“ON CHRIST HANGS
THE SINS OF THE TWO TABLES”
Saint Matthew
22. 34-46
18th Sunday after Trinity: 19 October Anno
+ Domini 2014
Fr Jay Watson
SSP
In The + Name of
Jesus
Jesus had silenced the empty ritualistic Sadducees.
He needs to daily silence the pompous obsessive/compulsive sinner in you as
well. Rubrics in church or in your
private life—how you “do things the way
you do them” have value and worth to God ONLY if they serve His Gospel—His
beloved Son and His mission.
Jesus was about to silence the Pharisees and
the Scribes…one particular scribe (Lawyer) who was an expert in Torah—the Law.
He needs to daily silence the hypocrite in
you as well. The Law was NEVER meant to make you feel good about yourself (not
even over against the other guy that you think isn’t keeping it as good as you).
The 10 Commandments, or the Law as reduced and summarized as Christ does to two
great commands—One for each tablet, are meant to do one thing—KILL you!
The two parts to Saint Matthews Gospel (vv.
34-40 & vv. 41-46) fit together, subsist one in the other in perfect union
as Christs two natures of Divine and Human subsist perfectly in the personal
union in One Christ Jesus—the God/Man!
The first section is the “What” and the second part is the “Who.”
These two components are the two hands that
lift you out of hell. They are Jesus’ pierced and scarred hands—the hands of Whom….?
Well, that’s the second part of our
pericope.
Who was it that stood in front of the group
of Pharisees that day? Who do you
worship and call your Savior? Who is it that you confess in the Creed and that
you confess when you come forward to the Altar to receive The Sacrament? And what do you receive when you receive The
Sacrament?
Putting the best construction on the Pharisees…even
the serious minded ones who were looking for Messias (Nicodemus and Joseph of
Arimathea)…they still completely misidentified Jesus. They thought the Nazarene at best was a smart,
clever and facile teacher Who was popular because of His zeal and healing
skills. The Galilean at worst was a troublesome con-man stirring up anti-Roman
and anti-Sanhedrin opinion. And, maybe
He was actually an evil sorcerer in league with the devil. Whatever this rabbi
was He certainly was no Moses. Ah, there’s the rub! Moses was not God. Moses doesn’t save or
bring life. The Law saves no one. If
Jesus was only a super-sized version of Moses; a better resurrecting prophet
than Elias; a stronger warrior than Samson and a greater King than David and
Solomon, then we are all dead in our trespasses waiting pain, death, rotting,
and hellfire for eternity. “Who do men
say that I Am” He once asked the “12.”
Peter answered correctly “the Christ the
Son of the Living God.” But to unpack Peter’s Christological confession for
hard hearted Pharisees and even harder hearted Americans, pagans, heretics,
Jews, Unitarians, and Muslims…Jesus IS GOD. Jesus
is Who you confessed Him to be in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed a few minutes
ago. Jesus is Who He says He is “‘The
Son of David’…David in spirit call[ed]
Him Lord, saying ‘The LORD said unto my Lord, sit Thou on My right hand, till I
make Thine enemies Thy footstool.’” This
is pure Trinity talk—period. Failing to see this and to confess this puts one
outside of The Faith and outside of Christ Jesus. As The Son of God IS GOD and sits on the
right hand of The Father; so too He speaks, writes, and is given through the
Holy Ghost who first “spake by the
prophets” (including King David) and speaks by His Word and Sacraments to
His New Testament Church.
The “Who”
of God takes care of the “what.” To
rescue sinners from the prison house of Satan means the Law must be
obeyed…perfectly, and that the penalty for you NOT obeying the Law must be
paid. There must be first an active obedience of keeping the Two Great Commands
and then a blood sacrifice—a dead innocent Lamb in your place!
If God as God…omniscient, omnipresent, and
omnipotent, was to keep Adam’s burden, your responsibilities…so what? Of course God as God can obey His own will. If that were the case the cross becomes an
empty ornamental rabbit’s foot. And, if you try and nail God as God up on the
wood—God as God can’t suffer and die. No, Jesus has to be both God and
Man. He is God; a Person of the Triune
Godhead as David, the Holy Spirit, testifies in Hebrew Scripture and as Christ
speaks to the Pharisees. He is Man, born
of the Virgin, as was seen in His 33 year visible ministry. He was a baby; He
grew; He needed to suck milk from His mother and be protected by Saint Joseph;
He became tired, hungry, cold, and wet; and He wept when His friends died and
felt hurt when His flock rejected Him. He
had the flesh and blood from His mother which is the same flesh and blood you,
and all Adam’s offspring have…have ever had. Jesus is the Perfect Man and Perfect God; the
Second Adam and the Son of David—Son of The Father.
Repent of not knowing Who your God is at all
times. Repent of treating Him as only an ethereal, distant, cosmic “big man in the sky” Who has no imminent
presence in your life. Repent also of
treating Him as only a buddy, pal, and accepting enabler, Who is more
life-coach and drill sergeant than Creator. Your sanctified life IN HIM
reflects by worship, laud, and honor God of God. Thus your actions and gestures
and curbed tongue testify your hearts confession. Your sanctified life IN HIM
also reflects belief in His words to you about His love and care for you, that
He is true Man born of the Virgin Mary; with His tender shepherding of you by
His actual and real presence. Repent of ever thinking He is sleeping, uncaring,
or not with you every painful step of the way.
Repent of thinking you can chose which Laws
to obey, when to obey them and how to split them into partial obedience relying
presumptuously on guaranteed forgiveness as if it’s a license to sin with
abandon. All Gods commands are one there
is no dividing His will or Word. The God/Man, He Who is a Person of the
Trinity, The One with two-natures compresses the Decalogue into the two great
commands: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all they mind.” “Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
These you must do if you wish to live.
These you must obey if you wish to be saved by your obedience. These twin towers come crashing down upon you
like a double punch of gravestones.
On these two commandments hang all the law
and the prophets. On the two-natured One God/Man all of Gods will as preached
by Moses and Elijah, the two that stood by Him on Mount Transfiguration, were
hung on Mary’s Son and the Father’s only-begotten. Those two Laws, as giant iron spikes, were
driven into Jesus’ precious Body to break your shackles and to tear the gates
of hell off the tomb(s).
Where was God when you lost….?
Where was God when you cried and felt so
empty you couldn’t go on…?
Where was God when you felt alone and lost
on a friendless voyage…?
He was hanging, bleeding, and dying…each
lung of the innocent lamb, crushed by those two tables…cleansing you and
purifying you by His suffering and His blood, His perfect death. On these two commandments hang all the law and
the prophets. Jesus is the Law fulfilled
and the prophecies culminated. Jesus is the Prophet of the Godhead speaking the
Trinity into you now and forever.
Jesus says to you now: “come up to the rail and sit thou on My right hand. Let me feed you My Body and Blood and make all
your enemies your footstool.” At
Calvary the Law of Moses and the Prophets hung deep into His Flesh. But this day He embraces you as His dear lambs
close to that same Vivified and Eternal Flesh.
In The Name of
The Father and of The + Son and of The Holy Ghost.
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