Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Trinity
Matthew 25:31-46
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The law is very natural for humanity. Man views the law favorably, even if, at times, he does not always like what the law has to say. By the law, man interprets his surroundings. By the law, man understands the way things are supposed to work. Through the law, man relates to all of creation. Do this; don’t do that. It’s simple, and as he understands it, it is manageable.
By contrast, the Gospel is completely foreign to him. That what man has he receives from outside of himself, apart from his work or merit, from another, completely by grace is difficult or even impossible to understand. In fact, it is even offensive: to be told that you receive something that you do not deserve is insulting—on the one hand, you are being told that what you have done is not enough, not good enough, to earn what you have; on the other hand, it completely contradicts the notion that you have to do something to earn something.