Matthew 22:34-40 NIV
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got
together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this
question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
The Pharisees were hoping that Jesus would pick one of the “Big Ten”
commandments – or maybe one of the hundreds of other, more
specific laws – then they could accuse Him of suggesting that one law
was more important than the rest. But Jesus knew that they were
trying to trip him up. So He picked the ones that no one could argue
with:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And
the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and
the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
And it’s true. Theologians for centuries have written about “The Two
Tables of the Law” – which is why Moses is usually depicted in artwork,
holding two chunks of stone that are flat on three sides, with a rounded
top. Tradition holds that one tablet held the laws about our relationship
with God – and the second held the laws about our relationship with
other people: the first four on the first tablet and the other six on the
other tablet.
Before we get deeper into Jesus’s latest run-ins with the Sadducees
and the Pharisees, it would be helpful to look at how the two groups
differed – and how Jesus could use their differences to His advantage.
The Pharisees and Sadducees were two prominent Jewish sects –
so we know that religious folks were splitting up into denominations
long before the beginning of Christianity.
Both groups were influential during the Second Temple period – the
roughly 600 years between the reconstruction of the Temple after the
exiles returned from Babylon – and the destruction of the Temple by
the Emperor Titus and the Roman army in 70 AD. Jesus’s entire
earthly life took place within that time period.
The Sadducees and Pharisees each had distinct beliefs and practices.
The Pharisees emphasized the oral traditions and interpretations of the
Torah. They believed in the resurrection of the dead, angels, and
spirits – and they focused on personal piety and strict adherence to the
letter of the entire Jewish law. (Although they did find creative ways to
work around many of those laws)
The Sadducees stressed the written law in the Torah and they rejected
the oral traditions, along with angels, spirits, and the resurrection of the
dead – which is why they were sad, you see. They were associated
with the priests and the Temple, with a focus on rituals and sacrifices.
The Pharisees were more popular with the common people, while the
Sadducees aligned themselves with the ruling class and held
significant power in the Temple.
The one thing both groups could agree on was that Jesus was a thorn
in their sides. They frequently challenged His teachings: the Pharisees
liked to debate Jesus about the law – seeing Him as competition and a
potential heretic, while the Sadducees were determined to hang onto
their political power – and saw this Messiah figure as a threat.
So the Pharisees came to Jesus with this question – hoping to trip Him
up with His answer:
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus did not take the bait – or chose sides. Instead, He cut through
all their nonsense and summarized all of the Law into two simple
statements: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all you
mind and all your strength.” That was from Deuteronomy 6. The other
was from Leviticus 19: “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against
anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am
the Lord.”
That was a great answer: Love God with all you’ve got, and love the
people made in God’s image.
The entirety of God’s law and commands for our lives can be
summarized in two inseparable relationships: wholehearted love for
God and selfless love for our neighbors.
In a world full of rules, priorities, and distractions, what matters most?
Loving God and loving others.
The first one reminds us that loving God is not simply an intellectual
agreement or an emotional attachment – rather, we let our love for God
drive our desires and our choices: “You shall love the Lord.”
In other words, we love God with everything that we are and everything
we have – and that makes sense, because everything we are and
everything we have are gifts from God.
It also tells us that our love is not only emotional – but it is also
intellectual. It’s mental. We think about God, we meditate on God’s
Law, we hold up our plans under the light of God’s holiness and see
whether we should proceed with them.
We reflect His holiness when we do such things. And we celebrate His
holiness when we worship God – not just on Sundays, but also on the
other six days of the week.
We should do it with all our hearts – not “phoning it in,” as many people
do. That entails reading His Word and meditating on it, attending public
worship, and even praying and singing in the car. Sharing our faith
with family and friends – and maybe even total strangers. All of these
show love to God.
Obviously, we are to love the God who made us and who sustains our
lives. That was especially easy in a Jewish community.
The other commandment is very similar – because it affects human
beings who are created in God’s image: “Love your neighbor as
yourself.”
But that command very naturally leads to another question:
“So …. who is my neighbor?”
If we still don’t know who our neighbors are – Jesus tells us in the story
of the Good Samaritan that our neighbor is anyone who needs us.
It is a matter of relationship – not bloodlines or property lines or laws
written by human beings. It is being relationship with others who – like
us – bear the image of God.
So the list of ways to show love to our neighbors is endless – because
human need is endless.
That love is not only emotional, but it is also physical – involving our
physical ability to do things for others. That could be watching the
children of a single mom so she can work. Or fixing a neighbor’s car.
Or planting a garden and giving produce to the soup kitchen or our
neighbors directly, shoveling their walks, mowing their lawns, carrying
in their groceries, visiting them when they are sick or unable to get out,
calling to check on them if we haven’t seen them in a while.
And it includes praying for our neighbors – which usually doesn’t
include praying that our neighbors will move away. We may not know
what our neighbors need us to bring before God’s throne – but she or
he will probably tell us if we ask.
So it is good for us to do a heart check regularly – asking ourselves
what competes for the center of our hearts, souls, and minds?
How can we make God and others a priority every day?
We can start by asking ourselves who are the "neighbors" in our lives
right now who need practical grace, kindness, or support? And if we
can help, then we should help.
The ways to do it are so numerous they boggle the mind. And if you
get stumped, just ask a neighbor what you can do for her or him – and
if you need help from a neighbor, ask. That person may just be waiting
for you to ask.
You will be fulfilling the two greatest commandments.
And you will give God great joy.
Thanks be to God!
Amen.