The Collect for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity
Lord, we earnestly ask You, to grant Your people Grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow You, the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle, 1 Corinthians 1:4-8
4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.
5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.
7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Holy Gospel of St Matthew 22:34-45
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
“The son of David,” they replied.
43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,
44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.”’
45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Bishop Ian’s Thoughts
Today’s Epistle Reading is taken from St Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians Chapter 1, Verses 4-8.
This passage opens with St Paul giving thanks to God for all the blessings bestowed on the Corinthian Christians, through the Grace that comes by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ:
“4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.”
No person can believe the Holy Gospel and call Jesus “Lord” without the power of the Holy Spirit opening their minds to receive this Holy Truth.
From our point of view it may seem that we decide to believe the Holy Gospel, but in reality it is the Holy Spirit, guiding us to this decision.
The Almighty God Who created the world, by His Holy Word and Mighty Holy Spirit, has chosen every believer to be His adopted Child.
What a Wondrous Miracle!
We could not become an adopted son or daughter of The Almighty and Holy God in our existing state, as we are stained not only by our day to day sins (actual sin), but by the sin of the first man, Adam.
This sin of the first man, Adam, is what is known as original, or inherited, sin.
The Old Testament Prophet Isaiah declares, in his Book, Chapter 64, Verse 6:
"All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away."
A poor analogy is that we, in this day and age, would not attend a close friend’s wedding ceremony dressed in filthy greasy overalls after working underneath a car in the garage.
Through the power of the Holy Gospel, the Lord Jesus, Who had no sin, inherited or actual, has washed us clean, as pure as driven snow.
By shedding His Blood, and yielding up His Perfect Life, on the Cross on Mount Calvary, the Lord Jesus has made payment, in full, for our sins, and has cleansed us from the stain of all our sins, past, present, and future.
The Lord Jesus’ Death and Mighty Resurrection, has clothed us forever in His Perfect Righteousness, which is most pleasing to God, and this is the garment in which we are adopted as Sons and Daughters of God.
St Paul then tells his readers that through the Lord Jesus they have been enriched (blessed) in every way and this confirms the Truth of the Holy Gospel that St Paul and his followers first preached to the Corinthian Christians:
“5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.”
It is very significant that St Paul uses the first part of Verse 5 to describe the lives of the Corinthian Christians as being”enriched”.
The Corinthian Christians were predominantly Greek and throughout the ages, and especially in Classical Greek thought, knowledge and speech were very important assets.
The Greek language of St Paul’s time was an evolution of the language of the ancient Greek philosophers, and as such, it had an existing vocabulary and phraseology to describe and discuss theological, spiritual, and philosophical ideas and thought.
This ready made theological vocabulary, and thought concepts, greatly facilitated the proclamation of the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus.
Also, the Greek language, by the time of the Lord Jesus, was the educated language of the Roman Empire, not Latin, which was, by then, on the decline.
It is no accident that God chose the Greek language to be the principal language used by his chosen believers to write the original New Testament manuscripts that record and proclaim the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus, for future generations to read and believe, and so become faithful followers of the Lord Jesus.
It is also no accident that God revealed His Blessed Son to the world at a time when the Roman Empire was at its peak, allowing free travel throughout almost all of the known world.
This freedom of travel facilitated St Paul, a Roman Citizen, to undertake his missionary journeys, to the Gentiles (non-Jews) throughout the Mediterranean world.
A marvelous record of Christian Preaching colliding with Greek philosophy is found in The Book of the Acts of the Apostles Chapter 17, Verses 16-34, when St Paul preaches before a group composed of Stoic and Epicurean philosophers of the Areopagus (the most prestigious council of Greek scholars and philosophers):
"16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.
18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the Resurrection.
19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring’.
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” 33 At that, Paul left the Council. 34 Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others."
The “man that He appointed” (Verse 31) who will be the central figure in God’s Judgment of the world in justice, is the Lord Jesus Christ, our Holy Saviour, Whom God raised from the dead and Who rules at God’s Right Hand for Eternity.
St Paul’s sermon the meeting of the Areopagus is a most perfect and succinct presentation of the history of God’s dealings with mankind.
St Paul closes this portion of today’s Reading by reminding us that we do not lack any spiritual gift, as we live our daily lives in expectation of the “Lord Jesus to be revealed:”
“7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
By the phrase “wait for the Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed,” St Paul is referring to the glorious Second Coming of the Lord Jesus. The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus ushers in the Day of Judgement, and is sometimes referred to as the “Day of the Lord”, or the “Last Day”, or the “Close of the Age.”
On that great, longed for Day, we, and all God’s Adopted Sons and Daughters from every age of history, will rejoice as we see the Lord Jesus revealed in all His Glorious and Dazzling Splendour, Power, and Majesty.
We will have no fear, only love, wonder, and awe, as we will be clothed in His Holy Righteousness, and eager, with joy, to enter into Eternal Life with the Lord Jesus, in God’s Great, Everlasting Kingdom.
Let us pray that God will hasten the day of the Lord Jesus’ return to our world to usher in His Eternal Kingdom with it’s glory, peace, and joy, which all believers will share, as Adopted Sons and Daughters, clothed in the Holy Righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, through the Mighty Holy Spirit’s Gift of Faith in the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus. Amen.
Today’s Holy Gospel Reading is taken from the Holy Gospel of St Matthew, Chapter 22, Verses 34-46.
In this portion of his Holy Gospel St Matthew cuts to the chase by telling us that the Lord Jesus had confounded, and silenced, the Sadducees (the Jewish Party holding the majority of seats in the ruling Sanhedrin council).
Jesus had silenced the Sadducees on a question that they had posed in an attempt to have the Lord Jesus endorse their belief that there was no resurrection of the dead and no afterlife.
The Holy Gospel of St Matthew records this debate in the passage just preceding our Gospel Reading for today, recorded in Chapter 22, Verses 23-33:
“23 That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 24 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.
25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26 The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. 27 Finally, the woman died. 28 Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”
29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 31 But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.”
The Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead and the after-life, often publicly argued their differences with the other prominent Jewish Party, the Pharisees, who believed in the resurrection from the dead and an after-life.
The people who listed to these arguments no doubt enjoyed the controversy that the arguments generated. The problem was that the people were often left none the wiser for listening.
It is no wonder that the Pharisees quickly stepped up to the plate to test (trick) the Lord Jesus into endorsing their points of view and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament:
In the encounter recorded in today’s Holy Gospel Reading the Pharisees tried one of their favourite testing questions (verse 36):
“34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
This question had been asked of the Lord Jesus, on previous occasions, by a variety of people including other Pharisees, both sincere and insincere.
The Lord Jesus yet again answered the question in His authoritative manner:
“37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
On another occasion when the Lord Jesus was asked which commandment was the greatest, He praised the teacher of the Law who asked the question. This event is recorded in the Holy Gospel of St Mark Chapter 12, Verses 28-34:
“28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.”
This question as to which was the greatest commandment, was, I believe, asked in a sincere and reverent manner by this teacher of the Law. The Lord Jesus’ commendation of him proves that he was a devout and faithful teacher of the Law and if his quest for the truth was carried to its logical end it would, in short time, lead the him to faith in the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus.
The question posed in today’s Holy Gospel Reading was asked by the Pharisees in order to “tempt” (trap) the Lord Jesus into taking sides with the Pharisee Party and so enhance their standing in the Jewish community.
The Lord Jesus, on answering the Pharisees’ question, immediately went on the offensive and asked the group of Pharisees a return question:
“41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
The Pharisees pondered the Lord Jesus’ question, and formulated their response:
“The son of David,” they replied.”
The Lord Jesus then replied to their response:
“43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,
44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.”’
( Psalm 110, Verse 1)
“45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.”
The Lord Jesus completely stumped the Pharisees with this question and His answer, in which He quoted King David’s words recorded in the Book of the Psalms of David, Psalm 110:
"1 The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”
“2 The Lord will extend your mighty sceptre from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
3 Your troops will be willing
on your day of battle.
Arrayed in holy splendour,
your young men will come to you
like dew from the morning’s womb."
"4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”
"5 The Lord is at your right hand;
he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead
and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.
7 He will drink from a brook along the way,
and so he will lift his head high."
Psalm 110 is richly laden with references to the coming of the Messiah (Great Deliverer and Saviour from God) who will defeat, once and for all, the earthly and spiritual enemies of God’s people.
The Lord, that King David speaks of, is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Messiah of God, who does not only save Jewish believers, but Gentile (non-Jewish) believers as well.
The Old Testament believers who faithfully worshipped God, together with both Jewish and Gentile believers after the coming of the Lord Jesus, and those who live between that age and the ages to come until His Second Coming at the Last Day, make up the whole People of God (the Church).
These people have, since about 50 AD, have been known as as Christians.
May the Lord Jesus give us Grace, as His people, to resist the daily temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, until His glorious appearing at the end of the age, when we will also be glorified, and confirmed as God’s Adopted Children. Amen.
Bishop Ian,