Sermon Video: The Law and the Gospel - Luke 16:16-17

What is the relationship between the Law of Moses and the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  Are they partners, adversaries, or something else?  In a brief comment in Luke 16, Jesus indicates both the continuity between the Law and the Gospel in a prologue/sequel type relationship, and the ongoing validity of the Law.  The purpose and role of the Messiah, in God's plan, is not to abolish or even amend the Law, but to be the first and only one to actually keep it.  By keeping the whole Law, Jesus is free of its condemnation, there is no death penalty upon him, therefore he can die for another; because he is the Son of God, he can die for us all (and subsequently be raised to new life).  What are the implications of this understanding of the Law and Gospel as partners and not adversaries?  The Old Testament is thus seen as a prologue to the New, providing the foundation for our understanding of it and the history of God's attempt to reconcile humanity prior to the Advent of Christ.  In addition, the Old Covenant remains in force, Israel remains the Chosen People, and God's work for and through the Church is not a replacement of those previous promises.  Lastly, the relationship between the descendants of Abraham, and those called by grace to faith in Christ, ought never to be an antagonistic one, although to the shame of the Church it has been throughout much of Church history.  Anti-Semitism, prejudice and hatred of the Jews, from the pogroms and expulsions to the horrors of the Holocaust, are categorically and unequivocally rejected by the Church as grave sins against God, sins for which all those who have committed them will answer before God.

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