In the Name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Do not think that Christ came to destroy the Law. He came to
fulfill it. Truly, I say to you, until Christ returns, not one tiny facet shall
pass away from the Law. Until that time, whoever breaks even the least aspect of
the Law shall be guilty of the whole Law. It is therefore necessary that your
righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees for you to
attain salvation.[1]
No matter who you are or what you have done; no matter how
much money you’ve given to international missions or how many orphans you’ve
fed; your moral purity and perfection cannot exceed the Scribes and Pharisees.
Your right conduct cannot attain heaven. No amount of training in ethics or
morality can keep the Law, let alone fulfill it.
Thanks be to God that this is the purpose of the
Incarnation. Christ became man to fulfill the Law because you sinners can’t do
it. Before your day of birth, even from your conception, you and all the earth
stand condemned and lost. Not only are you turned away from God, but you
constantly deny Him.[2]
Jesus took on your flesh and bore your sins upon His perfect
shoulders to fulfill the Law. He who knew no sin became sin on your behalf.[3]
He perfectly obeyed the law, every jot and tittle, yet submitted Himself to the
death of the worst sinner. By this, your sins are forgiven. The Law is
fulfilled in His sacrifice because without the shedding of blood, there is no
forgiveness.[4]
His death for your life. This is the fulfilling of the Law.
And yet there is a time between the fulfilling of the Law
and the passing away of the heavens and the earth. At the Incarnation, Christ
did not come to judge the earth, but to fulfill the Law. There will come a time
when Christ will return in judgment. In those days, the heavens and the earth
will pass away. So too will the need for the Law to reveal our sin. Our
baptisms will be made whole on that day because with the heaven and earth, the
sinful nature which still clings to us will be finally destroyed.
But until then, we must do battle against this sinful
nature. You who have been washed in the Blood of Jesus at your baptism, must
fight against the urges of the sinful man within you. This is the teaching of
Christ our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount. He speaks not of moral perfection.
That is the teaching of the Pharisees. When He calls you to a righteousness
greater than the morally pure Pharisees, He is calling you to His own
righteousness. He is calling you to the righteousness found in no other name
under heaven.
This righteousness of Christ is yours in the waters of Holy
Baptism. Because it is yours, it also necessarily affects you. You cannot wash
your hands and claim there is no difference afterward. Something has changed.
In this case, you have become the dwelling of the Holy Ghost. You are now a
holy one of God, a saint, a true child of your Heavenly Father. Christ dwells
in you and you are a new creation.
What does this mean when it comes to temptation? The
Pharisees would say that it means you must outwardly obey the Law. “Thou shalt
not kill” means you shall not take the life of another person. The Pharisees
teach in the line of Cain.
Christ, however, teaches in the line of Abel. “Thou shalt
not kill” means you “should fear and love God that [you] may not hurt nor harm
[your] neighbor in his body, but help and befriend him in every bodily need.”[5]
Even if you hate your brother in your heart, you’ve already killed him. When
Cain’s sacrifice was rejected by God, the Lord came to Him and said, “Why are
you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be
accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is
for you, but you should rule over it.”[6]
Cain had already killed Abel in his heart, but the Lord is
calling him to repent. This sin, if left unchecked, will boil up from Cain’s
heart into his hands. If it gets that far, Satan is waiting to receive Cain
into the fire of hell.
So it is with you. Are you angry with your brother, wife,
mother, or neighbor? If so, you’ve killed him in your heart. Satan is sitting
at your door, ready to welcome you into the fires of hell. Do not give him the
advantage. Quench the fire of sin in your heart by being reconciled to your
brother, wife, mother, or neighbor. Repent of your sin before God and your
neighbor so that Satan would not have another companion in his torment. This is
what Christ is calling you to do.
What does it mean to be reconciled? It means to repent of
your sins to your neighbor. It means to restore something that you have broken.
If you have hurt or harmed your neighbor in his body, reconciliation might look
like not only repenting but mowing his lawn until his ankle is healed. Maybe it
looks like picking up the medical bill or paying to have his fender fixed.
Reconciliation does not mean pretending that nothing has
happened. If your sister has something against you, repent and offer to help.
If she refuses your apology or refuses to accept your help, there is nothing
you can do. You are not bound by another’s actions. You are bound by your own. A
bridge cannot be built from one shore. Christ is teaching you today concerning
your own sins and how to be reconciled when you are legitimately the one at
fault.[7]
No one is above these sins against our neighbor. Take time to examine your
conscience and see where you have broken even the least of these commands. I’m certain
you will find something because the Law will always accuse your conscience,
even as it instructs you how to love and trust in God and keep His commands.
Jesus has died in your place to fulfill the Law. He is calling us this day not to fulfill the Law ourselves; nor even to ‘do our part after He’s done His part.’ He is calling us to believe what He has done for us and to show forth the fruits of salvation so that we do not join Cain, Saul, Ahab, Judas, and Simon in eternity.
Give thanks to God! Your baptism revives your soul and makes
you whole. So use it well, because you are a new creation in Christ! Live out
your vocation in faith, being reconciled to those around you. Then shall come
the day when Christ will place the glorious robe of righteousness, which you
have possessed since the day of your baptism, upon your shoulders forever.[8]
In + Jesus’
name. Amen.
[1]
This paragraph is a summary of St. Matthew 5:17-20.
[2]
The preceding two sentences are a summary of stanza 2 of All Christians Who
Have Been Baptized, by Paul Gerhardt, as found in Lutheran Service Book
(St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2006), hymn 596.
[3]
2 Corinthians 5:21.
[4]
Hebrews 9:22.
[5]
Small Catechism, 5th Commandment.
[6]
Genesis 4:6-7.
[7]
For instruction on reconciliation when you have been sinned against, see St.
Matthew 6:8-15; 18:15-20.
[8]
All Christians Who Have Been Baptized, stanzas 5-6.
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