Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see. For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them ; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
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Last week, on Trinity XII, we saw how the Old covenant was a type or shadow of the new Covenant, as how the sun, when it crests the horizon in the morning, brings great clarity and light to a world of shadows. The Law, the Torah, was not sin or death itself but a gift from God to His people who then refused to live it out in the correct way. As Paul pointed out last week, Torah was glorious, so glorious in fact that people could not even look upon his face when he brought the stone tablets down from Sinai. But if that was glorious, the fulfillment of the Covenant through the Messiah, through Jesus Christ is now even more glorious. This is important for us to realize as Christians because we do not see the Old and New Testaments as two separate books or that the God of the OT is different from the God of the NT, but rather that we are part of one story of redemption that God has wrought throughout all of history, slowly but surely, working alongside the free will of men who cooperate with Him in order to bring his Kingdom into the world.
This week, we see Paul making the same point in Galatians 3, connecting the promises we have in Christ to the same promise made to Abraham.
“TO Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, That the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the Law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the Law, it is no more of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. “
The promise that God gave to Abraham is threefold, and you can find it in Genesis 12 where God promises Abraham land, seed (that is, descendants), and blessing. What Paul is showing in Galatians is that that Covenant was never disannulled–God never went back on his Word, for in fact he sent His Word to fulfill the covenant perfectly, and now through baptism all may be united in Christ and receive the promises of God. Again, though, Paul looks back and wants to explain, though, why the Law was instituted in the first place! He goes on and asks:
Wherefore then serveth the Law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
This is what we saw last week as well: the Law addressed sin, it named sin and named death as its consequence. From the time of Moses, then, to the Messiah, the role of Torah was like a compass, showing where they went amiss (like our idea of conscience) and to point them towards a life in the Spirit. It was always, though, meant to be fulfilled. The fullness of life, then, which the Torah promised, came through the Messiah, the seed, Jesus Christ. The Law was ordained by angels to Moses and then delivered to Israel, but a human mediator, even Moses, is not perfect–there needed to be a divine mediator, but one who also could fulfill the human demands of the Law, and that was Jesus Christ. So Paul concludes:
Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the Law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the Law. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Now the perfect faith of Jesus Christ is given to all who are joined into union with him. This is what Jesus is referring to in the Gospel when he states: “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see. For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them ; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.” Now humanity has perfect union with God through Him who united humanity with divinity. Truly, the eyes and ears of Jesus’ disciples were blessed. Just think of the blessed opportunity of the disciples, who asked questions of Jesus, and He tells them the Way of the Lord, He shows them the Light of God for He is it!
In the Gospel, we see Jesus’ interaction with a young lawyer which helps us understand what we mean by saying that Jesus is the fulfillment of Torah or as the perfect mediator.
And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the Law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
Notice that Jesus does not answer the questions about eternal life by telling this young lawyer to run away from the Law. No! In fact, he turns him right to the Law and the lawyer responds with a summary that is found in many first century Jewish texts and was also said by Christ Himself. Torah did bring life. But the Lawyer pushes more because the common interpretation of Torah, one that was purely legalistic, said that ones neighbor was anyone who was a Jew. That was the contemporary rabbanic teaching of the Summary of the Law!
So Jesus now tells a parable that not only opens up the true meaning of Torah, but also shows how it is only through Jesus that Torah can truly bring life to the world.
A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
The certain man is taken to be Adam, who fell into the hands of the devils, and was stripped naked of his innocence and immortality. He lies in a ditch wounded and half dead. Indeed, Adam was wounded by the fall, and he is defiled by these wounds, though not completely dead. Then Jesus notes that both a priest and a Levite, coming also from Jerusalem, see the dead man lying on the side of the road and pass him by. The priest and the Levite, cannot help the wounded man, just as the Law cannot bring full life to fallen Adam. As the author of Hebrews says:
It was impossible that by the blood of calves and lambs or by the blood of goats, sin should be taken away (Heb. x. 4).
But then the Samaritan comes as a Type of Christ. This must have shocked the young lawyer, because Samaritans were hated by the Jews, and yet he is being used in the parable as the messianic figure. And it is true! Jesus Christ is the true neighbor, as the Paul says in his letter to the Philippians:
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men (2:7).”
As the Samaritan, he lowers himself to help the man in the ditch. He has mercy on those in need. First, he binds and heals the wounds of Adam, helping humanity recover from the Fall, and takes us to a place of rest, the Inn. The Inn stands for the Church, where we are healed during the journey of this life. There, the man can recover and heal. Christ gives the innkeeper two denarii, taken to be the Two Testaments by which God speaks to his people.
But even more, Christ promises to pay anything that is needed to help, signifying the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Christ shows mercy upon the certain man, heals him from his wounds, gives him gifts of life, and promises to return again. No one has been a greater neighbor than he who has shown the ultimate mercy. This is the fullness of life that the True Mediator has brought, fulfilling Torah and bringing the Covenant of Abraham to its full effect. And now you have access to that full life through your union with Christ.
You were that man in the ditch, wounded and unable to rise from the dead. But by the gift of the Holy Spirit in Baptism, your wounds are healing. And now that you are at the Inn, the Church, you receive the Word of God and Christ Himself at the Holy Eucharist. Think about this great gift of life you have received by being in Christ. So, you, who have been so loved and cared for, Go, love your neighbor. Love Him first who has shown to be the greatest neighbor, Jesus Christ. And then go and love those around you because Christ first loved us and gave himself for us.
And just to be sure we do not abstract this too much, let me end by giving you some ways that you may truly show love to those around you. We already do many of these things and love each other at All Saints. From teaching Agape to serving on the Altar and Flower guilds, to helping those out at church on numerous projects, to caring for all the kids at church, to our Lenten projects. These are aways many of you are already serving and loving your neighbor.
There are other ways as well. First, we have several people who cannot make it to church each week. They need to be visited, cared for, and loved. Second, our missions committee has done a good job of finding trustworthy domestic and foreign missions to support. Find one of these to support. Become involved with one of the local ministries or support one abroad with money. Third, there are some in our parish who are going through incredibly hard times. Seek them out, call them during the week, visit them if they want that. And since some of you do this already so well, invite someone to go with you to serve. If you want to help, come talk to me or any other priest, and we will give you those opportunities. These are the works of the kingdom of God. These are the works of true love and neighborliness. Go, and do likewise.
Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see. For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them ; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
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