Let us
pray, Lord Jesus Christ, it is clear from Holy Scripture that the prophets
foretold of Your coming into the world.
You came to fulfill the Law of Moses and kept perfectly the 10
Commandments, because we cannot. Though
we are conceived in sin, through our baptism we are made perfect because of
Your salvific work on the Cross of Calvary.
May we through the Work of the Holy Spirit lay claim to our birth right
through our baptism into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for
all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning. AMEN.
In the
Avengers movie, Captain America is first seen punching a weight bag in a gym
trying to stay in shape. Nick Fury walks
in and Captain Rogers immediately asks, “Do you have another mission?” The response Fury gives is cryptic but exact,
“it isn’t another mission, but an attempt to ‘save’ the world”. Being the soldier he was created to be,
Captain Rogers agrees to help ‘save the world’.
Our
Gospel this morning like the movie Avengers has the main unifying character of
Jesus Christ. But unlike the Marvel
Comics world that Captain Rogers lived in, Jesus Christ was born into this
world for a sole purpose. Jesus Christ
tells us exactly what His role is. Jesus
says, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not
come to abolish but to fulfill.” Jesus
Christ came to save the world for all time all place and all of mankind.
When the
foundations of the world were created by God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Jesus Christ knew what His role would be.
Jesus Christ knew that the Law, the 10 Commandments would be given by
Moses to the Israelite people. Matter of
fact our Films of Faith Series today shows the “Prince of Egypt”. On that mountain where God’s finger on stone
tablets wrote what was also written on the heart on man, God knew that mortal
man would not and could not fulfill the law.
We talk about the 10 Commandments and say they are simple rules, but
truth be told we fallen creatures cannot keep one Commandment, let alone 10
Commandments perfectly.
Our
Gospel this morning tells us what Jesus Christ came in this world to do. Jesus Christ came into this world not to
abolish the Law given to the Old Testament people, but to fulfill each
Commandment in its entirety and perfectly.
Jesus Christ born of a virgin in a stable, smuggled to Egypt for
protection from Herod, returned to Nazareth and grew up in the shadow of the
City of David, did miracles on the beach, on the Sea of Galilee, in the desert
in the towns and for the people, Jesus chose to go to the Cross in order to
fulfill all righteousness and set us free.
Jesus Christ endured the shame, guilt, pain and humiliation of the Cross
in order to set us free from our sins.
Jesus Christ saves the world including you and me.
Jesus
Christ fulfilled each Commandment because He was perfect in every way. The prophets foretold of a coming Messiah
that would save the world and Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all the
prophesies of the Old Testament. Jesus
Christ in fulfillment of the prophets chose death in order to give us
life. Jesus Christ fulfilled the plan of
salvation that had been set in motion from the day Adam and Eve ate of the
forbidden fruit, the giving of the 10 Commandments, the tribes of Israel
fleeing Egypt, the prophets calling the people to return to God from their
idols and false worship, to their receipt of God’s Commands and Jesus entrance
in human form in Bethlehem. God’s divine
plan had been set in motion and found ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ
life, death and resurrection.
We 2000
years later are in a direct line of the fulfillment of the prophesies of old by
our being grafted into the Family of God through our baptism. In and through the waters of Baptism we have
been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the
world. We have been made heirs of
eternal life by Jesus Christ fulfilling all of the Laws of the Old
Testament. We the people of God gathered
together to worship this morning have been redeemed by Jesus Christ innocent
death on Calvary. No longer does sin,
death, the devil, hell or damnation have dominion over us. Jesus Christ sets us free to be the people of
God in Goodland, KS.
The meal we are about
to partake of is yet one more manifestation of how Jesus Christ offers us life
and salvation. When we partake of the
Bread, which is Jesus precious Body and drink of the Wine that is the Blood of
Jesus Christ we receive forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. In, with and through the elements of Bread and
Wine, the Mystical Union of the precious Body and Blood of Jesus Christ offers
us a foretaste of the feast that is to come when we enter eternal life. We have been saved and set free because Jesus
Christ came to fulfill all righteousness, not by abolishing the Law, but by
perfectly fulfilling the Law for all of mankind, including all of us saints
gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.
AMEN.
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