October 8, 2023 - Trinity 18 Sermon

Introit: Ps. 122:1, 6, 8-9; antiphon: Eccl. 36:16-17a
Gradual: Ps. 122:1, 7
Old Testament: Deut. 10:12-21
Psalm 34:8-22 (antiphon: v. 19)
Epistle: 1 Cor. 1:(1-3) 4-9
ProperVerse: Ps. 117:1
Gospel: Matt. 22:34-46

In Life and Death, Christ Fulfills the Law of God
The Pharisees ask a Law question. Jesus asks a Gospel question. The Pharisees seek to test Jesus in His own words. Jesus seeks to "test" them in the saving reality of who He is as the Messiah (Matt. 22:34-46). The Law requires you to "fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul" and to "love the sojouner" (Deut. 10:12-21). Failure to keep the Law perfectly brings judgment. On the other hand, the Gospel brings the grace of God given by Jesus Christ, that you may be blameless in the day of His return (1 Cor. 1:1-9). Jesus is David's Son yet David's Lord, true God and true man. He is Love incarnate who fulfilled all the demands of God's Law on our behalf, that we might be saved from the Law's condemnation and sanctified in the Gospel's forgiveness. Thereby we see that "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Cor. 1:9).