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The 19th Sunday in Trinity
The Two Great Commandments
October 18, 2009

TEXT:  (Matthew 22:34-46 NKJ) But when the Pharisees heard that He [Jesus] had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37  Jesus said to him, "`You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the first and great commandment. 39 "And the second is like it:`You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." 41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 saying, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?" They said to Him, "The Son of David." 43 He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him`Lord,' saying: 44 `The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool "'? 45 "If David then calls Him`Lord,' how is He his Son?" 46 And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.
 
I doubt that the lawyer was surprised by Jesus’ response—in Luke chapter 10 another lawyer asked Jesus what must I do to inherit eternal life?—and Jesus asked him to give his understanding of what the Law said
 
(Luke 10:25-28 NKJ) And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 26  He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?" 27 So he answered and said, "`You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and`your neighbor as yourself.'" 28 And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live."
 
The question “Which is the great commandment?” must be a question thought about often by the Jews—There were so many Old Testament laws that God gave His people—and the lawyer trying to trick Jesus is probably prepared to attack whatever answer is given—but Jesus totally disarms the lawyer with God’s Word—Jesus responds with these two very familiar passages from the Books of Moses
 
(Deuteronomy 6:5 NKJ) "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
 
(Leviticus 19:18 NKJ) `You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
 
Later in that same chapter God gives us some idea as to why He intended that His people would love their neighbor as themselves—loving their neighbor should remind them of His grace and mercy when He brought them out of Egypt
 
(Leviticus 19:34 NKJ) `The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
 
Of all the laws that Jesus could have quoted from God’s Word—why would He choose to quote these particular instructions from God?—these two laws are obeyed with the heart—not in an outward visible way
 
Jesus could have mentioned circumcision—He could have mentioned any other externally visible law that the teachers of the law loved to publicly display their obedience to God—but instead Jesus gave the lawyer the two laws that are not visible—but are kept with the heart—we know that God looks at us through our hearts
 
(1 Samuel 16:7 NKJ) But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
 
The natural question that comes to mind when we consider Jesus’ teaching—why did God give so many laws to His people if these two commandments were all that were necessary?—Paul tells us the law is a tool used to make us aware of sin—a conscience
 
(Romans 3:20 NKJ) Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
 
(Romans 7:7 NKJ) What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet."
 
The Commandments God gave to His people through Moses fill the first five books of the Bible—we’ll consider just one of these commandments in the context of today’s lesson—let’s take a look at God’s command to circumcise
 
(Genesis 17:10-11 NKJ) "This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; 11 "and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
 
Does circumcision do anything for God?—NO!
Does circumcision do anything for the man being circumcised?—NO!
Does circumcision do anything for the man’s neighbor?—NO!
 
Then why does God command that His people be circumcised?—because following this commandment shows God’s people that they really love God with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their mind—not only was circumcision very painful—but it caused the Israelites to be mocked and ridiculed by their neighbors—in all ways circumcision demonstrated the love of God by His people
 
Would God be angry with His people if they did not exactly follow His commandment?—not necessarily—the important thing is that God’s people love Him with all their heart—not that they follow His law without deviation—that is why He sent His Son—to take away the burden of the Law—but God also gave us an Old Testament example of not following the law all of the time
 
While the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years the commandment of circumcision was not followed—yet God was not angry—because His people demonstrated their love for Him by following Him every inch of the way
 
 
 
 
 
(Joshua 5:7-9 NKJ) Then Joshua circumcised their sons whom He raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way. 8 So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed. 9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day.
 
God can read our hearts—and He knew that the children of Israel loved Him—they did not follow His commandment to circumcise—but they loved Him with all their hearts—that’s the lesson concerning the law that these teachers were learning from Jesus—He came to fulfill the law
 
(Matthew 5:17-18 NKJ) "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
 
The law remains to sting our conscience—but Jesus fulfilled the law and brought us God’s grace and truth—Jesus is the Word
 
(John 1:17 NKJ) For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
 
So Jesus is teaching that the law is not the external discipline of God’s people—but it is a way for believers to have confidence in their love of God—the law constantly reminds us that we cannot obtain salvation on our own—God uses the law to remind us that we love Him—the law exists to remind us that we can be obedient to the will of God
 
Jesus knew that there was much misunderstanding of the teaching of the law and the application of the law—this had been a problem going back to the Old Testament times
 
(Isaiah 29:13 NKJ) Therefore the Lord said: "Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
 
Jesus quoted these words of Isaiah when He corrected the Pharisees on another occasion—He knew the hearts of the Pharisees—and He knew they would go to hell if they did not properly understand God’s Word
 
 
(Matthew 15:7-20 NKJ) "Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 8 `These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" 10 When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear and understand: 11 "Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." 12 Then His disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?" 13 But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 "Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch." 15 Then Peter answered and said to Him, "Explain this parable to us." 16 So Jesus said, "Are you also still without understanding? 17 "Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19 "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 20 "These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."
 
It is good for us to remind ourselves of the truths of God’s Word—we, as Christians, are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit
 
(1 Corinthians 3:16 NKJ) Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
 
The Holy Spirit whom Jesus sent to us reminds us of the things of God—keeps our faith strong—and as the Holy Spirit resides within us—the Spirit fills us—so we are filled with the love of God—and filled with that Spirit we cannot help but truly love our neighbor—because God is Love
 
(1 John 4:7-8 NKJ) Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
 
And that love shows up in our lives as a fruit of our faith—it shows up in the good works we do for others—but it is not the works that God loves—but the fact that our hearts are filled with love for Him—and that love shows itself by our good works toward our neighbor—good works that ooze out of us because we are so filled with the Holy Spirit that love comes forth in the form of these good works—and that is an explanation of the proper understanding of the Two Great Commandments—Love God—Love your neighbor
 
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!