The Friday after the Third Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on July 11, 2025 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 16:16-17 (NKJV)
16:16 “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. 17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.”
Devotion
In these verses Jesus teaches that a great transition has taken place. The era of the Law and the Prophets—pointing forward to the Messiah—has reached its climax in the coming of John the Baptist. John is the last prophet of the old era, preparing the way for Christ and fulfilling all that the Law foreshadowed.
Dr. Paul Kretzmann noted on this passage, “Jesus tells the Pharisees that the Law and Prophets were in power until John the Baptist, who stands in the threshold between the Old and New Testaments.” The kingdom of God is being preached and sinners are entering it, not through the Law, but through the Gospel. Yet this does not mean the Law has failed or been abolished. Jesus says, “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.” The Law stands—holy, righteous, and good—but it finds its fulfillment in Christ, who kept it perfectly for us.
The distinction between Law and Gospel is clear. The Law reveals our sin and inability to attain righteousness, while Christ fulfills the Law through His life, death, and resurrection, establishing the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-34). In Christ, we are no longer under the Law’s condemnation but are forgiven and made heirs of the kingdom by faith.
Collect: O God, the Protector of all that trust in Thee, without Whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us Thy mercy; that Thou being our Ruler and Guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
