He came to fulfill

I have come . . . to fulfill.

Jesus clarified it for his disciples: he had not come to abolish the Law or the prophets.   He did not want to get rid of anything.   He came to fulfill.   Let’s pray today and thank Jesus for the ways he brings everything to fulfillment:

“Jesus, thank you that you came to fulfill the Law!   You were flawless in the way you loved God and loved your neighbors.   You loved so deeply that you offered yourself on a cross so that we could be reconciled with our Father in heaven.

“Thank you, Lord, that you didn’t stop there.   You also showed us how to follow the heart of the Law.   Every one of your teachings showed us how we could love God and love our neighbors just as fully as you did.   You healed and forgave, you reached out to the outcasts, you obeyed your Father’s will.   You fulfilled the Law, and you taught us how to do it too.

“Not only that, Lord, but you perfectly fulfilled the words of the prophets.   You are the yes to every one of God’s promises.   You are Emmanuel, God with us, conceived by the Virgin. You are the Son of David, born in Bethlehem, who comes to bring an eternal kingdom of peace.   You are God’s chosen servant, who brings justice and healing to all!

“Jesus, you even came to fulfill me!   Thank you that you made me with awesome potential.   You have given me the capacity to know you; you have given me specific gifts and talents to glorify you.   You help me each day to discover them, and you teach me how to develop them.   You help me overcome sin so that I can see your gifts in other people.   You teach me how to pray and love God so that I can grow to be the person you made me to be.

“Jesus, I give you thanks and praise!   You have come to fulfill—everything.   Thank you that you have gone so far as to promise to fulfill me as well.   You have made me.   You love me.   You long for me to be all that you made me to be!”

word among us