The Wednesday after Septuagesima Sunday
Posted on February 19, 2025 by under
Scripture: Deuteronomy 26:16-19 (NKJV)
26:16 “This day the Lord your God commands you to observe these statutes and judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 Today you have proclaimed the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice. 18 Also today the Lord has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments, 19 and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a holy people to the Lord your God, just as He has spoken.”
Devotion
If we compare today’s reading to yesterday’s, the two seem contradictory. Here in Deuteronomy we hear about God’s commands to “observe” His statutes, “keep” His statutes, and “obey” His voice. It seems to be a quid pro quo: if you obey, God will make you His people. In yesterday’s reading, St. Paul cites Moses in Leviticus 18:5: “The man who does those things shall live by them.”
But what happened to “believe” in your heart? We know from St. Paul “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). For the Christian, the two Testaments would seem totally incoherent without reference to Jesus Christ. The Old Testament would be a closed and dark book without the light of Christ. Jesus Christ is the One who “observes” and “keeps” the statutes. He is the One who “obeys” the Father’s voice. We know it wasn’t the Israelites after they received the Law. They spectacularly failed. Israel was the shadow. The Christian Church was the fulfillment, and Christ is the righteous Man. The Church is set “high above all nations.” The Church is a “holy people to the Lord.” Christ gives us His righteous status as a gift, not payment for service.
Collect: O Lord, we beseech Thee favorably to hear the prayers of Thy people: that we, who are justly punished for our offences, may be mercifully delivered by Thy goodness, for the glory of Thy Name; 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.
