Tag: jonesboro

A homily for the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity, by Fr. Jerome Leckband.

In the parable of the wedding feast, Jesus teaches us that we cannot make ourselves ready to stand before God. From the beginning, after Adam and Eve sinned, God provided what they could not provide for themselves. So also, we cannot cover our sin and shame with our own good works or righteousness. Instead, God clothes us with the righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself on the cross for our forgiveness and eternal life. In Holy Baptism, Christ washes us clean, clothes us in His righteousness, and makes us His holy bride. Yet some reject His gracious invitation, while others seek to stand before Him trusting in their own works rather than His promise.

Our righteousness does not come from our efforts, but from Christ alone. Because He has united Himself to us and clothed us in His righteousness, we need not live in fear or be troubled by our sins or the sins others commit against us. Christ is our salvation, and in Him we have forgiveness, life, and peace for our consciences.

Listen to the full homily below.

A homily for the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, by Fr. Joshua Leigeber.

In Matthew 9, Jesus forgives the paralytic’s sins before He says a word about his legs. Only then does He command: arise, take up your bed, go to your house. The Christian life follows the same order. It begins in Baptism, where we are forgiven and clothed in Christ. It continues in the daily walk of newness of life, putting off the old man and putting on the new, as St. Paul describes in Ephesians 4. And it’s a walk we engage in together, as members of one another in Christ’s body, in ordinary vocations and honest work for our families and neighbors. And it ends at, finally, at home: the resurrection of the body and the renewed creation, where Christ raises us from the grave just as He raised the paralytic from his bed.

Listen to the full homily below.

A homily for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity, by Fr. Daniel Suelzle.

When Jesus asks the Pharisees how the Messiah can simultaneously be David’s descendant and David’s Lord (referencing Psalm 110:1), he silences his critics by pointing to a profound paradox: the Promised One must be both fully human and fully divine. As David’s son according to the flesh, Jesus fulfills God’s ancient covenant promise of an eternal kingdom born from David’s royal line, while also stepping in as the true “seed of Eve” required to represent humanity. However, a mere man could never conquer the inherent corruption of sin or defeat death. By demonstrating that David himself addresses the Messiah as “Lord,” Jesus forces his listeners to confront his divinity—revealing that he is the eternal God who existed before David and possesses supreme authority at the Father’s right hand.

The understanding of the two natures in Christ is not just a clever piece of theological apologetics; it is the absolute bedrock of our salvation. To satisfy divine justice and rescue humanity, the Savior had to be a real man to suffer and pay the penalty for human sin, but also true God so his perfect sacrifice would accomplish victory over sin, death, and the devil. Because Jesus is both David’s Son and David’s Lord—the one and only God-man—his death fully pardons our transgressions, and his resurrection establishes an unbreakable, eternal kingdom. In Christ, God has kept every promise, bringing divine forgiveness and eternal life directly to us through Great David’s Greater Son.

Listen to the full homily below.