- Psalmody: Ecclesiasticus 36:16–17a; Psalm 122:1; Psalm 122:1, 7; Psalm 116:1a; Exodus 24:4–5; Psalm 96:8b–9a
- Lection: Deuteronomy 10:12–21; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; Matthew 22:34–46
In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
At that time: The Pharisees gathered together and came to Jesus. Apparently, not all coming to Jesus moments are good ones, for the Lord desires mercy and not sacrifice, meaning that not even the majestic grace poured out in His holy, precious blood from the altar is always good, at least not for the receiver. We do not believe in ex opere operato, a phrase meaning that simply by us doing the act is the benefit to us from the act given. There is no gift in the act of receiving the Lord’s Supper apart from faith in these words, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” There are sins needing to be forgiven and whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: forgiveness of sins. Whoever does not believe these words and the need for them, whoever does not come by faith, no matter how much eating and drinking is done, does not have forgiveness, but rather judgement. It is good to come to Jesus, on His terms, according to His words, according to His Law.
As we come to Jesus today, let us examine our hearts to see how we approach Him, His precious Gospel, and His holy Law. All three are meant for our benefit, yet only deliver in accordance with His will. One of the Pharisees who came to Jesus, a lawyer, similar to a lawyer of our day, but instead of being astute in secular mandates his expertise was supposed to be in what God says, what He means, in His divine Law, this lawyer asked Jesus a question, testing Him. He was putting God to the test, deciding for himself what was to be done with the Law. St. Matthew reveals how the heart of this man wasn’t sitting aright in regard to the Law, for he neither understood why it was truly given to man nor that the One Who gave it was Him to Whom he had come.
Indeed, we need to see the fullness of the Law and the Prophets, all of which hang on these two commandments: You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind and You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Let us first refresh the heart, soul, and mind with the truth that the Law of God is always good and intended for good use among us, as is the Lord’s Supper. We understand there to be three uses and by them we are to see that the Law is to be to us neither self-righteous burden nor lofty, unkeepable task that may be flippantly broken so that grace may abound. Falling off either side of the horse is not good for the Christian soul, so we shall examine the Law, ourselves, and the Christ Who gives it.
From the mouth of the Lord we are given the great commandment and the second that is like it. They are so intertwined that He says, “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” There is no having one without the other. The Formula of Concord thus explains, “The Law was given to people for three reasons: (1) that by the Law outward discipline might be maintained against wild, disobedient people (that’s all of us); (2) that people may be led to the knowledge of their sins by the Law; and (3) that after they are regenerate and ‹much of› the flesh still cleaves to them, they might on this account have a fixed rule according to which they are to regulate and direct their whole life.
So, to elaborate on its good reasons, its good uses, the first use of loving God and loving neighbor in this world is that the Law works as a curb against sin. It works to keep people from sinning, for this is good and all-out necessary for basic life. Picture in your mind what this world would be like without laws. Not all earthly laws follow God’s, of course, only the good ones, like you shall not murder, you shall not steal, and at one point our laws made it illegal to commit adultery; maybe we should put that one back on the books! Even cultures steeped in deep, pagan unbelief show signs of divine Law written upon the heart, upholding marriage, condemning stealing, murder, and the like. But due to man’s corruption, if the sinful heart is left unbridled with no law, everything would crash and burn and the evil we currently do to one another would be immeasurably and unbearably more. We wouldn’t need worry about AI bringing about human extinction, because we would chaotically take care of that ourselves. Thus, the first use of curbing sin in the world, even among unbelievers, is good; good for them and good for us.
The second use, also rightly considered the primary use, is that the Law acts as a mirror. It puts God’s perfect love before our face and shows us how imperfect is ours; imperfect love of God; imperfect love of neighbor. This use leads us to knowledge of our sins, yet, this is good. Yes, it is good to become aware of what ails us in soul so that proper remedy may be sought. It is also necessary, for the wages of sin is death. Sin was in the world from the Garden, yet the Law wasn’t written until Moses. It was given to tell us that our dirty, little secrets aren’t really secret and are dirtier than we think. By this use, we number our transgressions, and if we’re bold enough to take a daily count, we know there to be far more than 10. This doesn’t make the Law bad or evil, but serves as the pure reflection by which we may see that we are the ones suffering from those wretched conditions.
The third use is the Christian use, for it takes the Law for what it is meant to be in the new life in Christ and sets it as the rule by which we know how we may please God, Whom we love. That is different than earning His love or salvation. The Law can earn neither of those things for us, but rather shows us, instructs us, leads us to know and understand what good, godly works are; works that the Children of God delight in, because we know that our Father in heaven delights in them. In this way, just like in the other two uses, the Law is rightfully preached to and kept by Christians.
Hence, the good, the great commandments and Law of God given for our benefit. With this in mind, we thus consider again two temptations, two dangers that we face when examining how we treat the Law; two temptations comparable to falling off either side of a horse. Obviously, we desire to remain in the beauty of balance staying well in saddle as we travel through this Christian life, and Jesus faithfully leads the way in teaching us how, and it’s an easy burden, for His yoke is light.
The lawyer fell into the first temptation, of seeing the Law as the means by which he justified himself before the face of Almighty God. He valued the Law, believed it, desired it, all good intentions, yet he treated it as a means, the very necessary burden, by which He merited favor, life, and salvation from God. He heaved it upon his own head in a way for which it wasn’t intended. As we can see by the three uses, earning salvation is not the Law’s goal. It is impossible to gain anything from God by it. It cannot save sinners. Its primary use is that it shows us our own dreadful condition and the need, the opportunity for a Savior to enter in.
The other side of the horse from the lawyer and the means to which he held that could only lead ultimately to self-righteous pride or soul-crushing despair, is one that denies that the Law is for Christians, too, that only the uptight fundies get really serious about God’s good Word. It sinfully abuses Christ, taking advantage of His grace and mercy for the sake of fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, claiming Christian freedom, because if He’s the infinite sin-forgiver, then why must I be concerned about my pleasure in feeding the flesh or in running up the tab, an approach which disregards the desires and pleasures of the very Holy One Who has given to us the treasures of heaven in His Gospel as well as in His Law.
Regardless of to which side you are prone, Jesus again gives good answer, or rather, the good question. After confirming the Law as good to be loved, He asks a not-so-disconnected-as-it-seems, “What do you think about the Christ?” And there, we have His wisdom of how to stay on the horse. “What do you think about the Christ?” All the Law and the Prophets hang on those two commandments, indeed, yet what does the risen Christ say further about those same things? After walking awhile unrecognized by the disciples on the road to Emmaus, beginning at Moses (the Law) and all the Prophets, Jesus expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Even the Law is about Jesus, because He didn’t come to abolish it, to do away with it as if it is no longer holy and doesn’t matter, nor did He come to exercise merciless judgement on those who fail to keep it perfectly. He came to fulfill it, to do it all, to do what was expected of us. He came to save His people from our sin. He came to embody love of God perfectly with whole heart, soul, and mind, and neighbor, you, as Himself. And He did it.
Yet, we Christians often get frustrated with the Law, and our failure of it, many a time sinning repeatedly in the exact same way. And if we hold it over ourselves as the means by which God’s love is to be gained, then no wonder our frustration drives us nearer to despair, for we do not see Christ in the Law. The perfection standard against which we fail cuts deep. But that is because we are getting the order of love out of sequence. We love, which is the keeping of the Law, because He first loved us. He did it perfectly, never reviling when reviled, never dishonoring father or mother, never failing to fear, love, and trust in God above all things. He reached the high bar of perfection, and He did it in humble flesh. And this is good news is because His righteousness, kept pure, kept holy, kept intact throughout His whole life and death, is given to you by grace. That is what you are to think about the Christ: Victim righteous, Victim pure, Victim holy, Who removes the guilt of sin while instilling true love for the perfect Law. The full demand of the Law is fulfilled in Christ, the Son of David, the Son of God, taking away the empty, merit-striving burden of the Law so that it can be a joy in the goodness that God has made it, for it is His great commandment, hung upon Him Who kept it perfectly, upon Him Who hung upon the tree. Go in His peace and joy, for He has fulfilled all things.
In ✠ Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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