Week of Trinity XXIII - Sunday

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XXIII - SUNDAY

LESSON: MATTHEW 22:15‒22

When they heard it, they marveled; and they left Him and went away. Matthew 22:22

This is written for our consolation, so that those of us who believe in Christ should know that we Christians are in possession of a wisdom that outranks all other wisdom, and that we have a strength and righteousness with which no human strength or righteousness can stand comparison. Against the Holy Spirit no human counsel is of any avail. Through Christ we have the power to tread sin underfoot and to trample upon death, and a wisdom that exceeds the wisdom of the whole world. If Christ dwells in us by faith, He is ours and will attend to all this in us. But in the hour of trial and temptation, we do not always feel this. Therefore, when I need it, He comes to me and enables me to make my way through my difficulties with renewed strength.

We should never be apprehensive that our doctrine will go under and be disgraced. No matter whether all the learned and wise men of this world rise up against God’s Word and make a merry sport of their opposition to the Word, they are doomed to ultimate failure. It can happen that they bark against the Word and bite it to such an extent that people think that the Gospel will be overwhelmed. But when they set themselves to overthrow the Gospel, it is quite certain that they will fail in a disgraceful manner, and they themselves will be caught in the trap by which they hoped to overthrow the Gospel. This is what happened here in this Gospel to the men who tried to trip up Jesus. They thought themselves smart enough to outwit Christ in every way, but their wisdom and smartness let them down.

SL.XI.1806,8‒9

PRAYER: Grant us a full measure of Your Holy Spirit, O God, the Spirit of truth and understanding, that we may always cling in firm faith to the teaching of Your Word, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil–Gospels, 5:293-306.