In some ways the Old Testament lesson today (Jeremiah 31:31-34) may seem rather strange for Reformation Sunday. It speaks of law more than gospel and it is futuristic rather than realized. Still, it does speak of the sure saving will of God! It is that will which will result in a new covenant to go with the new act of salvation about to be accomplished by the Lord, namely the return from exile. That saving will of God is phrased beautifully in verse 34, "for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more." When we trust in that promise, we will know the freedom so essential to the Reformation.

That great freedom is spoken of in the gospel lesson for Reformation Sunday (John 8:31-36) as follows, "Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word…