The Greatest Commandment
Matthew 22:34-40
July 22, 2012
As you know we are currently studying through Matthew
And we are smack in the middle of His passion week.
After entering the city, clearing the temple, and teaching in the temple Jesus has come under attack.
• The first questioned His authority, which He answered with three parables.
• The next sought to trap Him in regard to taxes, a trap which He avoided.
• The next wished to humiliate Him with hypotheticals, a truth He defended.
And now we get another attack.
We find in verse 35, “a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him,”
And that right there would be enough for most of us.
(I had to give a deposition once and the lawyer ate me alive)
Well, that is the type of situation Jesus is in.
Accusations, hypotheticals, and curious questions that cause one to wonder, what are they getting at?
The difference between me and Jesus is that
He has walked through His deposition with flying colors.
Not only has He had the perfect answer for every question,
But as you will see this morning,
He also had no need whatsoever for hesitation.
Jesus is under attack, and at every turn He is miles ahead of the game.
And so let’s look at our text this morning.
3 things
#1 AN INTERESTING APPROACH
Matthew 22:34-36
Now of course we remember that the first attack
Came from the disciples of the Pharisees and the Herodians.
The sort of sent them incognito with their best attempt at condemnation,
Seeing if they could trap Him between Rome and Israel.
Then the Sadducees came up (who were not necessarily allies of the Pharisees) but they failed too.
That means that both groups have now fired their best shot
And both came up short.
THEY ARE EACH AT POINT OF DESPERATION.
(34) “But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together.”
What you have here is a group of men who are frustrated.
So in desperation the gather again,
Grasping at straws to see what else they can try.
AND HERE IT IS:
(35-36) “One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
Admittedly, it is difficult to see where the trap is here.
With taxes it was obvious. Answer one way and Rome gets you, answer another and Israel does.
But this question is a little more perplexing.
That is why I tell you that they are grasping at straws here.
Let me help you understand.
The Pharisees had apparently done their research and determined
That there were 613 Laws that God gave to be obeyed.
The interesting thing is no one could ever agree on
Which was the most important.
The idea here is to get Jesus to pick a command, any command,
And then let the lawyer go to work from there.
Sounds just like a lawyer doesn’t it?
So he asks, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
“great” translates MEGAS
Which has to do with the biggest and the best.
He is simply asking Jesus to pick His favorite, the one He is most passionate about and then the fight will be on.
So it is a desperate attempt, but a test none the less.
An Interesting Approach
#2 AN IMMEDIATE ANSWER
Matthew 22:37-39
And you just have to love Jesus here.
I told you that the lawyers raddled me,
And got me to a point where I hated to say anything.
But not Jesus…
• There is not a hint of hesitation here.
• He didn’t need to think about it.
• There is no covering His tracks as He talks.
He is a model of conviction and certainty.
Without hesitancy Jesus says, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.”
He is quoting from Deuteronomy 6.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
It was known as the SHEMA
And it was quoted by Jews daily.
It was even written on pieces of paper and folded up and placed inside the phylacteries that the Pharisees wore around their heads, or on their arms.
Every Jew was familiar.
And Jesus made no bones about naming it as the greatest.
And while we will talk about the differences of the three,
Don’t miss the overarching point that we are to love God.
In other words, don’t miss the forest for the trees.
The greatest command in the entire Law is that we are to love God.
Exodus 20:4-6 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
And God makes it clear. He wants people to love Him.
And this is certainly carried into the New Testament.
John 14:23-24 “Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”
It’s not obedience in order to earn God’s love,
It is obedience in order to show our love for God.
You see, it’s all about loving God.
1 John 2:3-5 “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:”
And there again obedience reveals a love for God.
WHAT WE HAVE WITH GOD IS A RELATIONSHIP.
He is not some sort of dictator, whom we obey only
Because He has the power to crush us if we don’t.
Our obedience is not done out of fear, but out of love.
1 John 4:18-19 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.”
This is the great difference between religion and a relationship.
Religion is filled with commands and ordinances and traditions
By which people do as a means of keeping God off their back.
But we are in a relationship, our motive is love for God.
And this is without a doubt the greatest single indicator
Of salvation in a person’s life.
A person who is saved has an undeniable, super evident,
All encompassing, never failing, purely genuine,
All surpassing love for God.
That is the greatest command, love God!
Now we can also get more specific here, for Jesus gives three ways.
• “with all your heart”
• “with all your soul”
• “with all your mind”
• (Mark adds “strength”)
But let’s look at the three Matthew records.
• What does it mean to love God “with all your heart”?
• What does it mean to love God “with all your soul”?
• What does it mean to love God “with all your mind”?
When you think of loving God “with all your heart”, think about your DESIRES
In other words: WHAT DO YOU LOVE?
It is the idea of not loving other things more than you love God.
Consider David.
Psalms 86:11 “Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.”
There was David wanting nothing else in his heart but love for God.
He wanted an undivided heart.
Very different from his future offspring.
2 Chronicles 25:1-2 “Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. He did right in the sight of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart.”
How do you know that?
2 Chronicles 25:14-16 “Now after Amaziah came from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought the gods of the sons of Seir, set them up as his gods, bowed down before them and burned incense to them. Then the anger of the LORD burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of the people who have not delivered their own people from your hand?” As he was talking with him, the king said to him, “Have we appointed you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” Then the prophet stopped and said, “I know that God has planned to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”
Amaziah loved God, but not with his whole heart.
Part of his heart was given to other gods.
It sparks our memory to think of the parable of the soils.
Remember the weedy soil?
Luke 8:14 “The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.”
This heart loved other things and could not fully love God.
(It is like the Rich Young Ruler.)
This is what Jeremiah referenced.
Jeremiah 4:1-4 “If you will return, O Israel,” declares the LORD, “Then you should return to Me. And if you will put away your detested things from My presence, And will not waver, And you will swear, ‘As the LORD lives,’ In truth, in justice and in righteousness; Then the nations will bless themselves in Him, And in Him they will glory.” For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, “Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns. “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My wrath will go forth like fire And burn with none to quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds.”
To love God with all your heart means that you heart
Is fully reserved for love of Him and Him only.
DOES YOUR HEART BELONG TO ANYONE OR ANYTHING ELSE?
So it references your Desires or What you love.
Second Jesus said to love God “with all your soul”
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
When you think of loving God “with all your soul” think of DEGREE or DEPTH
In other words: HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE?
It speaks of your level of commitment.
You say God is the only one you love, but how much do you love Him?
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”
And of course we are commanded not only to love God only,
But to love God with all we have.
When Paul knew he was to be arrested in Jerusalem, his friends tried to talk him out of going. Notice his response.
Acts 21:13-14 “Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, “The will of the Lord be done!”
Remember this woman?
Luke 7:44-47 “Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. “You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
She loved Him with all her heart and with all her soul.
This is what God desires.
Love Him only and Love Him a lot.
“with all your heart and with all your soul”
But what about the mind?
How do you love God “with all your mind”?
• Well the heart has to do with DESIRES
What do you love?
• The soul has to do with DEGREE or DEPTH
How much do you love?
When you think of loving God “with all your mind” think of your DECISIONS or DETERMINATION
In other words: HOW DO YOU LOVE?
Love is not an emotion, love is an action.
Love is not just something that is felt, it is something that is exercised.
• Jesus died on the cross
• Paul went to Jerusalem
• The woman wept over Jesus’ feet
HOW DO YOU LOVE?
Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 13:12-14 “The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”
Colossians 3:12-13 “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.”
Ephesians 5:1-6 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”
DO YOU GET THE POINT?
We love God and Him only, we love Him with a great love,
And we love Him with a measurable love
By which we decide to live differently.
It is all in the choices we make.
Loving God “with all your mind” is the practical side of love.
It is what Jesus said:
John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
You can claim to love Him only.
You can claim to love Him a lot.
But does it evidence itself in your life?
Do you do things that indicate that you love God?
That is what Jesus is referring to here.
“YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.”
And then Jesus said:
(38) “This is the great and foremost commandment.”
This is not only the MEGAS command “great”
This is also the PROTOS command “foremost” (means “chief”)
This isn’t just the biggest and the best,
This is also the “foremost” the most important,
The chief command of all the Bible.
And so you can see Jesus had no problems answering their question.
And that wasn’t all.
Jesus said, “I can even tell you the second greatest”
(39) “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’”
And of course this makes perfect sense.
1 John 4:19-21 “We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”
1 John 4:7-8 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
1 John 3:17 “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?”
Loving God is the most important, but how do you know if you love God?
If you love your brother…
The two are interwoven.
You can’t claim to have this all encompassing love for God
When you don’t have an all encompassing love for your neighbor.
TURN TO: Luke 10:25-37
That was a story meant to condemn Israel’s lack of love for God.
Jesus was revealing that they didn’t love God
Because they didn’t love their neighbor.
That is why this is without a doubt
The second most obvious trait of a saved person.
One commentator wrote:
“One sure mark of a transformed life is the desire to be with fellow Christians. First John 3:14 reads, “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.” Believers are those who do “not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers”. They can say with the psalmist, “I am a companion of all those who fear the Thee, and of those who keep Thy precepts”.
That does not mean, of course, that Christians are to have no contact with unbelievers. But a professing Christian who prefers the company of the people of the world is probably still one of them.” (MacArthur John, Acts Commentary, pg. 274-275)
When a person gets saved not only are they filled with a love for God
But also with a love for God’s people.
And this love is not sentimental, it is also practical.
It is a self-sacrificing love.
That’s what Jesus means when He says, “as yourself.”
Ephesians 5:29 “for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it…”
• If you are hungry, what do you do? Eat
• If you are thirsty, what do you do? Drink
• If you are cold, what do you do? Get a blanket
• Well if your brother is hungry?
• Well if your brother is thirsty?
• Well if your brother is cold?
Loving them is a practical love.
James 2:14-17 “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”
That is also why Jesus gave this analogy.
Matthew 25:41-46 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
People who don’t love their brother indicate people who don’t love God.
And those people will not inherit life.
You can see how important this is.
And so when they ask Jesus which is the great command,
He doesn’t even hesitate.
Love God with everything you have and love your neighbor as yourself.
And then comes the really sobering part.
An Interesting Approach, An Immediate Answer
#3 AN IMPORTANT APPLICATION
Matthew 22:40
“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets”
In other words, if you keep the whole Law and yet miss this,
You have missed everything.
If you flawlessly obey every moral command but fail to love God,
You haven’t accomplished anything.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”
God doesn’t want religion.
God wants a relationship.
If you miss that point,
You have completely missed the entire point of Christianity.
Jesus took the Pharisees here because this is the point they had missed.
They knew all the commands, they had counted them.
They were externally perfect.
They looked more pleasing than anyone.
But they had missed the point.
Matthew 23:23-24 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”
They had religion, they didn’t have love.
They did all the minor stuff and missed the most important.
If you try to walk in Christianity without a love for God
And a love for people then you are fooling yourself.
It is all about love.
Romans 13:8-10 “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
Jesus said:
Matthew 7:12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
This is not to oversimplify Christianity,
But it is to make sure the main thing remains the main thing.
Jesus was not as concerned about you naming the commandments
As He was about you getting the point behind them.
All of those commands (all 613)
Were just another way of practically telling you
How to love God and how to love your neighbor.
This is the point.
And by the way, if you are wondering about the lawyer who asked…
You know the one who was supposed to hear Jesus answer
And then debate Him until He was trapped…
Mark 12:32-34 “The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM; AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE ONE’S NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.”
Even the lawyer knew He was right.
And so friend let me ask you today.
DO YOU LOVE GOD?
• Do you love Him only?
• Do you love Him greatly?
• Do you love Him practically?
• Do you love His people?
Because if you don’t have that, you don’t have anything.
Let me encourage you to leave outward religion behind
And determine to fall in love with God.
Matthew 22:37-40 “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 foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
