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<b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-weight:normal;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-size:18px;font-style:normal;text-align:start"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal">Friends,
<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b> in our Gospel today, Jesus declares that he would not undermine the Law
 and the Prophets, but fulfill them. </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Jesus himself was an observant Jew,
 and the themes and images of the Holy
Scriptures were elemental for him.</b></span></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"> </span></b></span><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal">But
 what is he going to fulfill? <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>Protestant theologian N.T. Wright has 
pointed out that the Old Testament is essentially an unfinished 
symphony, a drama without a climax. It is the articulation of a hope, a 
dream, a longing—but without </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>a realization of</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>that hope, without</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> a 
satisfaction of</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>that longing.</b></span></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"> </span></b></span><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Israel
 knew itself to be the people with the definite mission to become holy 
and thereby to render the world holy.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>But instead,<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"> Israel </span>fell into 
greater and greater sins,</b></span> and instead of being the catalyst for the 
conversion of the world, the world was continually overwhelming and 
enslaving Israel.</span><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"> </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"> </span><br><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal">And
 then came
Jesus, who turned out to be, in the most unexpected way, the fulfillment
 of the dream. From the beginning of his ministry, Jesus affected the 
gathering of the tribes of Israel through conversion and the forgiveness
 of<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> sins.</span></span></b></span></b></span></b></b></b></b></b></b>

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