Question About the Great Commandment

Transcription

1 1 Question About the Great Commandment Matthew 22:34-40 Mark 12:28-34 Luke 20:39, 40

2 2 Texts: Question About the Great Commandment Matthew 22:34-40, 34. But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36. Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38. This is the first and great commandment. 39. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Mark 12:28-34, 28. And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29. And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31. And the second is like, namely this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. 32. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: 33. And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and

3 3 to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34. And when Jesus saw that he answered thoughtfully, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that ask him any question. Luke 20:39, Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, thou hast well said. 40. And after that they were not brave enough to ask him any question at all. Commentary: I. The Pharisees heard that Jesus had defeated, confounded, and put to silence, the Sadducees in the matter of the resurrection. A. Ordinarily the Pharisees would have rejoiced in the defeat of their adversaries, the Sadducees. B. The defeat of the Sadducees was in regard to an element of contention between the Pharisees and Sadducees. C. However, this was no cause for Pharisaical rejoicing because their greater adversary had defeated their lesser competitor. II. The Pharisees, also having been previously defeated in their debate with Jesus, gathered themselves together to try again to entrap Jesus. A. Satan did not give up but kept on trying to ensnare Jesus through his allies, the Pharisees. III. A lawyer and scribe from among the Pharisees (that is, a specialist in the law of Moses) came up with a really good question, he thought.

4 4 A. One of their best minds was put forward to confront Jesus. B. The Pharisees, who gloried in laws, considered themselves to be experts in the Law and its application. This was their home territory. IV. This question was designed to try Jesus: Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? What commandment is first of all? A. They must have thought that, if Jesus would name any command, they could argue that another command was equal or perhaps even more important. B. This question was not asked for any desire to know, but to trap Jesus. V. Jesus answered, Hear, O Israel, The Lord our Lord, the Lord is one. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind and with all thy strength. This is the first and great commandment. A. Voluntarily love God with all (100%) of our entire being: 1. heart 2. soul 3. mind 4. strength B. Scriptures: 1. John 14:15, If ye love me, keep my commandments Corinthians 13:13, And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

5 5 C. The first five of the ten commandments deal with man s responsibilities to God, the sixth relates both to God and man, while the last four relate to man s duties to man. See Exodus 20:1ff. 1. Man s duties to God are prime. Man s duties to man are secondary, but vitally important nonetheless. 2. In our age, this, in regard to law, has been reversed. D. The oneness of God is a cardinal teaching of the Old Testament scriptures. 1. Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 6:4, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: 2. This passage, often quoted at the beginning of a Jewish worship service, is called the Shema' because that is the first word in the Hebrew text of this passage. E. Shema' Israel: Adoni Elohanu Adoni, Echad. 1. The word here is echad which indicates a compound unity as in the trinity, and in marriage. It can be contrasted with achid which refers to a singular absolute unity. Monotheism is the teaching of the Bible, but there is diversity within that unity. 2. Idolatrous polytheism was the very opposite of the unity of the God of Israel. God the Father, God the Son, and The Holy Spirit are the three persons of the trinity, but they are all a part of the One God.

6 6 VI. Jesus volunteered more, A second like unto it is, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. A. 1 John 4:20, If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 1. God is love. We cannot be united with God without love for both God and man. 2. We cannot have one without the other. Love of God demands love of our fellowman. Love of our fellowmen demonstrates the reality of our love of God. VII. On these two commandments, the whole law and the prophets hang. There is none other commandment greater than these. VIII. The scribe was much impressed by Jesus answer -- so are we! IX. The scribe replied, A. Of a truth, Teacher, thou hast well said. B. God is one. There is none other (God) but he. C. To love God with all the heart, and all the understanding and with all the strength, D. and to love his neighbor as himself E. is much more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices. X. Jesus, when he saw that the scribe had answered discreetly, said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. A. The questioner was almost persuaded to follow Jesus.

7 7 B. How sad to have this epitaph written on our tombstone: Not far from the kingdom of God. Almost but lost! C. The road leading to salvation is rugged and frought with difficulties and much opposition. XI. No man after that asked him any more questions. A. No wonder! Jesus had totally, clearly won every encounter with his enemies. B. Jesus enemies finally recognized they were no match for our Lord! C. Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodeans had all been put to flight. D. Jesus fame was greater now than ever before.

8 8 Question About the Great Commandment Questions 1. The heard that Jesus had,, put to, well the in the matter of the. 2. Ordinarily the Pharisees would have rejoiced in the defeat of the Sadducees. Why did the Pharisees not rejoice on this occasion? 3. A, a, a came up with what he thought was a really. 4. The question was: 5. Why did they think this would be a difficult question for Jesus to answer?

9 What was Jesus answer to this question? 7. What was the second most important commandment? 8. On these, the whole and the hang. There is no greater than these. 9. The replied,, thou has well said. is. There is none other but he. To love with all the, and all the and with all the, and to his as is much more than all whole - and. 10. When Jesus saw that the had answered, said unto him, Thou art not from the of. What else would he have had to do to be in the kingdom?