Thursday after the Sixth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on July 20, 2023 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 21:28-32 (NKJV)
21:28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ 29 He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?”
They said to Him, “The first.”
Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.”
Devotion
John the Baptist pointed and preached of Christ as the long-promised Messiah who delivers forgiveness of sins through His holy Passion and Resurrection. John was sent to proclaim true righteousness: “For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.” John’s preaching was the way from God that offered salvation.
Such preaching also gives a damning condemnation of all those who refuse to humbly submit to God’s chosen path of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as the holy Lamb of God. Through the peace of God won by Jesus Christ on the cross and bestowed upon all who look to Him as their Redeemer and Lord, one is forgiven his sin and covered with Christ’s robe of righteousness. This covers every sin, and allows the redeemed to stand before our loving heavenly Father as His holy and righteous children, washed clean in the waters of Jesus’ baptism.
Prayer: Lord of all power and might, Who art the Author and Giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of Thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of Thy great mercy keep us in the same; 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.
