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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
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?”
Jesus replied: “‘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.’”
Matthew 22:34-39
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Four days.
Four days left in the Advent season and only four days left until the celebration of our Savior Jesus’ birth.
Through Advent and up to today, there have been three weeklong series, each centered on the theme for that particular week. We began by looking at hope, then peace, and finally last week, joy.
So what’s the focal point of these final four days of this special pre-Christmas season?
It’s love and there’s no better place to start than seeing how all believers are commanded to do so. Look again at this exchange between Jesus and a Pharisee who was an expert in the law:
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?”
Jesus replied: “‘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.’” Matthew 22:34-39
Now we know that the Law was immense. In fact, there is an entire section of the Old Testament that has been called the books of the Law. They include the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And so when this expert in the Law asks Jesus to tell him the greatest commandment, we should know that there was plenty of source material and therefore options.
So what does Jesus choose?
He quotes the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 5, saying:
“‘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.”
I’m not sure that this is what the Pharisees who were present expected to hear but it sure is what they needed to hear. For the greatest commandment was centered on one giving all their love to God and that was something that was sorely lacking within the souls of the Jewish religious leaders.
Think about it. If they had truly loved God with all their heart and soul and mind, they couldn’t have possibly despised and hated Jesus as they did, so much so that they plotted to kill Him. Jesus was speaking directly to His adversaries here and His words have continued to speak to anyone who embraces them ever since.
For if we would only love God with uncompromising, unfailing devotion through all that we are – heart and soul and mind - then His love would be our love because every part of our being would be aligned with His.
Friends, this is the only way we can then be totally obedient to the second command given by Jesus, the one He says is like the first:
“‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Did Jesus draw from one of the books of the Law here?
He sure did and you can find it in the nineteenth chapter of Leviticus, verse 18.
So who counts as a “neighbor”?
Essentially, it’s any person who you can share God’s with and that pretty much means everybody, right?
And just in case people might think they only have to love those who align with their values or beliefs, Jesus cleared that up with His Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). You may remember that in the parable there was a man who had been robbed and left half dead on the side of the road.
Onto the scene first was a priest but instead of helping the man, he passed right by on the other side of the road. You would have thought that one of the chief religious leaders would have shown enough compassion and care to stop and give attention to the dying man but that didn’t happen.
After him, a Levite arrived and like the priest, he too failed to stop and help.
Both of these two would have been the most likely to have gone to the aid of the badly injured person but neither did. That should have surprised those listening to Jesus but what He was about to say was truly shocking.
Because after the priest and the Levite, along came a Samaritan, someone that the Jews despised and saw as low class. Surely, the Samaritan wouldn’t have stopped to help the injured Jewish man?
But that’s exactly what happened. Within the parable, here’s the extent of what he did to help save the man’s life:
He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. “Look after him,” he said, “and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.” Vv. 34-35
After finishing, Jesus posed this one question to His audience:
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
To which an expert in the Law responded:
“The one who had mercy on him.”
Of course, this was the good Samaritan and so Jesus commanded all who could hear Him:
“Go and do likewise.”
As we approach Christmas Day, let’s remember that God sent His Son Jesus from Heaven to earth in order to bring salvation to sinners who were without hope. It was only by His deep mercy and love that He was willing to show care and compassion for those who were lost, no matter their nationality. Jew and Gentile alike were given the opportunity to gain eternal life simply by believing in Christ as Savior. It was true when the Christian church started more than 2,000 years ago and it remains true today.
Brothers and sisters, it’s time we commit ourselves to be fully obedient to the greatest two commandments as validated by Jesus. Let us first love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, being as fully dedicated to Him as He is to us. And when His love saturates our total being, let us then freely extend it to others, to everyone the Lord brings into our lives, no matter how chance the encounter might be.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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