Preaching the Law with the Gospel

Preaching tools like the Revised Common Lectionary infrequently draw preachers to the legal texts of the Pentateuch, even though the New Testament, and especially the four Gospels, are heavily influenced by the legal texts of the Pentateuch. Congregations are at a disadvantage in understanding the New Testament message when one of the primary sources that shaped the New Testament is ignored. This study addresses this problem by utilizing relevant scholarship focused on New Testament interpretation of the legal texts to develop suggestions for preaching these texts. The four gospels are surveyed to glean insights into how they interpret the legal texts of the Pentateuch. Four scholars are then consulted to present possibilities for preaching derived from the Apostle Paul\u27s letters. Then, the legal texts are addressed more directly, followed by the presentation of six broad suggestions for preaching these texts. The study closes by applying the suggestions to a sermon preached by the author, highlighting ways these suggestions could make the sermon better and ways the sermon already utilized the suggestions well. The hope is that a preacher reading this project can approach the legal texts of the Pentateuch with confidence and preach these texts to a congregation regularly