2. Corinthians 3,3-11. 12. Trinity

2.. Corinthians 3,3-11 4422

12. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 59 

Moses, Prophet, † 1406 bc 

4. September 2022

1. ℣ Make haste, O God, to deliver me:  

℟ Make haste to helm me, O yahweh. (Psalm 70,1). 

We rejoice in the Lord from the bottoms of our hearts; we will sing with joy to the glory of Your Name, O God, every hour, a new song.  Amen. (Ich freu mich in dem Herren elkg 566,1 2021 Bartlomäus Helder 1646/48). 

2. »Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.« 

3. In junior high school, our teacher liked to use The Living Bible (1971) for our parochial school morning devotions. It as a soft-cover book first printed in 1972 with a pea green color that was popular in the ’70s. It was titled The Way. It translates v. 6 as: The old way, trying to be saved by keeping the 10 Commandments, end in death; in the new way, the Holy Spirit gives them life. In Acts 9 we read that the Jewish Christians called themselves the Way (9,2). We could also translate that designation as the Road or the Path. Interestingly, The Living Bible translates the Way as believers, and that’s a good paraphrase of the Greek noun (τής όδοΰ) used by St. Luke. 

4. In his 2. Epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul is tackling the rift that had occurred among the Jewish and Gentile Christians: must the Gentile Christians get circumcised? The issue is mentioned in 5 Pauline epistles: Romans, 1 and 2. Corinthians, Galatians and Philippians; some of these epistles were written after ad 49 when the the Jerusalem Council had decided that, no, the Gentile Christians don’t need to get circumcised or follow the kosher diet. Yet, for at least another decade this was an issue in the Church.  

5. Paul understands this issue as that of 2 covenants. The Mosaic covenant, with its circumcision and diet, is the old covenant; the Jesus covenant, with its cornerstone of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, is the new covenant. Paul says that this old, Mosaic covenant with its circumcision and diet is coming to an end; it is a covenant of the letter and law, and it kills. Jesus has fulfilled it. The Gentile Christians are not under it, and neither are the Jewish Christians. Paul himself disregarded the kosher laws and ate with the Gentile Christians. Paul, like James, has in mind the Prophets Amos and Isaiah: »In that day I will raise up the tent of David that has fallen and I will rebuild it. And that which has been razed I will raise up and will rebuild it just as the days of old [the eon]; so that those remaining should inquire of the men and all the Gentiles those who have called upon My Name, says Yahweh the one accomplishing these things. … The ones that shall announce let them approach so that they should know together who did these things from the beginning from whence it was announced to you, for I am Yahweh your God. There is no other besides, for I am just/righteous and a Deliverer. There is none besides Me« (Amos 9,11-12; Isaiah 45,21 lxx). 

6. Paul says this new testament is more glorious than the old testament, and that it surpasses it. The old testament was being brought to an end, and the new testament that succeeds it is permanent. This new testament is written on tablets of human hearts. Jesus is this new testament; He is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14,6); He is the only Path that leads to G the Father and eternal life. He is a reed that was crushed, yet He did not break; He is a smoking wick/flax, yet He was not extinguished (Isaiah 42,3 lxx). He was crucified, yet not broken; He was dead, but now is alive forevermore. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ!

7. Even Saul breathing threats and murder against the disciples of Jesus could not break and extinguish the Jewish Christians from their faith in Jesus. The gospel of Christ crucified and risen withstands all tribulations and strengthens believers more steadfastly upon our Savior, Jesus Christ. We proclaim the gospel; we believe it; we confess it. Christ is the Propitiation for our sin and He has paid our redemption price. We are forgive; we are free. To God be the Glory in Christ our Lord!  

8. See, from His head, His hands, His feet

Sorrow and love flow mingled down!

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet

Or thorns compose so rich a crown? (When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Isaac Watts 1674-1748 lsb 425,3) 

This is most certainly true. 

9. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7).  Amen. 

10. Let us pray. O Yahweh God, who dost not disdain the sighs of the forlorn/abandoned nor scorn the longing of troubled hearts: Behold our prayer which we bring before Thee in our need and graciously hear us, so that all which striveth against us of both the Devil and men may come to nought and be scattered by Thy good counsel, to the end that unhurt by all temptation we may thank Thee in Thy Church and praise Thee at all times.  Amen. (Martin Luther; AE 53,139-40 © 1965 Fortress Press)

To God alone be the Glory 

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

 

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Septuaginta, Vol. I and II 2. Revised Edition © 2006 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.