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<table class="gmail-m_-7054159814662907617layout gmail-m_-7054159814662907617layout-table gmail-m_-7054159814662907617root-table" style="min-width:100%" width="650" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="gmail-m_-7054159814662907617layout-row-margin24190" style="padding:5px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%;border-collapse:initial" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr id="gmail-m_-7054159814662907617layout-row24190" class="gmail-m_-7054159814662907617layout gmail-m_-7054159814662907617layout-row gmail-m_-7054159814662907617widget gmail-m_-7054159814662907617_widget_text gmail-m_-7054159814662907617style24190" style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><td id="gmail-m_-7054159814662907617layout-row-padding24190" style="padding:10px 30px 30px" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td id="gmail-m_-7054159814662907617text_div23727" class="gmail-m_-7054159814662907617td_text gmail-m_-7054159814662907617td_block" style="color:inherit;font-size:12px;font-weight:inherit;line-height:1.5;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:Arial" valign="top" align="left"><div style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:1.5"> <div style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px"><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-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"><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><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><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? Protestant theologian N.T. Wright has 
pointed out that <span style="background-color:rgb(252,229,205)"><b>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 a realization of that hope, without a 
satisfaction of that longing.</b></span></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><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">Israel
 knew itself to be the people with the definite
mission to become holy and thereby to render the world holy. But 
instead, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Israel</span> fell into greater and greater sins, and instead of </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>being
 the catalyst for the conversion of <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">the world, </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the world was continually
 overwhelming and enslaving <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Israel.</span></b></span></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="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>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 </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>sins.</b></span></span></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b><br></div>
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