Scripture: But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:34-40 ESV
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Observation: Recapping Friday’s Daily Focus, the Sadducees go after Jesus about a Levitical law that addresses the familial duty of brothers to ensure their sibling’s line does not end with his widow. Thus, the law required the next oldest son to take her as his wife to bear a son. So they pose a hypothetical question about this law and its outworking under the scenario where seven younger brothers fail to produce a son for the widow and all die. They then ask Jesus to whom this woman is wed at the resurrection (a bizarre story, given they do not believe in the afterlife). Jesus bypasses their question and corrects the Sadducees, challenging them to reflect on what Scripture says about Yahweh: he is the God of the patriarchs, i.e., the God of the living. After this humiliating defeat, the Sadducees skulk away and will not be heard from again.
The setting and location for today’s reading remain the same: Tuesday in the temple court. The Pharisees are losing patience with those who failed to expose Jesus as a fraud. So they send a big gun, one of their lawyers, to pose the question of which is the greatest commandment in the law. But the wisest man to walk the earth quotes the law back to the lawyer: he cites Deuteronomy 6:5. Then, appealing to the second half of Leviticus 19:18, Jesus adds that the second greatest commandment is similar to the first: Our love for God naturally flows through us to others. He ends the conversation by noting these two commandments oversee the application of all the historical writings of God’s laws and prophecies.
Of further note regarding Christ’s “Great Commandment,” Mark also chronicles today’s reading (Mark 12:28-34), presenting a friendly, curious tone to the lawyer’s question, while Matthew recalls a more sinister motive. Luke offers no parallel account but provides a similar introduction which leads to Jesus’ Good Samaritan parable.
Takeaway: Regardless of what spurred the scribe, he would be familiar with the verses Jesus cited because a devout Jew would daily recite the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:5) as a reminder of Israel’s overarching means of fulfilling the law. Indeed, as theologian Michael Wilkins contends, “Love for God is not understood as simply an emotional attachment. Rather, it means giving oneself to him with one’s entire person. Heart, soul, and mind are not rigidly separated compartments of the human existence but reflect that the entire person is given to God” (NIV Application Commentary: Matthew, p.725). Wilkins goes on to say that what Jesus has in mind regarding love, based on his Sermon on the Mount, “is an unconditional commitment to an imperfect person in which one gives oneself to another to bring the relationship to God’s intended purposes” (p.726).
The takeaway? It starts and ends with God. Our gracious Father channels perfect love into our self-centered hearts, wooing us through the Holy Spirit to turn away from all other worldly affections to him and his Son. As we discover and grow in the joy of our salvation, the Holy Spirit continues to foster a deepening understanding of God’s grace in us that helps us move beyond self-absorption (whether thinking too highly or lowly of ourselves). Hence, we focus outward and grow in our love for our Triune God, which then spills onto others. And as we spiritually and emotionally mature, the flow of love through us to our neighbors (whoever God leads across our path) becomes more natural and less challenging—even for those we find difficult to love. Lastly, through this channel of sacrificial love, we bring out the best in them and us according to God’s purpose for each of our lives (as revealed in the law and prophets, i.e., all the Scriptures). Thus, this love flow binds together, builds up, and brings home all God’s chosen children.
Prayer: Father God, we thank you for your Son who poured out your perfect and unfailing love on us in his life, death, and resurrection, and we thank you for your Holy Spirit, who deepens our understanding of your love, grace, and joy that binds us together, builds us up according to your purposes, and brings us home to your heavenly kingdom. So would you please help us to cooperate with your Holy Spirit and focus upward on your Son and outward on our neighbors so that we might mature in how we love you and our neighbors as ourselves? Amen.
Rev. Gordon Green, M.Div., M.A. Counseling
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