https://assets-cdn2.dropwave.io/086174f0-efbe-400f-a3e9-b91549a26ab7/media/Trinity 6 AD 2026.mp3

https://app.dropwave.io/show/our-savior-lynchburg/trinity-6-ad-2026

++ JESU JUVA ++

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

[Don’t avoid the brightness of the law]

We begin with a warning. I’ve used this warning before, but it bears repeating.

God has ordered night and day. The sun rises gradually, and you can adapt to its brightness. Your eyes adjust to the increasing brightness, and soon you can see clearly what was hidden in the darkness. Imagine going for a walk on a beautiful moonlit night. You can see well enough to navigate, but you can’t discern all the details. You’re eager for the sun to come so that you can see more clearly and walk with more confidence. But instead of a normal sunrise, what if the summer sun simply appears in full brightness? Normally, the sun helps you see clearly, but because you’re adapted to the darkness it obscures your vision.

This is a physical illustration of what Jesus is doing theologically. His sermon text is the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are a good gift from God. They are orderly, beautiful, and good — the life God wants us to have. If everyone followed these ten words perfectly, we would have heaven on earth.

But these ten words are also a picture of the life we do not have. They depict a life we cannot obtain by fallen reason and human strength. So they only show a life we wish we could have but cannot produce. In this way, to a poor sinner, these ten words are an accusing finger and the threat of a wrathful Judge.

In Exodus 20, right after the Lord declares the Ten Commandments to Moses, we read this: Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die” (Exodus 20:18-19).

The Lord God, from out of the mountain, declared His just decrees and the beauty of life with Him. God revealed the true affections of His heart to His people, and they responded with fear and willful blindness. They wanted Moses to speak God’s Word because they couldn’t bear to hear God’s own voice.

But even that wasn’t enough. Even Moses himself became a reminder of this problem. When he came down from talking with God, his face would shine. That’s why you might see Moses depicted in art with two beams of light shining forth from his forehead. And you might see him depicted with horns — that was based on an old misunderstanding of this phenomenon.

However it might be depicted, the people couldn’t bear to look at the light coming from Moses’ face. It’s not because the light was bright like the son. It’s because Moses’ face shone with the glory of the Law — the glory of God’s perfect, holy, and humanly unattainable will. The light didn’t blind their eyes so much as it pierced through them and revealed the thoughts and intentions of their heart. It was as though when the light from Moses’ face shone on them, they felt as if they were standing naked before God. That’s why Moses veiled his face whenever he spoke to the people — so they could hear his words without running away in fear and shame.

God wanted His people to receive blessings from Him, to have their days ordered in His peace. He did not want them to die in their sins. Out of love, He gave them His law. But His Old Testament people couldn’t bear the law of God in its fullness. They chafed under its burden. God’s law was far too holy for sinful minds to grasp.

Because of mankind’s hardness of heart, God permitted certain accommodations under the old covenant. His will remained unchanged, but He dealt with His people according to their weakness. He permitted Moses to give exceptions to the prohibition of divorce. He permitted the people to hear His commands against murder, adultery, oaths, and enemies in a way they could bear.

Now Jesus begins His sermon: And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them (Matthew 5:1-2). He sounds like a new Moses. But unlike Moses, He does not go up the mountain to get God’s Word. He speaks God’s Word from within Himself, as its Source. You have heard that it was said to those of old… But I say to you (Matthew 5:21, 22).

Not only does Jesus remind people what Moses said, He is restoring their understanding to what God had said. Jesus comes preaching the Law of God in its fullness. No accommodations. No exceptions. No loopholes.

So sinners are afraid of what He says. They believe they cannot bear the law’s full brightness. Some dread to open the Bible because they might find out that God disagrees with them. They might learn that their carefully curated piety and behavior is nothing more than whitewash on the tombs of their souls. It’s easier, then, to keep the law at arm’s length. This is the warning. The old Adam that dwells within each of us expertly keeps the law from getting too close to our conscience. He can hear the preaching of God’s Word in such a way that he never applies it to himself.

If this were all that Jesus said, it would be the most terrifying sermon ever. But this is not all that Jesus says. Jesus is proclaiming a better righteousness — His righteousness — given to you. He takes all your law-breaking into Himself and dies for it. He heals you of the hurt and pain that sin has brought upon you, and blesses you.

But before He gives that righteousness, He must first expose your unrighteousness. So as you listen to God’s law, let Him do His work. Let Him root out hypocrisy and pride from your heart. Let Him shine the light of His law into the darkness of your heart and life. Let Him take away the selfish anger and grudges. Let Him give you His righteousness and holiness and peace. And as you hear these words and take them to heart, trust that Jesus is doing this work for your good. Therefore listen to Jesus and take to heart all that He says today.