and gives you a heart of flesh.
Who is He? He is David’s Son and David’s Lord. The Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Atoning Sacrifice for your sin, the One Mediator between God and Man, your Brother in the flesh, your Savior from your enemies - from sin, death, and the power of the devil - who lie defeated beneath His feet.
He who gave the Law to Moses on Mt Sinai in order to bring you to repentance, to slay and kill you, comes in order to give you new life and love in Him. Love is the greatest commandment. Love God and love your neighbor. That’s the summary of the Law. But Christ’s Love for you is the sum of the Gospel! The Law and the Prophets depend on love. But the Gospel is crucified on love. YHWH in the flesh, David’s Son and David’s Lord, Love Incarnate, Jesus the Christ, is crucified, in love, for you.
To forgive your sins against the First Commandment, He lives in perfect faith and love toward God His Father, fearing, loving, and trusting in Him above all things. In order to forgive your sins against the Second and Third Commandments, He kept His vow and fulfilled His Word. In order to bestow forgiveness for your sins against the Sixth Commandment, He loved His Bride, the Church, and gave Himself up for her, sanctifying her, cleansing her by the washing of water with the Word, presenting her to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish (Eph 5:26-27).
This is the point of all of Holy Scripture - the Law, the Prophets, Psalms, Gospels and Epistles - that this Word of God’s Law and Gospel would be preached to you, that you may know the answer to this question: What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?
He is the great and final Prophet who has fulfilled the Law perfectly in your place. He suffered, died, was buried, and rose for you! Even now, by His Holy Spirit, through His preached Word, He is proclaimed to be the Son of God, your Savior and Messiah. As you just sang and prayed, “I thank Thee, Jesus, Sun from heaven, Whose radiance hath brought light to me; I thank Thee, who hast richly given All that could make me glad and free; I thank Thee that my soul is healed By what Thy lips revealed” (LSB 694:3).
Love Him, your Strength and Tower, in the grace and faith the Lord provides according to His Word and will. For He is your Love, your Hope, your Joy. Your Life, your best and truest Friend, your Light Divine and Crown of gladness.
He has gathered you together, His Church, sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints who call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, receiving grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In every way you are enriched in Him in all speech and all knowledge, not lacking in any gift.
You, therefore are to be holy, as the Lord your God and Father is holy. You are to be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect. As He has redeemed you, taken you to be His own, and adopted you as His child and heir, so you are to live according to His Word, with faith and love toward Him, and with love for your neighbor. He executes justice for the fatherless and widow. He loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. You are to love the sojourner, therefore. You are to love what He loves and to hate what He hates.
Being kept guiltless in our Lord Jesus Christ, you seek to obey the Law. Not out of compulsion, but because you are new creations in Christ Jesus, washed and reborn from the natal waters of Holy Baptism. Fully forgiven by God in Christ Jesus you seek obedience to the Law as a new freedom under grace, not out of fear in the heart-piercing mirror.
God is faithful. He called you into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. He gives you a new heart that begins to glow in the love of God and neighbor. As our Lord Christ catechize you, The one who has been forgiven much also loves much (Lk 7:47). However imperfectly you begin, by grace through faith, to fear and love God, to pray, to expect aid from Him, to give Him thanks and praise. These are the first fruits of the harvest of eternal life.
Behold, here is the Fruit of the Tree of the Cross, the Fruit of Love, the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, for the strengthening of faith toward God and the increase of fervent love toward one another. You have come up to the House of the Lord in gladness; come, then, receive in joy and peace, forgiveness and love from the bounty the Lord provides. Oh taste and see that the Lord is good! None who take refuge in Him will be condemned.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
“The Law of God is good and wise and sets His will before our eyes, shows us the way of righteousness, and dooms to death when we transgress” (LSB 579:1). The Pharisees, experts in the Law, ask Jesus a question, Rabbi, which is the great commandment in the Law? Jesus does not chose one among the 613 which they counted. He summarizes them all. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.
These are the pegs upon which all the Law and the Prophets hang. Love God. Love your neighbor. Remove them and the rest fall to the floor, shattered. Firmly in place, though, it is upon these two pegs that the mirror of the Law is hung. Vain though we are, unlike the Evil Queen, we do not ask questions of this mirror. In fact, the Law has some questions for you. Like the socratic pedagogue the Law is meant to be, it asks:
In what or whom do you trust above all else? In what or whom do you trust most for financial security, physical safety, or emotional support? Do you fear God’s wrath, avoiding every sin? Is your love and trust in God evident in your daily living? Do you expect only good from God in every situation, or do you worry, doubt, complain, or feel unfairly treated when things go wrong?
Do you keep all the vows you have made in the Lord’s name, such as confirmation, marriage or legal vows? Are you diligent and sincere in your prayers, or have you been lazy, bored, or distracted?
Do you attend Church but still despise the Word by neglect or by paying little or no attention when it is read or preached? Would you rather be somewhere else?
Have you held in the highest regard God’s gift of sexuality or have you debased it in any way by your thoughts, words, or conduct? Are you guilty of lust, indecency, or the use of pornography? Do you give yourself freely and selflessly to your spouse? Do you dishonor marriage by ridicule or divorce?
Do you gossip, listen to rumors, or take pleasure in talking about the faults and mistakes of anyone? Do you defend others against false accusations? Have you gladly and willingly found ways to explain in the best possible way the words or actions of those who hurt you?
Repent. You are not the fairest in the land, not by far. You’re not as smart and clever as you suppose. God will have no mere part. He permits no small corner to remain closed to Him. He allows no division or subtractions. Love Him with your all. All your heart. All your soul. All your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself. This is the point and purpose of the Law.
Do you feel guilty? It is because you are guilty. You are a poor, miserable sinner, who has sinned against God in thought, word, and deed. You have offended Him. You justly deserved temporal and eternal punishment.
Repentance is needed, beloved. The Law has done its work. It has cut you to the quick. It has exposed your selfish heart and desperate need for a Savior.
But the pedagogue that is the Law also drives you to that self-same Savior, Redeemer, and Messiah (Gal 3:24). The Divine Physician who wields the scalpel of His Law not in masochistic pleasure, but in loving service. He kills and He makes alive. He wounds and He heals. He removes your heart of stone and gives you a heart of flesh.
Who is He? He is David’s Son and David’s Lord. The Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Atoning Sacrifice for your sin, the One Mediator between God and Man, your Brother in the flesh, your Savior from your enemies - from sin, death, and the power of the devil - who lie defeated beneath His feet.
He who gave the Law to Moses on Mt Sinai in order to bring you to repentance, to slay and kill you, comes in order to give you new life and love in Him. Love is the greatest commandment. Love God and love your neighbor. That’s the summary of the Law. But Christ’s Love for you is the sum of the Gospel! The Law and the Prophets depend on love. But the Gospel is crucified on love. YHWH in the flesh, David’s Son and David’s Lord, Love Incarnate, Jesus the Christ, is crucified, in love, for you.
To forgive your sins against the First Commandment, He lives in perfect faith and love toward God His Father, fearing, loving, and trusting in Him above all things. In order to forgive your sins against the Second and Third Commandments, He kept His vow and fulfilled His Word. In order to bestow forgiveness for your sins against the Sixth Commandment, He loved His Bride, the Church, and gave Himself up for her, sanctifying her, cleansing her by the washing of water with the Word, presenting her to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish (Eph 5:26-27).
This is the point of all of Holy Scripture - the Law, the Prophets, Psalms, Gospels and Epistles - that this Word of God’s Law and Gospel would be preached to you, that you may know the answer to this question: What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?
He is the great and final Prophet who has fulfilled the Law perfectly in your place. He suffered, died, was buried, and rose for you! Even now, by His Holy Spirit, through His preached Word, He is proclaimed to be the Son of God, your Savior and Messiah. As you just sang and prayed, “I thank Thee, Jesus, Sun from heaven, Whose radiance hath brought light to me; I thank Thee, who hast richly given All that could make me glad and free; I thank Thee that my soul is healed By what Thy lips revealed” (LSB 694:3).
Love Him, your Strength and Tower, in the grace and faith the Lord provides according to His Word and will. For He is your Love, your Hope, your Joy. Your Life, your best and truest Friend, your Light Divine and Crown of gladness.
He has gathered you together, His Church, sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints who call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, receiving grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In every way you are enriched in Him in all speech and all knowledge, not lacking in any gift.
You, therefore are to be holy, as the Lord your God and Father is holy. You are to be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect. As He has redeemed you, taken you to be His own, and adopted you as His child and heir, so you are to live according to His Word, with faith and love toward Him, and with love for your neighbor. He executes justice for the fatherless and widow. He loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. You are to love the sojourner, therefore. You are to love what He loves and to hate what He hates.
Being kept guiltless in our Lord Jesus Christ, you seek to obey the Law. Not out of compulsion, but because you are new creations in Christ Jesus, washed and reborn from the natal waters of Holy Baptism. Fully forgiven by God in Christ Jesus you seek obedience to the Law as a new freedom under grace, not out of fear in the heart-piercing mirror.
God is faithful. He called you into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. He gives you a new heart that begins to glow in the love of God and neighbor. As our Lord Christ catechize you, The one who has been forgiven much also loves much (Lk 7:47). However imperfectly you begin, by grace through faith, to fear and love God, to pray, to expect aid from Him, to give Him thanks and praise. These are the first fruits of the harvest of eternal life.
Behold, here is the Fruit of the Tree of the Cross, the Fruit of Love, the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, for the strengthening of faith toward God and the increase of fervent love toward one another. You have come up to the House of the Lord in gladness; come, then, receive in joy and peace, forgiveness and love from the bounty the Lord provides. Oh taste and see that the Lord is good! None who take refuge in Him will be condemned.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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